tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.comments2023-09-10T03:33:19.319-04:00RANDOM THOUGHTSMycue23http://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comBlogger1463125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-77168455590618392542021-07-21T07:06:36.060-04:002021-07-21T07:06:36.060-04:00I keep doubling back after attempting to comment o...I keep doubling back after attempting to comment or respond to this essay and I ultimately have nothing of worth to reply with.<br />I just want to respectfully acknowledge that I have read it and appreciate the effort and emotional capital it took articulate all of it.<br />This is perhaps the most crucial and necessary price of writing I have read in years.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-84346237431374435502020-11-29T11:25:28.772-05:002020-11-29T11:25:28.772-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-62012385800971687282020-11-10T09:31:13.205-05:002020-11-10T09:31:13.205-05:00In 2016 it was 54%, so apparently a direct appeal ...In 2016 it was 54%, so apparently a direct appeal to White Supremacists only improves the percentage of whites who will vote for you. It's just proof that the Southern Strategy is not only alive and well, but a perfect blueprint to follow for the foreseeable future. Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-20130133545547514112020-11-10T08:09:44.455-05:002020-11-10T08:09:44.455-05:00It's disgusting.
It's important to note, o...It's disgusting.<br />It's important to note, once he's gone or is more likely dragged out, -we are still stuck with the hateful self-righteous bigoted idiots who voted for him.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-47453162289468883632020-08-25T11:11:38.275-04:002020-08-25T11:11:38.275-04:00Devastating read my friend. I can't say I have...Devastating read my friend. I can't say I have anything to offer in the way of a counter assessment or further elaboration so I'll just tweet and forward this bit of required reading and tough medicine and keep my mouth shut by way of support.<br />-SJSJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-28908607097994545322020-08-25T10:34:16.969-04:002020-08-25T10:34:16.969-04:00@SJ
Brilliant, my friend. I couldn't have said...@SJ<br />Brilliant, my friend. I couldn't have said it better. And believe me, I've tried. Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-21082342476025824222020-08-19T20:13:14.726-04:002020-08-19T20:13:14.726-04:00"horrors of of a system gone WRONG since the ..."horrors of of a system gone WRONG since the late 1960s" is what I mean to say.<br />-SJSJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-37815579348972961812020-08-19T20:08:30.141-04:002020-08-19T20:08:30.141-04:00I'm voting Biden Harris. No question.
That sai...I'm voting Biden Harris. No question.<br />That said.<br />There is nobody, and I mean nobody who is focused on protecting and fighting for the poor of this country in all of politics. The Democratic party's repeated move to the center, really means moving to the Right. The whole country keeps moving this way in terms of its politicians and policy and that also means we suddenly we get Nazis and cryptofascists like the Alt-Right legitimized as coveted voting blocks or demos since 2016. With the advent of Bill Clinton and now Joe Biden included, there's nothing quite so detrimental to civil liberties as a "tough on crime" politician coming from the so-called Left: Their excesses are not opposed by the Right (Drug laws, Privatizing of Prisons) and "The Left" is relegated to a void of non-representation by "no voice at all" thanks to the recent decades of the take-it-or-leave it candidates of the Democratic party.<br />I'm unreservedly voting Biden/Harris because RBG needs to go home and the SC itself, our Constitution, DOJ and government can't take much more of Donald Trump's childish, bitchy, bullshit. Trump's bizarre anti-medicine, anti-CDC, anti-safety fueled fumbling of the pandemic response this year has murdered tens of thousands, (many of his followers among them.) He's murdered Americans in a wave of mass negligence and incompetence and -it's the way he'd like to murder the post office which he relies on, and now undermine the entire voting process that got his losing-by-2.2 Million votes campaign bid past the election threshold in the first place. Trump's whole fake, dumb, no-class act needs to go and be put back on Cable TV where he can be the dumb, fat, temperamental phony businessman the people can't stop watching at laughing at. <br />—The Democratic Party is going to continue on the path they've been on since the Dukakis loss of '88: the path of ethical compromise and "trying to beat your political opponent by imitating them" in hopes of attracting independents: It hasn't and doesn't work, and has only served to rob the working class, veterans, the elderly, children and the poor of representation and political support that ostensibly goes to corporations and not people.<br />There is no Left remaining in America - there is a Right and there is a Center and that's it. <br />—The two party system needs to go, the electoral college needs to go, the whole municipal level concept of districts needs to go. <br />We need to stop looking to rich demagogues for answers. If any single one of the failed Democratic Billionaires bidding for the nomination was truly committed to the change they said they were selling? Voter suppression would be a non issue because they'd have done something about it with the only thing that moves the dial in this minority Republican party controlled country: MONEY.<br />—I'm voting Biden/Harris, not because they somehow represent a platform that will address the lethal horrors of of a system gone since the late 1960s, but because we have an drug-addled soft-headed infant in the White House and he needs to go before he can try another moronic stunt with the country's apparatus and resources.<br />VOTE. <br />—VOTE now and every single mid term forever.<br />-SJ SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-88385479548088941542018-10-01T01:44:52.544-04:002018-10-01T01:44:52.544-04:00We get the leaders we deserve. We wanted a reality...We get the leaders we deserve. We wanted a reality tv government and so we elected a game show host. I remember when jfk Jr. Started his magazine George. The idea was that politics was the new brand of entertainment. I had no idea that he was really predicting our future. Politics has become as scripted, predictable and mindless as reality tv and we signed up for it. God help us all.Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-26825185673720574742018-10-01T00:17:11.911-04:002018-10-01T00:17:11.911-04:00These are mindblowing times. I honestly thought th...These are mindblowing times. I honestly thought the Bush years and Obama years were about as bad as things could get as far as people selecting their own reality, and using their beliefs and chosen party affiliations (religious, political, philosophical) as the only lens through which to process and assess the world's events. I continue to be wrong as there seems to be no bottom, no end to the extent to which people will ignore information and facts that don't allow them to say and profess whatever they feel they want to. Many days, I feel very out of touch and have had to pull back from Facebook, and most of the social media I used to enjoy, because today, even good friends, many people I used to respect, are broadcasting a kind of "pollution" in the way of re-posting nonsense from various websites that promote opinions as facts, or making sweeping pronouncements aimed at demonizing entire swathes of the U.S. population they have never met... And then there's our president.<br />The man is simply an embarrassment of unprecedented scale, and yet, perhaps he is exactly what a nation that no longer reads or values its journalism deserves.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-34606349809503180252018-09-30T23:56:28.088-04:002018-09-30T23:56:28.088-04:00I am as frustrated as you are. I have very little ...I am as frustrated as you are. I have very little patience for the current discourse in the country.I try my best to ignore the noise, but it is practically impossible. It's a sad state of affairs and I don't see a way out.<br /><br />Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-73330978511567012802018-09-30T23:50:44.368-04:002018-09-30T23:50:44.368-04:00The bad thing about reading history like I do is t...The bad thing about reading history like I do is that I know just enough to make some foolish statements based on a superficial understanding of past events. With that in mind, I say what the hell so I will go ahead and make another statement that I truly hope I am extremely wrong about.<br /><br />Long story short, democracy might be dead in this country. Democracy requires rational thought and compromise, and both of those items are become rare. The crazy thing is that both parties are to blame. On one side you have right-wing nutcases that want to recreate some idealize 1950's fantasy America that never existed. On the other you have radical progressives that want a social Utopia and get upset when their various pet issues are not addressed immediately. <br /><br />I quietly fumed back during the early Obama years when Democrats controlled the senate and House because progressives whines their agendas were not being passed. And I laughed when Congressional republicans after 2016 couldn't get enough votes to outright repeal Obamacare. <br /><br />The political zealots always seem to fail to understand there are very few totally blue and red districts. That it would be to meet in the middle someplace. <br /><br />Whatever, I'm tired and feeling frustrated.<br /><br />Later, Dude. Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-68311883776906348912018-03-07T23:46:47.698-05:002018-03-07T23:46:47.698-05:00I agree with your premise. In fact, my wife and I ...I agree with your premise. In fact, my wife and I watched Darkest Hour last weekend and while I love historical movies it put me to sleep. I haven't watched Chris Nolan's Dunkirk yet but believe it will be different.<br /><br />As far as Phantom Thread is concern, I have threatened divorce if my wife even suggests we watch it. She's a huge Daniel Day Lewis fan but I think even that movie is a little too highbrow artsy for her.<br /><br />I know the Academy folks have brought in new members in recent years but it look like they are still way too "conservative" for the times. <br /><br />Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-65519443566573949812017-10-20T12:14:41.754-04:002017-10-20T12:14:41.754-04:00So many powerful people worked with this guy and d...So many powerful people worked with this guy and didn't say a damn word when they knew what he was. They allowed hundreds of women to be victimized by this predator. I'm looking at you Tarantino, Affleck, Damon, Paltrow, Scorsese, DiCaprio, Smith, Lewis, Coen brothers, Crowe, Thurman, Winslet, Depp, Kidman...and the list goes on. Shame on all of Hollywood for letting this happen. Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-51435997665028282022017-10-20T07:16:01.148-04:002017-10-20T07:16:01.148-04:00@Beach Bum -your recollected examples are spot on....@Beach Bum -your recollected examples are spot on. I guess I should further explain, as my friends and I kept talking this over, it was the fact that we as persons beginning our careers in film production had neither direct contact with MiraMax (We would have probably given our eye teeth for some), nor witnessed any misbehavior personally and we're still absolutely clued in to the dangers, as were, conservatively speaking—likely thousands of others. That said, how the hell could the news media, the press who shadowed these people for over two decades not have known.—The sad fact is they (the news media and its reporters) must have known. This is yet another vast conspiracy of knowing, yet passive complicity. This no smaller and no less disgusting than the "revelations" about Bill Cosby's decades of rape and sexual assault, which curiously also an "open secret" among thousands of people.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-79628458989068553362017-10-20T02:22:08.407-04:002017-10-20T02:22:08.407-04:00Your excellent post once again reminds me of somet...Your excellent post once again reminds me of something that, I believe, supports your thesis. <br /><br />I believe it was an article in The Atlantic magazine concerning the glorification of the French Resistance fighters during WW2. Yes, many of them were true heroes but the author's main point was that the vast majority of the French population simply went along with the Nazi occupiers. <br /><br />They simply "went along to get along". <br /><br />The same is often true on a smaller scale with people just standing by and watching as someone is mugged or simply bullied. Very few people have the actual balls to standup to injustice, especially when their careers might hang in the balance. <br /><br />I'm not writing this because I think I'm special. I work with well over a dozen rabid trump supporters and have long since learned to keep my mouth shut. The best I can just do is leave the area when the shit gets too deep. Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-16256884477886713012017-09-02T17:59:40.923-04:002017-09-02T17:59:40.923-04:00@Beach Bum. Shit you pretty much broke it down. Th...@Beach Bum. Shit you pretty much broke it down. This (our media, culture, society) is at times like watching a stomach consume itself.<br />—I also agree with you about a certain inevitability of this Trump presidency. This is where we were headed, and this is what we get when we don't put education first. The average American is either an un-informed idiot, or a self-misinformed-patriot-in-name-only choosing their preferred reality. I am convinced we are fucked for the time being. Mostly because of a reflex MyCue23 neatly deconstructs here.—Outrage for outrage's sake; or worse disingenuous outrage to score points against a political adversary has gotten us down to a place that only benefits those in power.<br />Today- One can dismiss a president's failures or refusals to denounce and separate himself from fascist elements in his support groups with the same nonchalance as dismissing disgust with the first lady's tact, naked pictures, choice of shoes etc.<br />---It's all more aspects of the era of false equivalencies brought on by the forces that created things like FNC.<br />In the end, social media, like the internet is just a hallway, because all speech is raised to 11 on the dial so to speak. So as MyCue23 is saying, nothing means much of anything.<br />-SJ SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-88126815773489127802017-08-31T00:51:05.664-04:002017-08-31T00:51:05.664-04:00There is a really great line by the character Bane...There is a really great line by the character Bane from "The Dark Knight Returns" movie that I can never really shake.<br /><br />Bane says, "Victory has defeated you" to Batman as they fight and I think there is a facet of truth in that for the United States. After WW2 our purpose as a nation was defined in our opposition to the Soviet Union. When it fell apart for several years we basked in the glory of our victory but with no enemy to unite against we turned on ourselves. <br /><br />Even worse, the various elements of the right-wing became enamored with authoritarianism. But then again the only real reason they hated the commies was because it was atheistic and talked about overthrowing the rich. That scared millionaire trust fund babies. Putin's old style blame the homo loving liberals for the problems of the world really gets them off. <br /><br />The left fell apart trying to placate the semi-self aware middle class who only really care they have cable television and that their credits cards work. I could write more but you get the idea.<br /><br />Truthfully, there is a small chance Trump might be a bizarre blessing in disguise. The Republicans are slowly being forced to pay for decades of race baiting politics while there are a few small signs that the Democrats might be coming out of their political coma. <br /><br />Then again, no one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the average American. Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-16919054382810523672017-08-15T13:27:12.377-04:002017-08-15T13:27:12.377-04:00It's great seeing so many old friends. I have...It's great seeing so many old friends. I have fond memories of my blogspot days, and invite everyone over to my place at madmikesamerica to comment or, if so inclined, to submit an article. If reluctant to leave an email in the comment field just make up something just make sure it ends in .com, preceded by @ after whatever name you choose. In the meantime I plan on renewing those friendships. Have a wonderful day.Kentucky Rainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16753739401363847764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-31002492860237936162017-08-15T09:30:43.553-04:002017-08-15T09:30:43.553-04:00@SJ, damn that's some awesome stuff. You reall...@SJ, damn that's some awesome stuff. You really need to write something soon. <br />@Kentucky Rain - It's great to hear from you Mike. And you are right. The Democrats couldn't wait to pounce on Obama for not being a unicorn with rainbows flying out of his butt. <br />@Beach Bum - The left is it's own worst enemy at times. Whining about everything that isn't perfect. They continue to search for the progressive superman or superwoman who will make their lives a magical wonderland. Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-20914052108231560442017-08-15T08:04:29.001-04:002017-08-15T08:04:29.001-04:00I remember democrats deserting Obama in droves sho...I remember democrats deserting Obama in droves shortly after his election, calling him awful names simply because he didn't push universal health care. They hammered and hammered at him, much like they are doing now only targeting Trump instead of Obama. Democrats are their own worst enemy and unless they stop eating their young 2018 will be more of the same, with democrats left in the dust as republicans become stronger and stronger. We must unite, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. (Michael J. Scott)Kentucky Rainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16753739401363847764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-23435032701984040992017-08-15T03:27:28.259-04:002017-08-15T03:27:28.259-04:00The worst part of it I guess is how little shock I...The worst part of it I guess is how little shock I feel Mycue23. <br />These racist, torch bearing assholes in Dockers are the least of this demographic: They are its best most normal-looking face and they look very familiar to anyone who has looked at photos of the Civil Rights era. All of these groups, whether it's the openly radicalized White Nationalists, or the clownish Neo-Nazis or their ideological cousins: -the various militia groups that insist on protesting with rifles and guns in hand or at the hip in front of our National Guard and police (I'd love to see by contrast, what would happen if a thousand women showed up at a demonstration anywhere in the country bearing weapons of any kind with the same obnoxious and dangerous attitude of entitlement the Tea Party has shown on many occasions.) need to be treated no differently than the terrorists of ISIS or Al Qada or another other group of homicidal maniacs, -or do we need another Tim McVeigh, another Unabomber, to show us just how little difference there is between a terrorist who is American born or not? The KKK, with its own long, long, long track record of torturing and killing an innumerable amount of Americans is allowed to exist by a bizarre loophole in American thinking that supposes that in order for freedom and liberty to exist with integrity, it must guarantee the existence and freedoms of ALL within the Republic. I would point out, at the risk of being called a hypocrite, intolerant, fascist, or worse by my Liberal and Progressive fellows that the freedom of speech, right to assembly, guarantee of safety of one ends where it encroaches on those same rights and freedoms of another. This loophole the KKK enjoys is of course further widened by the selectivity and racism of our government officials, and perhaps their own decades-long infiltration by closet sympathizers and active members of these groups on the local and federal level. The KKK and this new generation of White Nationalists enjoys a certain pass because they threaten and kill people, who at least half of our government officials don't care about or don't recognize as Americans who should be protected. The ACLU will continue to defend their speech, their right to exist; I will continue to point out that they have no more right to exist than the Confederate State insurgency that gave birth to them and their moronic worldview.<br />I'd love to tear down every Confederate statue, and leave a plaque in its place citing the number of American soldiers that particular traitor's actions were responsible for killing. I'd love to shred every Confederate flag, because flying a rebel flag is an act of treason that should at least generate as much rage and indignation as the burning of the stars and stripes - we should really ask people on the Right why it doesn't piss them off.<br />In truth I have been expecting so much worse for a very long time. <br />Many of these citizens/members or sympathizers of the above mentioned groups have been theatrically flipping out since the Civil War. The question remains, if they consider themselves to be a nation unto themselves, -a people entirely apart -with a different set of founders and different goals, different morality, and a complete defiance of our agreed upon laws, Constitution, and lack of recognition of our law enforcement authorities, why don't we treat them that way?<br />-SJSJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17181694732531476160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-26266929326168508562017-08-14T22:47:08.322-04:002017-08-14T22:47:08.322-04:00Hopefully we are no longer living under the illusi...<i>Hopefully we are no longer living under the illusion that we have turned some corner or crested some hill on our way to racial and cultural harmony.</i><br /><br />For a short time before the 2008 election I bought into that idea. About a week before the election though I listened to a NPR interview where a group of random voters were asked their opinions of what would happen.<br /><br />My illusions were shattered when an upper middle class white woman voiced her concern that African-Americans might use the election of Obama as a chance to get revenge on centuries of slavery and racism. <br /><br />I knew then that we were all screwed and that any chance of the change President Obama talked about would be blunted by people like that ignorant woman. In fairness, I have to say after the 2008 election Democrats quickly went back to whining about how Obama didn't change the world overnight. Even worse, they totally went AWOL in the 2010 and 2014 midterms allowing reactionary republicans to make Obama's work even harder. Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-87758453919797871382017-06-26T16:39:08.302-04:002017-06-26T16:39:08.302-04:00...Donald Trump might wake up one day and decide t...<i>...Donald Trump might wake up one day and decide that he just doesn't want to do this anymore.</i><br /><br />I agree, Trump's ego will not let him resign and they crawl back under his rock located somewhere in his crappy New York hotel. What worries me is that not only will he not resign, even as the ethical and criminal issues mount, but that in revenge he might somehow decide to burn down the country. <br /><br />Not sure what that would entail, but there is just no way in hell Trump will go quietly. Commander Zaiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000824454124236774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31964974.post-8763280646655414442017-06-23T12:48:47.598-04:002017-06-23T12:48:47.598-04:00@SJ,
Unfortunately it seems like people can't...@SJ, <br />Unfortunately it seems like people can't see past the tip of their noses. It's not about policy or the good of the people. It's about the win. That's what politics is about now. It's a game of win or lose. Not good or bad. Not sensible or insane. We won, so you guys can go screw yourselves. Oh, I'm losing my health insurance. So, we won! Oh our public schools are going to shit? So, we won! Our President is a laughing stock around the world? Screw them, we Won! <br />Sad state of affairs my friend. I just don't see it getting any better. Mycue23https://www.blogger.com/profile/07474424588090159340noreply@blogger.com