tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post4772352155230082698..comments2024-03-28T14:52:13.218-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: No Middle GroundJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-40746296472405523262017-01-14T09:22:02.978-06:002017-01-14T09:22:02.978-06:00Jim, thanks for your writing which I immensely enj...Jim, thanks for your writing which I immensely enjoy. Here and Facebook. <br />Since Im not in your FB circle, I thought perhaps you would enjoy this essey I stumbled across in NYmag. :http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html (Providing u didn't read it already) <br />Thanx again for ur contributions to humanity. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06726692838407105013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-40057737679477543252017-01-14T01:32:31.046-06:002017-01-14T01:32:31.046-06:00I can't speak for how anyone else fights. Ther...I can't speak for how anyone else fights. There are many ways to fight. The point is not that you should make nice and just count on the moral arc bending toward justice a little more quickly. <br /><br />The point is: you shouldn't demonize and vilify everyone who thinks that the Republicans make good points; you shouldn't threaten to jail your political opponents, or even repeatedly slander them until your followers are sure they must be criminals; you shouldn't steal the vote from those who are citizens; you shouldn't use political power to maintain power regardless of the choice of the people. <br /><br />Me? My goal is to call the Republicans' claims into question. <br /><br />"Why are they dismantling health care? Because the law has 'only' covered 20 million additional people? NO! Because it caps profits for insurance companies! Look, let's review their plans so far, and you tell me how it's better than Obamacare, hm?" <br /><br />"They hate abortion... and yet they want to defund Planned Parenthood, which prevents far more abortions than they *ever* have. How does that make sense?"<br /><br />"Oh, come on, they talk jobs, but since Reagan, all they've been doing is fluffing the rich and powerful, they just realized that after the 80s, no one wanted politicians to suck up to the rich any longer, so they had to start finding a better line. But do they keep to it?" <br /><br />That's how I hope to work, and I hope, if I'm at my best, I'll be scathing and scorching, and just reasonable enough to draw in some people disgusted by how Trump and the GOP are screwing up. <br /><br />No one's saying "be nice" or "stop fighting" - only to fight honorably. Don't fight to disenfranchise people; don't engage in wholesale slander or conspiracy theories; don't turn into hateful throwers of feces - throw barbed (verbal/textual) knives, instead - easier on the dry cleaning bill, donchaknow. LongHairedWeirdohttp://longhairedweirdo.dreamwidth.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-74482766366836205852017-01-13T23:50:28.832-06:002017-01-13T23:50:28.832-06:00Well said. And although it will never happen, I ...Well said. And although it will <strong> never </strong> happen, I have decided to myself that I would use no title in referring to him. "Yes." "Don't you mean 'Yes, Mr. President?'" "No, I just meant 'yes'." (Nothing ever happens the way it appears in our heads, but sometimes it should!)<br /><br />Still: if he called me because he needed to get a yes or no from me (why me? Dunno), yeah, I would give him the best answer I could, assuming it was for the good of the nation.LongHairedWeirdohttp://longhairedweirdo.dreamwidth.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-6651545789179853422017-01-10T13:03:06.719-06:002017-01-10T13:03:06.719-06:00Thank you. I resolve to stand up and speak when I...Thank you. I resolve to stand up and speak when I hear nasty comments with no basis in reality. I do not have to sway them, but I do have to stand.<br />I refuse to allow people who look at my skin color and infer that I think as they think. <br />I refuse to listen to men and women who have had the benefits of large government subsidies complain about government payments to someone other than them.<br />I will be the person I believe myself to be. <br />thank you,<br />KimKimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12611107411059229676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-80256285701110825502017-01-09T10:35:42.765-06:002017-01-09T10:35:42.765-06:00Those tactics work everywhere in the world, no exc...Those tactics work everywhere in the world, no exceptions. Just look at Turkey, France, the UK, and now Germany.<br /><br />Using a tactic does not immediately make you like every other person who uses that tactic. This should be self evidently true. It's like telling a lie to save a life or telling a lie for personal gain. Do you yet see the difference? The person telling a lie to save a life is nothing like the person telling a lie for personal gain, even though they have both told a lie.<br /><br />And, like I said above, the only counter to those tactics is to use those same methods yourself. <br /><br />It's what you use them for that matters.Bryan Wetterowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09715654065900027510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-37197093237425624592017-01-08T23:11:10.038-06:002017-01-08T23:11:10.038-06:00I think this ties in very well.
Peter DaouVerifie...I think this ties in very well.<br /><br />Peter DaouVerified account<br />@peterdaou<br />An important lesson from #MerylStreep for Democrats and progressives: Speak truth. <br />With dignity. <br />With confidence. <br />Winning will follow.<br /><br />https://twitter.com/JuggerKnotty/status/818303033088110592mohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07172047962502884429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-15563513768568096162017-01-08T14:07:31.544-06:002017-01-08T14:07:31.544-06:00@talonts-one of my favorite books is George Orwell...@talonts-one of my favorite books is George Orwell's Animal Farm. It's not a long read, but it packs a mean punch about how adopting a plan of action can eventually change you and your whole outlook, so much so that you become unrecognizable. Might be worth a look.Liz Shepherdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03650959161084779781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-63624710911861437972017-01-08T13:59:38.638-06:002017-01-08T13:59:38.638-06:00We didn't survive Nixon, Reagan or Bush. Each ...We didn't survive Nixon, Reagan or Bush. Each of them led inexorably to this end.kittenknithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02001086317814690090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-20193551308906959932017-01-07T19:50:56.929-06:002017-01-07T19:50:56.929-06:00Maria M, I think the problem is that, once one tak...Maria M, I think the problem is that, once one takes off the rose tinted glasses, or as you put it the illusion of resisting negative emotions, we have always been surrounded by racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and general hatred and fear of the “other”. It really is what is “Normal”, which is the great tragedy of this country and the human race in general. If we are raised to be thoughtful we will recognize the seeds in ourselves and others and do our best not to feed them, though historically most people prefer to just pretend they don’t see anything. What has happened is that this election has brought it all out in the open again where we cannot avoid it. The rights that were so hard won in the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, and ‘80’s have been continually whittled away at, and have had to be continuously defended, however up until this election the majority of Americans chose not to see that; and realistically, with half the country not voting they continue to make that choice. So, I am going to agree with Jim when he criticizes people for complaining about “normalization”, to me it feels like a made up word for something that has always been there, but which people try to ignore. <br />On the other hand, I strongly support my daughter when she is passionately vocal in her opposition of the normalization of rape culture, and I make sure she knows I support her. I talk with her about it, and we compare statistics from when I was just a couple of years older than her trying to do the same kind of thing with a group of friends. The statistics have not changed in 30 years in spite of uncountable amounts of time, energy, and other resources being spent to educate, empower, and otherwise strengthen women and their allies. The only difference that I can see between her experience and mine is that she has the incredibly powerful tool of social media to get her message out, which means she reaches many more people than I ever have. Social media also incidentally makes it much, much more difficult for misogynists and other bigots to hide. <br />Just because I agree with Jim that “this” is normal, does not by any means indicate that I am comfortable with the situation. I am nauseous and sick to the bottom of my soul that it is considered normal, and will continue to work in every way I can to change that for the rest of my life. <br />One last thing, I will disagree with you on another point, I believe that kindness can and should be able to injure or kill if necessary. To stop or prevent harm and suffering hard boundaries must be set and defended. Also, if you think about it, both MLK and Gandhi fought evil with kindness very effectively. <br />Allegra in NorCalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08589363426798206035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-26241445168802940742017-01-07T06:30:42.808-06:002017-01-07T06:30:42.808-06:00I read your last essay in it's entirety, and t...I read your last essay in it's entirety, and this essay makes me wonder if those slinging mud at you indignantly read the whole thing as well. Their complaints/rants seem to come from a complete lack of understanding what you wrote. Much like jumping on a comment thread because a title of an article irks you, but not bothering with the article.<br /><br />I found your last essay useful, in the same way I find drain snakes useful. I may not like the drain snake or the job, but if I want the water to flow unimpeded down the drain, now and then I have to use the snake. <br /><br />I don't like the reality of Trump as president (and I may still childishly use the miscapitalization tRump because I still get childish joy out of butt jokes), but I thought your essay of facing the facts spot-on. We may not like reality, but denying it doesn't make it go away. Climate science deniers will have to contend with this if they live long enough. And I completely 100% agree it's always best to face reality, even if reality is horrible or gross. It's not going to go away because you ignore it. Problems don't get better when you ignore them - that's a five-year-old's solution.<br /><br />We have to face these realities if we hope to do anything about them. Our eyes need to be open, and each new thing has to be dealt with in the same way. I've never accomplished anything important without first assessing the facts and weighing the realities.<br /><br />I quit smoking this year. The reality of that is I had to face either the fact that I will smoke the rest of my life if I don't stop, and at my age the probability of some horrible disease keeps increasing. There is no "maybe I'll just have one after a meal", there is no cutting down to a "reasonable" number of cigarettes a day, there is no half-assed way to quit. Not for me anyway. I squarely asked myself if I wanted to keep doing this, day after day, every day, for the rest of my life. Because that's what cigarette addiction is. Or was, for me. I'm actually pretty happy with my decision to quit, and if I get a twinge of desire for one, I just think there's no such thing as "just one" for me. <br /><br />Reality may not be pretty, but it's infinitely more useful to an adult than any comforting fantasy. No matter how you describe yourself politically.<br /><br />I thought your last essay was great. Made me face my own childish opinions and thoughts that may have stood in the way of useful action on my part. And, because I read the whole thing, never for a moment did I think you were endorsing Trump or siding with Trump or "normalizing" Trump. You were outlining the reality, and asking for some maturity on your own pages.<br /><br />And maybe I'm wrong, maybe your critics here did read the whole thing and comprehended it completely different than myself. But, that means they have a comprehension problem. Because I found the essay quite clear, and from this essay, I easily grasped your actual intent in publishing it. <br /><br />Either way, I'll be back to read your future reality-based essays. :)0nehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14302849895961640213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-68062639043288641942017-01-07T03:34:22.501-06:002017-01-07T03:34:22.501-06:00Methinks you wasted a lot of words in this rant Ji...Methinks you wasted a lot of words in this rant Jim. You could have simply said... "Listening to liberals crying into their beer, bellyaching because they just discovered politics are dirty and mean and unfair, resorting to the same silly childish bullshit as the people they claim to despise, tends to get on my nerves in short order."<br />That should have been good enough. You do not have to justify what you said previously, if they are so ignorant they cannot read and understand then "fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."<br /><br />You slightly paraphrased Walk Kelly's Pogo: <br />"We have met the enemy and he is us." <br />http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1329260478l/652112.jpg<br />when you wrote..."Let me ask you something: if, when the war is over, you look around and discover that you have become your enemy – that is to say you have adopted everything about him that you once despised – then what was the point of the war in the first place?<br />...if you’re willing to become what you despise solely in order to win, then winning is what is important to you."<br /><br />Righto, well said.Johnny Hoguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06871398447108997898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-49515487692027543862017-01-06T21:27:01.956-06:002017-01-06T21:27:01.956-06:00We said it CANNOT happen this year and look what w...We said it CANNOT happen this year and look what we got. Still too many people who couldn't get off their asses to go vote. Gerrymandered districts, disenfranchised voters, lost ballots, and Russian interference. So much for our citizens and "representatives".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07248872318797038941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-79067160490182888382017-01-06T16:09:20.526-06:002017-01-06T16:09:20.526-06:00You know, I think it was Jung who noted that when ...You know, I think it was Jung who noted that when emotions run high there is a short-circuiting of the thinking processes, and when one is engaged in deep thought, the emotions automatically take a back seat resulting in a detachment. <br /><br />I think he was right, one can definitely see a disconnect between what you said in both this post and in "Resolutions" and what many others apparently understood. But those who were calmer and thought first, at least long enough to realize they were getting emotional and therefore controlled that impulsiveness long enough to get a good handle on what you were saying (clearly I might add, if you were wondering)....had no problem. <br /><br />Both posts are excellently thought out, communicated effectively, they make sense and you are 100% right. It is about integrity, it is very much about having SELF respect. As I have told many a Right-Wing supporter, I don't necessarily dislike you because you are ignorant. Ignorance can be cured. I dislike you because you are CRUEL and SELFISH and ANTI-SOCIAL, those things can't really be cured. <br /><br />I really hope I don't have to start saying that to the Leftists now. <br /><br />Thank you Jim, I can see how you became a Military leader. You don't take an easy road but you always take the necessary one. <br /><br />:)<br />Cherilynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09986753257338814639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-77598685606948642532017-01-06T14:20:17.828-06:002017-01-06T14:20:17.828-06:00Point of order for talonts....My rights may very w...Point of order for talonts....My rights may very well be on the line. For Trump and minions to deport the number of "illegals" that they say they want to, to make those numbers work, they may have to care very little who they take. While I can claim an almost direct line of decendency to join Daughter's of the American Revolution on one side of my family, on the other I very much resemble the Mexican immigrant that my grandfather was. Odd fact from my white side, my great grandmother was a double US citizen. She lost her birth citizenship when she married a German immigrant and had to naturalize. The fear about Japanese birth citizenship had some very real unintended consequences. If similar laws are put in place today, I could very well loose my birth citizenship as my grandfather was not a citizen so my father would not be one therefore I would not either. My rights are very much on the line. However, I can disagree with someone and defend those rights without using less than noble tactics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-62991323295770524562017-01-06T12:52:24.032-06:002017-01-06T12:52:24.032-06:00If I may attempt to split the difference here - ta...If I may attempt to split the difference here - tactics and morals are not perfectly separable, no. Torture, scorched-earth warfare and the deliberate or indiscriminate killing of civilians are absolutely incompatible with a morality that values human rights, for example.<br /><br />So I would suggest to talonts that the point he or she is trying to make would be better put as - "just because a tactic is used by despicable people does not *make* it immoral". Rather, we must decide these things on a case-by-case basis. Patton adopted Rommel's mechanized-infantry tactics - that didn't make him a Nazi.<br /><br />Also, seconding Mandy Levine's point above. The Tea Party's aims and motivations were and are execrable, but we can still learn useful things from their example -- as long as we take care not to absorb their hatred and bigotry (and bad spelling) in the process.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13520939296954807386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-51565095131898331092017-01-06T12:52:17.167-06:002017-01-06T12:52:17.167-06:00In complete agreement, if you want a better nation...In complete agreement, if you want a better nation, be better citizens. The saber-rattling that is accompanying the zealot's tone-deaf one-note song is.....boring. Honestly. Really, what are you going to do? Cry? Whine? Block freeway traffic and youtube yourselves being run over? Behaving like infants to decry someone you declare is a malevolent moron speaks only of you. I did not vote for Trump. I did not vote for Clinton. I could stomach neither. Not because of their differences, but because of their similarities. But Trump will be my next President. Just like Obama was my last one. You be the example of what you want to see, and STFU. Susan R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-46215545272732729322017-01-06T09:46:11.340-06:002017-01-06T09:46:11.340-06:00I agree with you 100% and will stand with you for ...I agree with you 100% and will stand with you for as long as it takes.Professor Gammahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04848236236338573122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-91825807794909010642017-01-06T08:55:53.149-06:002017-01-06T08:55:53.149-06:00Actually, you can just do "chrome://extension...Actually, you can just do "chrome://extensions" (still without the quotes!).MrTacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13783996395528458895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-85897520323186174002017-01-06T08:32:50.174-06:002017-01-06T08:32:50.174-06:00Jim, I'm a huge fan. Your blog is a wonderland...Jim, I'm a huge fan. Your blog is a wonderland of brain humps and I cant get enough of it. I can't get behind this. <br /><br />As a victim advocate, I'm pretty in tune with all the contributors to abuse. And, sadly, one of them is equating the response to abuse to abuse.<br /><br />Two wrongs don't make a right. Be the bigger person. When they go low, you go high. Great advice. But there are limits. When one's life is in danger, that all goes out the window. And I wouldn't, for example, tell a woman who wished death upon the man who raped her that she was no better than him. Ever. Nor would I condemn anyone who wished the same on her behalf. Because it doesn't have to happen to me to want it to end. <br /><br />And I would ask you not to mock the use of word "normalization" because it is accurate. While bigotry, xenophobia, hatred has become our normal, it is because the masses have made it so. Because they want to see the best in people (eternal optimism should be its own cluster of mental illness in the DSM, by the way). Because love your enemies. Because no one is ALL bad. Because there is no excuse to wish death on anyone. But what it really boils down to is the fear that people really are bad enough to be evil. And the ego boost that comes with the illusion that if you resist negative emotions, youre stronger, better, superior. It's nowhere near reality. And nowhere near reasonable. Because what is happening out there is not "normal". It's sick. <br /><br />I think, with all my heart, your post comes from a good place. But the truth is far uglier. And that is a reality we have to accept. And condemn. You can't fight evil with kindness. Kindness doesn't actually kill. And evil must die. That doesn't mean we kill Donald Trump. But we want evil to end by any means necessary. So we hope someone else will take one for the team. Or he chokes on a burrito. <br /><br />- Maria M. - Dallas, TX<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-1403284257403601742017-01-06T07:59:33.446-06:002017-01-06T07:59:33.446-06:00Cheeto Benito rhymes better.Cheeto Benito rhymes better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-9172974714461991892017-01-06T07:40:52.379-06:002017-01-06T07:40:52.379-06:00What can "not my president" people do (i...What can "not my president" people do (in the US)? Get involved in local politics. Work to change the state legislatures Democratic. Work to flip the US House and Senate at the mid terms. Talk to the 50% who didn't vote and help them get to the polls next time. It's going to be far from easy, but that's what it will take. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01819355787973721591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-4204898446386196742017-01-06T00:32:09.416-06:002017-01-06T00:32:09.416-06:00"So the ends justify the means?"
When t..."So the ends justify the means?"<br /><br />When the stakes are life and death for people and the planet, damn right the ends justify the means. I care a lot more about the planet and about the victims of Republican policies than I care about keeping my skirts clean in some feckless exercise of sanctimoniousness.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13293947823819778012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-22886637036632646602017-01-05T22:27:28.341-06:002017-01-05T22:27:28.341-06:00Yep. Good words and wisdom. It's going to be h...Yep. Good words and wisdom. It's going to be hard, still, to not be inflamed by the destruction they're unleashing on so much and so many. We must fight back. And we really do need to work locally, as well. I, too, live in a blue state, but our legislature is divided, and any policy enacted (Obamacare repeal - which also undoes a lot of changes to Medicare/Medicaid) will really hurt almost everybody I know. So, it's personal to me to fight back.Laura Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910455742217238157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-17003415394085430582017-01-05T22:21:38.584-06:002017-01-05T22:21:38.584-06:00That's the way I see it with Trump and most of...That's the way I see it with Trump and most of GOP: winning at any cost, along with self-enrichment and whatever it takes to get it. For me, remembering these basic things about DT and his GOP posse makes it easier for me to find ways to fight that don't involve ending up in the same gutter. Hard to do now and I'm not always successful. But I'll be damned if I want to go to sleep at night smelling like a sewer and feeling like a rat.Laura Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910455742217238157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-62291029569445674522017-01-05T22:16:30.479-06:002017-01-05T22:16:30.479-06:00I'm a lot like this ^^. I'm trying to be t...I'm a lot like this ^^. I'm trying to be that better person because I don't want to live in the gutter with these folks. And I haven't found the best ways forward yet. For now, I'm working to take my anger about what Republicans are doing in Congress and at state level and fighting back with the tools all of us have: phone calls, letters, emails, town halls/personal meetings with lawmakers, and twitter. I must say here that I AM getting some perverse satisfaction by tweeting directly to Trump and others with the intention of getting under their skin. Occasionally, I resort to name-calling: Orange Menace, Orange Clown, liar/tyrant/demagogue (which he is), along with the hashtage: #PutinsPuppet. Laura Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910455742217238157noreply@blogger.com