Tag: Corruption

Our News Media’s Big Problem – They Don’t Know How To Connect Dots

~ boynhisdog ~ Leave a comment

I have two kids.  When they were little, they both delighted in connect-the-dots books.  They thrilled to the concept that — as they drew (their pencil being guided by the numbers) — a picture would emerge.  And all THEY had to do: connect the dots.

Cute_Elephant_connect_dots

That same concept works in and for storytelling.  Half the fun of listening to a story is anticipating where we think it’s going to go.  Based on the dots already connected for us (by the storyteller), we can anticipate how the dots ahead of us might connect.  We’re also hoping for a plot twist that will completely screw with what we anticipated.  Then the dots will connect a different way.

But — the point is — they’ll still connect.

If the dots don’t connect — there’s no story.  So — in stories, as in life, the dots must (and do) connect.  Just like in the connect-the-dot books.

What can possibly explain our Main Stream Media’s inability to do that simple, basic thing?

We sit in the middle of the biggest connect-the-dots puzzle ever imagined.  It’s massive, stretching in all sorts of directions.  It’s a picture — we can see it already (those of us who can imagine a picture from more than a few hundred feet up) of Massive Corruption — here, in the United States, in Europe, in the Middle east and in Asia.  Even Australia’s contributed — contributing a racist murderer to New Zealand.  Only Antarctica seems free of political corruption; maybe the scientists who’ve worked there know differently.

What we’ve already eyewitnessed ourselves is staggering in its audacity and criminality. Those of us who see crime for what it is, have always seen crime.  Those who easily normalize crime (“He’s a different kind of president”) see normalcy.  The only reason they see normalcy is because they cannot connect dots.

There is nothing normal about these here times. Anyone who accepts this as normal has either surrendered (and needs to stop or just get the hell out of everyone else’s way) or is part of the criminal class — and they need to cut it the hell out — and get the hell out of everyone else’s way.  There has been a steady stream of clear-cut EVIDENCE that Donald Trump has an “unnatural” relationship with not only Vladimir Putin but a whole host of authoritarian monsters.

There are no coincidences — those are dots connecting.

Of course, it’s hard to see the picture the dots are forming when you obsess on the relationship between two dots.  Problem is — while THOSE TWO dots may not connect directly, they’re still part of the same picture.  If you don’t see THAT fact — you’re going to miss what the picture looks like.  Hell, you’ll probably think they’re TWO DIFFERENT PICTURES. And that, of course, is completely wrong.

Welcome to America’s Main Stream News Media.

Back when Fusion GPS first got hired by the REPUBLICAN Washington Free Beacon (Jeb Bush supporters) to compile oppo research on Donald Trump, they started by doing their “due diligence”.  When he testified before Congress on August 22, 2017, Fusion’s founding partner Glenn Simpson (formerly of the Wall Street Journal — not exactly a liberal rag) explained Fusion’s process.  They got ahold of every piece of PUBLICLY AVAILABLE material they could on Donald J Trump.

They got books.  They got magazine articles.  They listened to Trump on radio shows and watched him on TV shows. They bought stuff from Amazon and borrowed it from the public library.  Simpson testified that Fusion got its hands on every existing bit of info (available to anyone) that even hinted at Trump.  And what they found there, said Simpson, convinced them that Donald Trump had a long, clear criminal history — and that history had a long, clear relationship with Russian mobsters.

Simpson and Fusion GPS knew — Russian mobsters equals the Russian government.  You don’t get to be a Russian oligarch (a mobster) without having one particular friend in Moscow: Vlad Putin.  Putin’s a spy by nature and training.  He thinks like a spy and acts like one. He’s always looking for an in — a way to control you and make you his.  If Donald Trump had secrets about Russian mobsters for whom he’d been laundering money — he had secrets about himself and Vladimir Putin.

Understand — the Donald dot does not connect directly to the Vladimir Putin dot. But they do most definitely connect.

They are very definitely part of the same picture.

Oh — before I forget — IF anyone in the Main Stream Media happens to read this — that picture at the top of the post?

It’s an elephant.

 

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What EXACTLY Do Conservatives Want To ‘Conserve’?

~ boynhisdog ~ Leave a comment

I’ve asked this before but haven’t gotten an answer yet… I know what Progressives want to PROGRESS toward: as much equality as possible for as many people as soon as possible.  Progressives want to progress in any we they can toward a level playing field where every American has the best possible chance to contribute as much as they possibly can to America while benefiting as much as they can.

Progressives want America to be as diverse as possible because they know that DIVERSITY is what makes America Exceptional.

Progressives want America to PROGRESS — just like it says in our name.  We want America to PROGRESS into THE FUTURE.

Okay, conservatives, we showed you ours, now show us yours:  What do Conservatives want to CONSERVE?  And how will conserving THAT get us anywhere NEAR our FUTURE?  To judge by republican policies and Trumpian attitudes, conservatives want to conserve the worst of America:  Its racism, its misogyny.  Its bigotry and willful ignorance.

Republicans want to conserve White Christian Male Culture.

Now, that’s easy for me to say — a progressive shithead but, for shits n giggles, I recommend finding a conservative friend — if you still have any — and ask them, point blank:  “Dude — what is it exactly you’re trying to conserve anyway?”  After they try to avoid answering, listen carefully.  They won’t say anything logical or even intelligible.  That’s the point.

Their simple answer is “How it WAS.”  Meaning, ‘How it was when WHITE PEOPLE ruled the world’.

The real joke of it is, White People really do believe the World is ‘far better’ when their Wonder Bread tastes and judgments rule everything and diversity is held at bay.  White People think they have a choice regarding the Future — and who ‘peoples’ it.

Shouldn’t someone tell them what happens to people in the MINORITY when the MAJORITY decides to treat them unfairly?

Oh well — Live and learn…

If You Hate Donald J Trump, You Hate White, Christian Male Culture; There’s Hope For You…

~ boynhisdog ~ Leave a comment

Trump cos more trump

Let’s define our terms first: The reason we’re in this damned mess is that the republican party (uncapitalized because undeserving), seeing a great demographic Black Hole and Extinction in its future, deliberately and knowingly conspired with RUSSIA to seize power from the American Electorate in a soft Coup D’Etat.

Election 2016 was Illegitimate probably from Top to Bottom.

When I say ‘republican party’, of course, what I mean is ‘WHITE, CHRISTIAN MALE CULTURE’ — a ‘culture’ built almost entirely ON BULLSHIT.

White, Christian Male Culture (WCMC) believes that White People are superior to all other people on the planet, that White People are smarter, better looking, better suited to succeed, better athletes, better everything.  They believe White Music is better (ever hear a racist rail against jazz?).  White Literature (hilarious cos White People don’t read).  White Religion.

Especially White Religion.  White Religion sits at the core of White Male Culture — the belief not that ‘god’ is White but that each and every White Person is ‘GOD’ themselves and therefore omnipotent.  What they say goes.

Problem is, it doesn’t.  Because when White People enter an environment that isn’t just ‘Other White People’, they bump into something that disconcerts the hell out of them:  DIVERSITY.  They find they have to COMPETE with people who haven’t had to compete practically EVER.  At least not with people who weren’t White.

America is diverse and has always been diverse.  DIVERSITY is what makes America ‘EXCEPTIONAL’.  Diversity IS ‘American Exceptionalism’.  All other countries evolved over long periods of time with scattered tribes slowly coalescing into a National Tribe with distinct National ‘characteristics’.  The French ‘evolved’ into being French, the Germans into being Germans, the Swiss the Swiss, the English the English and so on.  In the 1500’s, if you were to step into any of what became those countries, the national character we now think of as those countries was already well-formed enough to be reflected in the historical record.

And, then, all those DIFFERENT national characters started arriving in a ‘Neutral Environment’ — America (made a whole lot more ‘neutral’ via ‘Guns, Germs & Steel’ (to borrow the title of Jared Diamond’s excellent book).  None of those peoples who arrived on these shores were ‘American’.  They became American by being here — while their Culture met (perhaps for the first time) and mingled with other Cultures and began to ‘cross-breed’ with them.

The result of all that cross-breeding is us — America — and all the dynamism and actual Greatness that flows from us.  We are The World mixed together.  We’re the lab for what happens genius from one culture meshes with genius from another culture to produce genius from a third (our) culture.

And it works.  God-damn, it WORKS!

That, apparently, gives WCMC a sad.  It makes it feel scared.  Threatened.  Unqualified.  It isn’t of course — WCMC is no better or worse than any other culture; it, too, has produced great things.  It just has the wrong idea of itself — it thinks it’s better than everyone; good thing that’s fixable.  Ask Germany.Cult

Donald Trump is the literal FACE of WCMC.  It is White-White-White-WHITE.  It is Christian — it does not believe a word of the faith it professes (having never read the actual texts their faith is based on) but claims to be among its most ardent followers.  It is Male — oh boy, is it Male; nothing makes it happier than waving its dick in your face or, worse, sticking it in you against your will because IT feels ENTITLED to.

So, yeah — Donald Trump IS White, Christian Male ‘Culture’.  If you voted for it?  You WILL deserve everything that befalls you.

Think of it as ‘getting cultured’.

Here’s An Absolute Truth: All Results From Election 2016 MUST BE TOSSED. Otherwise It’ll Be ‘SLAVERY: The Sequel’

~ boynhisdog ~ Leave a comment

Excuse me if we ‘cut to the cliche’:  Russia touched, influenced or CORRUPTED virtually every facet of Election 2016.

They penetrated databases, stole & transferred data, weaponized that data and turned it back on us, bought American politicians wholesale via the NRA and thousands of Russian ‘retirees’.  This didn’t happen suddenly.  Vladimir Putin himself had a strong hand in drawing up ‘The Plan To Undermine America & The West’ so as to restore ‘Greater Russia’, remove America from its role as World’s Policeman, and Suppress the Muslim Infidel while retaking The Holy Land For The Mother Orthodox Church.

This HAS been on Vlad’s mind for a while.  And he’s been cultivating various Americans for years (looking at YOU, Dana Rohrbacher!)  — all for the purpose of undermining us, our place in the world and our ability to defend that world against Vladimir Putin.  This is what Vladimir Putin does:  He’s a spy.  A very, very good one.

Putin turned every last bit of his ‘shadow world’ machinery against us.  The results we got are (for the most part) the results that Vladimir Putin wanted.  He employed — with significant American assistance (Cambridge Analytics) — stolen information for the express purpose of suppressing some votes while deliberately misinforming the others.  That’s not a billboard we’re talking about, remember — it’s an add on a specific individual’s computer or phone — designed to speak directly to them because it’s speaking in a voice, in essence, STOLEN FROM THEM.

This is Cyber Crime, boys n girls.  Gonna be harder to keep up with than before but that’s just how it is.  The last ones in the pack are usually the ones that get eaten, yeah?

The RESULTS of Election 2016 are, literally, EVIDENCE OF A CRIME — the THEFT of the Will of the American People.

Our WILL was not answered by the election — rather, our will was CIRCUMVENTED.  Illegally — and with the help of a hostile foreign power and it’s greedy, hostile Czar-In-Everything-But-Name.  THAT MAN — Vladimir Putin — using the Republican Party — caused America to walk away from Election 2016 thinking THE OPPOSITE of what REALLY HAPPENED happened.

What REALLY happened was Hillary Clinton won Pennslyvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.  It wasn’t really all that close.  When you factor in the MILLIONS of SUPPRESSED VOTES?  It was a little embarrassing actually.  For Donald Trump — and the Republican Party.

Now, since the election, the Republicans went at the American Government with a sledgehammer in one hand and a vacuum cleaner in the other so they could suck up every bit of available cash.  They’ve changed policies, revised legislation or simply imposed outright insanity upon us and called it ‘Republican Victories’.  And they’ve appointed Judges — all of them DARLINGS of the ‘But We’d Rather Be Fascists’ Federalist Society.  And then there’s Neil Gorsuch — and the strange ‘Odyssey’ Neil took to get there – sailing right past Merrick Garland.

Makes skeptical minds wonder what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knew and when?  Another day, Mitch — another day…

Election 2016 is, top to bottom, illegitimate.  The election itself was/is a crime scene and the results EVIDENCE as I said.  I cannot see ANYWHERE in our CRIMINAL CODE where we catch a thief, prosecute him — PUNISH HIM EVEN — but, at the end of it all, LET HIM KEEP WHAT HE STOLE.

We don’t do it.  No one does.  Thieves, when caught NEVER get to keep WHAT THEY STOLE.

The Republican Party are no less THIEVES than a guy who ripped off your bike.  They’re punks — all of them.

Each Republican recipient of Russian Largess is a CRIMINAL and their election A CRIME.  Everyone who HELPED THEM — and knew about Russia — ALSO CRIMINALS.

Everyone who even SUSPECTED that ‘MAYBE RUSSIA’ — Guilty of being part of the CONSPIRACY.

Is this horse dead yet?  Can I please stop hitting it?

The results of Election 2016 HAVE to be tossed.  Everything that ‘flowed from’ that election HAS TO BE TOSSED.  Becasue it DOES NOT BELONG TO THOSE PEOPLE.  It belongs to WE THE PEOPLE — and it’s time we had what we actually VOTED FOR — the way our Constitution says it’s supposed to be.

Not complicated actually.  Ah, but — it doesn’t say in the Constitution what to do in the event of a TRAITOR — and his whole POLITICAL PARTY — betraying  the Nation.  The Founders — shortsighted bastards all — failed to see THAT possibility in America’s future.  Meaning — the SOLUTION to our problem may not be IN the Constitution but can be valid as an answer because it’s so deeply rooted IN the Constitution.

Fortunately we have a lot of very smart people who know their stuff on the subject of the Constitution.  It may take a lot of late days and HubGrubbed meals.

But there is a very ‘bottom’ line.  The Will of the American People was CIRCUMVENTED by a HOSTILE FOREIGN POWER in Election 2016.  To accept the results would be to ACCEPT the IMPOSITION OF A CRIME onto our Democratic DNA.

American Democracy, we will tell people, is sacred & sacrosanct — except for THAT election — the one RUSSIA WON…

Can’t see ME having that conversation with anyone.  I bet there aren’t a lot of people reading this (if anyone ever does) who’d fight me too hard on it.  I’m not including TRAITORS in that ‘people’, of course.  Traitors aren’t ‘people’.  They’re TRAITORS.

But if we let a Traitor WIN an election — in any way, shape or form — it would haunt us as surely and as terribly as Slavery did and does.  Why on Earth would we go and make TWO catastrophic mistakes/

How much more do we think even a sturdy Democracy can take?

Drip… Drip… Drip… How Authoritarianism Works

~ boynhisdog ~ Leave a comment

The most frustrating arguments I have these days aren’t with Trumpanistas.  They’re with people completely on ‘our side’.

The question isn’t ‘Is Donald Trump the worst thing (aside from slavery) that ever happened to America?’  The question is why are so many ‘informed’, progressive people so reluctant to fully embrace — and act upon — a simple, empirical fact?

Why are they so reluctant when their whole way of life is threatened.  Not make believe threatened — For Real, No-Shit, No-Kidding Threatened.  The kind you look back upon afterward and ask yourself, ‘Gee, considering how clearly and obviously threatened we were, why didn’t someone do something?’  That someone would be YOU, pal — and the why is YOU NORMALIZED THE THREAT.

The steady ‘Drip-Drip-Drip’ of Normalization.  It is DEADLY.

Remember the feelings of outrage you felt over the words Donald Trump spoke about Mexicans on DAY ONE of his campaign?  He said that about human beings he didn’t know, about AMERICANS (many of them) — hard-working, patriotic Americans.

The moment we didn’t stop what was happening and insist that Donald Trump’s campaign to be POTUS end right there, right then — he had us.  It was over.  We had just ACCEPTED — and therefore NORMALIZED overt racism and bigotry.  It poked its nose into the Commonweal’s tent — saw no resistance — and so came right in and made itself at home.

When we next ACCEPTED ‘Pussy-Grabbing’ as ‘Just how this candidate talks about women‘ — we were gone, gone, gone.  Now it was more than HALF THE POPULATION whose DEBASEMENT we ACCEPTED and NORMALIZED.

Authoritarians need the mob BEHIND THEM, not opposing them for this reason and that reason.  Divide & Conquer is so basic even bad dictators usually get that one right.  Donald Trump certainly did.

Donald Trump managed to get the wishes & desires of 16% of the American population — yeah, as a percentage of the whole American Population, that’s the sum total of hard core Trumpanistas.  Throw in the fact that — with the assistance of Russia and Cynical RW White Christian Male Money — Election 2016 was fraudulent top to bottom and you get the recipe for an Authoritarian soft coup just the way the chefs drew it up.

Each little drip was bad enough.  But those drips add up.  Like now — into a whole trough FILLED with Malicious, Un-Democratic Intent.  And the ‘Coffee Maker’ looks and smells like it’s about to explode.

Fer Christ’s Sake — Can we PLEASE turn the ‘coffee maker’ off before it shorts out and burns the whole house down?