.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

While We Still Have Time

In spite of the grimness of the times in which we live, there is still hope. If you feel, like I do, that the usual discourse about matters of critical concern tends to be superficial, misguided, and false, then you might find some solace and inspiration here. I will try to offer insight and a holistic perspective on events and issues, and hopefully serve as a catalyst for raising the level of dialogue on this planet.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

I was born in 1945, shortly before atom bombs were dropped on Japan. I served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971. I earned master's degrees in Economics and Educational Psychology, and certificates in Web Page Design and as a Teacher of English as a Second Language. I followed an Indian guru for eight years, which immersed me in meditative practices and an attitude of reaching a higher level of being. A blog post listing the meditative practices I have pursued can be seen here.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

The Cause

Over the years I have donated small amounts of money to various causes, mostly environmental, human rights and some indigenous groups. When a candidate for public office seems worthy, I have sent a few dollars, such as to Russ Feingold and Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, when you give money they sell your address to other causes and candidates in a relentless and unending onslaught of money appeals. The causes may be good, the politician may be worthy, but they all have fundraising departments, and their purpose in life is to panhandle, to beg for money.

A perfect example is that in 2000 I started getting emails from Joe Biden. He was running for president. The emails didn't say from the Biden for President Campaign, but from Joe Biden personally, though he no doubt wasn't personally sending me a money appeal. The content was typical Joe Biden blah, blah blah, forgettable stuff that meant nothing, but I remember the essence was that he among all people on Planet Earth was the savior of mankind. Or some such.

Biden referred to his campaign as "The Cause." There were never any ideas expressed, no policies or proposals, just "The Cause." No mention of just what the cause was, except by implication. The cause was Joe Biden. Rally around Joe Biden because, well, just because.

It was clear then and it is clearer now that Joe Biden is nothing more than a hack politician, a handsome guy with a wide smile. The hair on top of his head is transplanted from elsewhere on his body, a vanity move to improve his electoral prospects, he having gone bald somewhere along the long line of "The Cause." He has perfect teeth.

Joe Biden has never had an idea of his own about anything. His "Build Back Better" program was inspired by Bernie Sanders, concocted by subordinates with Biden as the pitch man, the front man who took credit. It worked, and he was supposedly on his way to reelection. The Cause Part 2.

Unfortunately for Joe Biden, reality intervened. The onslaught on Gaza by the government of Israel showed Biden for who he really is, an empty suit, a hack with no moral or ethical principles, and a threat to world peace. Some cause. He continues to this day to send money and weapons to Israel with no meaningful restrictions, no limits.

Then came the debate. It has to be the humiliation of eons, of epochs, to be defeated by Donald Trump in a debate. Defeated resoundingly by what may be the worst human being in human history. It wasn’t because of any skill or superior policies that Trump "won." It was because Joe Biden wasn't just a terrible debater, but he exhibited a serious decline in mental capacity. He showed himself to be not just unfit to run for reelection, but unfit for office in the present tense. He should be removed from office through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

Biden has continued to show himself unfit for office on a daily basis. His latest effort, a "letter" to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel military command, "strongly" criticizing the ongoing genocide in Gaza, is a big nothing, just window dressing, a fake effort to give some public relations cover for U.S. support for whatever Israel does. And, I suppose, to give some plausible deniability should they be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Dumb guys. It is all a bullshit game. It is the downfall of dumb guys in politics from time immemorial. Do what you do to serve power, and when doubt arises, just create a pattern of bullshit. Lies upon lies upon lies. Deflect. Undermine. Quash dissent. Buy people, governments off. Bribe. Blackmail. Threaten. Kill if it suits you.>

Kamala Harris, now the leading candidate for president, supports Biden totally, seeing it to her advantage to ruffle no feathers. She supports the genocide in Gaza fully, as well as for whatever pending genocide Israel might have up its metaphorical sleeve for the rest of the Mideast – as long as Joe Biden remains complicit. As such, she is just another hack politician, another empty suit, in this case a pantsuit. Her trademark appeal is her unending smile, but not as good as Joe Biden's.

Meanwhile, the planet is getting hotter, we are getting closer to global thermonuclear war by the day, and our unsustainable infinite-growth economic system is about to unsustain. Anything unsustainable eventually unsustains. The illusion of "The Cause" of Joe Biden, carefully crafted for decades, unsustained. It was nothing, and now it is seen as nothing. In terms of Christianity it is ashes to ashes, dust to dust. From here on out for Joe Biden every day is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a time of penitence. From dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. Good riddance.
______________________________________

Here's a song. Here's another. This song is for the U.S. and Israel. Good luck with this one. A lost cause song. A song for Donald Trump. We shouldn't have to feel this way.