I know that it's popular these days to compare the last few months to Germany 1930's, but that is getting kind of boring. Instead, let me compare it to a summer's day...wait, that's not right. Oh, yeah, let's use the late 1490's in Florence Italy [Oh, Lord, not Italy again...]. Now this was another time of extreme craziness called the Bonfire of the Vanities - the burning of objects condemned by authorities as "occasions of sin "like Boticelli paintings showing naked people and stuff like that. Many were convinced that the Medici family was evil as they were bankers (though not Jewish ones who were more evil) and all things deemed decadent should be destroyed. So fast forward, replace "Medici" with "Trump" (or "Hitler", but never "Stalin", or "Mao" or "Pol Pot", or "Chavez") and you have the 2017 version. LINK to Wiki explanation...
Well, as of today, it seems that we're moving into full-blown Bonfire of the Vanities craziness. It has now gotten to the point where statues are being attacked, destroyed, removed. It is becoming all so very Shakespearean (except he was about 100 years later and which brought on more crazies who outlawed theatre, but LOVED beheadings/civil war! But I digress). First it was a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in some town (the video-streaming perps have been arrested), and then someone vandalized the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Can't figure out why, but then perhaps these ignorant fools mistook Lincoln Memorial for the Jefferson Memorial (known slave owner). I can't wait for them to realize that the land where DC was once part of slave-owner George Washington's property and that Arlington Cemetary was once owned by Gen. Lee's wife's family and seized byt the Union. Oh, and that President General Ulysses S. Grant owned slaves too...there goes "Who Is Buried In Grant's Tomb" jokes!
And now for the next outrage: Trump had the audacity to actually removed this Citi-bike rack (see photo below) that Pres. Obama installed on the WH grounds. [Okay, I don't think that Obama actually lifted it off the truck himself nor do I believe that Trump helped lift it onto a truck while laughing maniacly, but from the number of tweets, maybe he did!] Anyhow, if you don't know what these are, they are commercial rent-a-bike racks open to the public that rent bikes by the 1/2 hour fee. One can return the bike to any of these racks around the city. Oh, and if you're all ickey about corporate welfare, this is a great example of it...all subsidized by the local tax-payers. Oh, and did you notice where this rack that was removed was placed?
Notice the sign that say "Restricted Area" and notice where the bike rack is. How is "the public" supposed to use that rack exactly?
Hey, maybe it was moved because it was just pointless virtue-signalling from our former administration. I bet Trump is changing the color scheme in the Oval Office too. Probably to gold...no, I don't mean comedy gold. I mean real gold. He does that...
So let's end this with a very pointed question. This could mean the beginning or end or something in the middle. If you haven't chosen a side yet, please make sure that you take the following question into consideration before making your choice, but you must choose a side according to former AG Eric Holder.
Okay, take a deep breath and here it goes: "Are you or have you ever been a member of a group, religion, sexual orientation, race or posted anything on social media that we can use against you?"
If you answer "yes" to any of these, you are on the wrong side.
Well, as of today, it seems that we're moving into full-blown Bonfire of the Vanities craziness. It has now gotten to the point where statues are being attacked, destroyed, removed. It is becoming all so very Shakespearean (except he was about 100 years later and which brought on more crazies who outlawed theatre, but LOVED beheadings/civil war! But I digress). First it was a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in some town (the video-streaming perps have been arrested), and then someone vandalized the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Can't figure out why, but then perhaps these ignorant fools mistook Lincoln Memorial for the Jefferson Memorial (known slave owner). I can't wait for them to realize that the land where DC was once part of slave-owner George Washington's property and that Arlington Cemetary was once owned by Gen. Lee's wife's family and seized byt the Union. Oh, and that President General Ulysses S. Grant owned slaves too...there goes "Who Is Buried In Grant's Tomb" jokes!
And now for the next outrage: Trump had the audacity to actually removed this Citi-bike rack (see photo below) that Pres. Obama installed on the WH grounds. [Okay, I don't think that Obama actually lifted it off the truck himself nor do I believe that Trump helped lift it onto a truck while laughing maniacly, but from the number of tweets, maybe he did!] Anyhow, if you don't know what these are, they are commercial rent-a-bike racks open to the public that rent bikes by the 1/2 hour fee. One can return the bike to any of these racks around the city. Oh, and if you're all ickey about corporate welfare, this is a great example of it...all subsidized by the local tax-payers. Oh, and did you notice where this rack that was removed was placed?
Hey, maybe it was moved because it was just pointless virtue-signalling from our former administration. I bet Trump is changing the color scheme in the Oval Office too. Probably to gold...no, I don't mean comedy gold. I mean real gold. He does that...
So let's end this with a very pointed question. This could mean the beginning or end or something in the middle. If you haven't chosen a side yet, please make sure that you take the following question into consideration before making your choice, but you must choose a side according to former AG Eric Holder.
This is a time to choose sides-simple as that. Who do you stand with? What do you truly value? There is a right side and an immoral one.
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) August 15, 2017
Okay, take a deep breath and here it goes: "Are you or have you ever been a member of a group, religion, sexual orientation, race or posted anything on social media that we can use against you?"
If you answer "yes" to any of these, you are on the wrong side.
I grew up in Memphis about a block from Forrest Park, my dad's uncles rode with Forrest...he was a hero to us....like all humans he was complicated...however, he called for reconciliation and good treatment of the freed slaves...he felt there was no other way to heal the wounds that war caused. These idiots in Memphis actually tried to dig his grave up...they vandalize it..they are so ignorant it hurts.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw a liberal defense of this idiocy the other day in which said liberals took offense to Robert E. Lee and those like him being called patriots...being they were all racist and all kinds of evil. It was then said (with I'm assuming a straight face) that if examples of true patriots were wanted, Jefferson and Washington should be looked at. The level of ignorance and blatant stupidity continue to surprise me each time they sink a little lower.
ReplyDeleteAs for your final question...Well, crap. As a white, heterosexual Christian, I guess I'm doomed.
This is just like America in the 1920s and 30s. The Klan was riding high politically and as a show of muscle flexing and as a middle finger to those who opposed it, it set up a bunch of monuments to Klan leaders, Confederates and judges who handed down decisions like Dredd Scott.
ReplyDeleteNow some people are just as enthusiastic about taking down those statues as the Klan and its fans were about putting them up.
I have zero use for the Confederacy, but I am fine with the statues going down or staying up (contingent upon local sentiment). They are just stone. Whatever happens it ought to be orderly not something done by random yahoos.
I was deeply shocked when Trump dissolved his business advisory panels given that a day or two before before he had indicated that were dozens of businessmen willing to fill the shoes of the grandstanding (the worst of all crimes!) people who resigned after Charlottesville.
ReplyDeleteA middle school teacher who is on trial for attacking a man for having the wrong thoughts (he was a Nazi) is explaining that some thoughts are so dangerous the only reasonable response is a physical attack. She shot not be permitted near kids, let alone be a teacher.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yvette-felarca-neo-nazi-fascism_us_59949dece4b0d0d2cc83d266?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
A middle school teacher in Berkeley, California, accused of punching a neo-Nazi during a 2016 protest is arguing that standing up to fascism is not a crime.
Yvette Felarca, 47, was arrested last month for her involvement in a June 2016 anti-fascist demonstration held in Sacramento.
Felarca, who is a member of an activist group called By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), has been charged with felony assault, as well as two misdemeanor counts of inciting and participating in a riot, according to KPIX TV.
Footage of the demonstration appears to show Felarca repeatedly punching a member of the Traditionalist Worker Party, a white nationalist group described as ”a front for neo-Nazi sympathizers” by ABC 10. The taller man is holding up his hands while trying to get police officers to help. Other protesters drag the man to the ground before the police intervene.
---------------
She is scheduled to teach at her Berkeley middle school when the students return later this month and cannot be legally fired unless she is convicted of a felony, according to KPIX TV.
Bev, Stacy and Anthony, The problem isn't that they are trying to remove a few questionable figures who are basically KKK symbols. They are trying to re-write American history. They are trying to use the link to slavery as a wedge to get the issue rolling and then they will expand. Jefferson and Washington have already been talked about because of the slavery issue (no pre-Civil War figure will be safe from that charge). Jackson is talked about because of the Indian issue. FDR is even on the block over the internment of Japanese issue. Truman is on the list over the atomic bomb.
ReplyDeleteIf they can remove these people, look at how much of our history vanishes as well as our understanding of who we are as a nation. Basically, they will get to rework American history by eliminating the people they don't like and replacing them with people they do like.
And it's not just statues. Notice that Twain is already the most banned author in America because he used the "n-word," which was common parlance at the time. Hemingway is attacked for misogyny. And don't think for a moment that people like Washington will vanish from history books, he will be presented as a villain if they get their way.
You cannot give these people an inch because it isn't the inch they want.
On Trump dumping the economic council, I think he's sending a signal: play politics with this and I'll cut you off. Now all these companies have lost their access and their chance to grandstand.
ReplyDeleteI would bet he re-assembles something similar in the near future.
... and no, that's not an endorsement of his method. I just think that's what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew - I agree. And it is no unique to human history. It happens over and over. Unfortunately it almost never turns out well for documents, art work, possessions and those on the "losing" side of history.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting about the eradication of Twain, is that if one actually reads his books, they would know that he was a staunch abolitionist. Btw, I have never actually read any version of Huck Finn with the "original" word. It was changed for those in the South to "Negro Jim" (an acceptable word at the time) then Black Jim and no No Jim at all because it has been banned from classrooms.
Because of the incident in Durham, NC, our governor stated: “My first responsibility as governor is to protect North Carolinians and keep them safe,” Cooper said. “The likelihood of protesters being injured or worse as they may try to topple any one of the hundreds of monuments in our state concerns me." Okay - what's wrong with this picture?
ReplyDeleteI think it would serve them right if they got hurt, but at the very least they should be arrested for vandalism.
At least they arrested the person who climbed the ladder and put a rope around the neck of the statue in Durham.
I guess now we all get to stand with Barcelona..every time something like this happens I think that we need to really control who gets in our country.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Holder's question, obviously I'm on the right. See what I did there? ... What a maroon.
ReplyDeleteGet this idiotic tweet that seems appropriate to today's article.
"There's a fascist sympathizer in the White House and people in Venuzuela are eating zoo animals so clearly centrism is the real threat."
Hahahaha! This goof just made fascism look really good by comparing it to Venezuela. Last I checked, Whole Foods is still fully stocked.
If someone pulls down a statue and gets squashed, that's on them.
ReplyDelete(•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■)
13 alleged people allegedly killed in that alleged van attack in Barcelona. Thankfully, they weren't killed by a white racist. That would have been awful. Too bad we will never know what motivated this poor man of North African decent to allegedly drive today when his van allegedly hit some alleged people.
ReplyDeleteTurns left to listen for outcry: crickets
Huh. Odd.
Trump dissolving the economic council was bad optics. That said, it's not the sort of thing that lives long in the public mind, outside of listicles entitled "16 Times Trump has Acted Like a Crybaby."
ReplyDeleteFrom a policy standpoint, according to some dude on the radio, the council was a bit of political theater and the companies on it aren't likely to lose access. That jives with what Andrew supposes. They will, however, lose scrutiny when dealing with Trump. This is a Pyrrhic victory for those who consider it a win.
Two guys (one Tunisian) arrested for the Barcelona attack. I'm willing to bet they were known to authorities. That always seems to happen in Europe ('We knew they had bad intentions, we were waiting for them to do something serious').
ReplyDeleteBAck to statues: a nearly 100 year old bust of Abraham Lincoln was vandalized and burned in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood late Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteThis presents a conundrum. Was this an act of racist vandalism? Lincoln did free the slaves. Or anti-racist vandalism? Lincoln made some problematic statements, too. This used to be so much easier.
Regarding the advisory councils Trump disbanded, one group had already informed Trump of its decision to disband the other was rapidly emptying out. Trump disbanding them was a face saving move.
ReplyDeleteI doubt he will ever make a similar group which could similarly embarrass him through resignations next time he says something they strongly disagree with.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/a-second-trump-advisory-council-is-disbanding.html
"The thinking was it was important to do as a group," said the member of the advisory council. As a panel, not as individuals because it would have more significant impact. It makes a central point that it's not going to go forward. It's done."
The business leaders chose to dissolve the council in order to "condemn" the president's comments about the Charlottesville violence, the member said. The member described Trump's defiant press conference on Tuesday as a "tripwire."
They had heard from employees and customers about the advisory council.
"There really was nothing to debate," the member said.
This is interesting. Yahoo has been flooding its front page with anti-Trump "look how bad America is because of Charlottesville" articles.
ReplyDeleteBarcelona happens. 16 dead. 36 injured.
The only article Yahoo has about it is 7 pages below the top and its headline reads: "Van jumps sidewalk in Barcelona injuring several people."
Wow. Talk about a blatant attempt to mislead people. Not only hiding an inconvenient truth, but then false mislabeling to make it seem like nothing of consequence. What's more, when you read the article, they actually mention that people have been killed. So the headline isn't even consistent with the article!
So Nancy Pelosi is now calling on Speaker Paul Ryan demanding that all of the statues of Confederates around the the Capitol Building be removed. This just occurred to me...someone might want to remind Pelosi that all of these Comfederates she wants removed were Democrats.
ReplyDeleteJust read about vandals tarring and feathering a Confederate monument. Ridiculous. All that time and effort they could have done something useful like volunteer at a shelter or something.
ReplyDeleteit's the middle of the day, why aren't they working?
ReplyDeleteTrump has abandoned recently announced plans to start an infrastructure council. No reason was given.
ReplyDeleteThis supports my theory Trump has soured on the notion of formal industry panels and will just consult informally with certain people.
People with no formal positions can't embarrass Trump by resigning when he does or says something they strongly disagree with.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-17/trump-is-said-to-abandon-plan-for-council-on-infrastructure
President Donald Trump will not move forward with a planned Advisory Council on Infrastructure, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The infrastructure council, which was still being formed, would have advised Trump on his plan to spend as much as $1 trillion upgrading roads, bridges and other public works. Its cancellation follows Trump’s announcement Wednesday that he was disbanding two other business advisory panels.
There has been a second terror attack in Spain. Police killed all five attackers before they claimed any lives but there were some injuries. They were connected to the guys that staged the Barcelona attack. The driver in that attack is still at large.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40971004.
Spanish police say they have killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a vehicle attack, after an earlier one in Barcelona.
The men, wearing explosive belts, were linked to the first attack, police say.
Thirteen people died and dozens were hurt when a van hit crowds on Las Ramblas, Barcelona on Thursday. The driver fled and is still at large.
Spain's PM Mariano Rajoy described it a "jihadist attack", which so-called Islamic State said it had carried out.
Seven people, including a police officer, were wounded when a car was driven into them early on Friday, Catalan emergency services said. One person is in a critical condition.
The attackers' vehicle overturned and when the men got out they were quickly fired upon by police, media say. One was reportedly brandishing a knife.
A series of controlled explosions was then carried out.
All that time and effort, and the vandals could have tarred and feathered their local congressional representative. Pussies.
ReplyDeleteAnd now an attack in Finland of all places. What has Finns ever done to anyone?
ReplyDeleteBannon is out. That recent interview where he contradicted Trump only made sense if he were on the way out the door.
ReplyDeleteI doubt this will mean anything.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/18/steve-bannon-out-at-white-house.html
The White House confirmed in a brief statement that Bannon, a hardcore populist who often sparred with his West Wing colleagues, would make Friday his last day -- just over a year after he joined the Trump presidential campaign.
"White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "We are grateful for his service and wish him the best."
One White House aide told Fox News the departure was a long time coming, and that Bannon actually submitted his resignation in writing two weeks ago.
Breitbart now doubts Trump.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/08/18/steve-bannon-gone-trump-risks-becoming-arnold-schwarzenegger-2-0/
President Donald Trump’s decision to part ways with Steve Bannon can be understood as an effort to save his presidency after Charlottesville. It may turn out to be the beginning of the end for the Trump administration, the moment Donald Trump became Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Like Trump, Schwarzenegger ran for high office as a celebrity outsider, promising to reform a corrupt, wasteful and lethargic political system, reaching across party lines.
An expedition financed by Paul Allen has found the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis. Quite admirable of him.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/19/long-lost-uss-indianapolis-wreckage-discovered-by-paul-allen-crew.html
Wreckage from the USS Indianapolis, which sank 72 years ago after being torpedoed during World War II, was found in the Philippine Sea by the expedition crew of billionaire Paul Allen.
The Indianapolis was hit by the Japanese on July 30, 1945 and sank in only 12 minutes, leading to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the Navy's history. Of 1,196 crew aboard the ship, only 317 survived.
A sober, thoughtful article about the lives of Jerry Lewis and Dick Gregory and the fluid nature of comedy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/08/21/flynn-jerry-lewis-dick-gregory-comic-geniuses-funny/