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Monday, September 20, 2021

Recap: September 20, 2021

 

You can't trust the government! 

You can't trust big pharma! 

You can't trust for-profit business!

But most of all, you can't trust government!

I'm not anti-vax per se, buuuuuut you can't trust ...

Right? 

First thing in my feed this morning is Sarah Palin looking like she's about two weeks into her third Rehab, doing some interview, wait, people still interview Sarah Palin, why? She was describing how she's not anti-vax per se mind you, but she's not vaccinated for reasons that sounded a lot like if you took the text of a Trump COVID speech and had it transcribed by a monkey working its way through a couple tabs of acid. 

Do your own research, she says.

And, of course, you just can't trust the government. 

I mean, this what I hear from both Republican politicians and right-wing anti-vaxxers.  You just can't trust the government. You can't trust Big Pharma. You can't trust anybody.

They'll trust some anonymous troll on the Internet. 

They'll trust their idiot uncle or some blowhard pundit or that one blonde with the big tits on Fox News. 

They'll listen to some rap star who's got a cousin who knows a guy with swollen nuts. 

But you just can't trust the government, you know, man? 

These people they couldn't wait for Trump's Warp Speed vaccination. He's so smart, he's so handsome, he knows what he's doing, he knows more than the doctors ... well, according to Trump anyway. 

But the minute Trump was out of office they stopped believing in that vaccine and so did Trump. 

You can't trust the government says Trump, and he should know, shouldn't he? 

We'll come back to that. 

Don't trust the government say people who blindly take every word Donald Trump says, no matter how bizarre, insane, or obviously wrong it is, as gospel. 

This has become Republican ideology, you can't trust the government. It's literally the only thing they believe in. 

And why? 

Why can't you trust the government? 

Well, I mean, look at history. 

Richard Nixon, for example. That guy didn't just lie his way into office, he actually colluded with Henry Kissinger -- who betrayed the administration he was supposed to be working for -- who sent Kissinger's pal Anna Chennault to sabotage the Paris Peace talks and prolong the Vietnam war so that Nixon could get elected. That little maneuver prolonged the war by years and cost us another 20,000 American lives. And then the greasy son of bitch committed even more crimes to get re-elected and got caught. And was impeached. And then resigned. 

See? You can't trust government.  

But I know people to this day, who think Nixon didn't do anything wrong. Or, well, okay, maybe he did, but hey, you wouldn't have wanted a liberal in office would you? And not just a liberal, but George McGovern! 

Better a crook than a fucking hippy, right? 

Or how about Reagan? You'd never guess the people who worked for Nixon and pulled his strings were right there doing the same for Ronald Reagan a few years later, would you? Same people backdoored Jimmy Carter with Iran just like they did in Paris. All's fair in love and war. Anything to get elected. But, then once Reagan was in office he had to make good on that deal. So, he sold weapons to our enemies and financed a secret illegal war in Central America. And when it all went sideways he charmingly forgot everything, left Ollie North to take the fall, and CIA director William Casey died before he could be subpoenaed. How convenient! 

Man, you just can't trust that government. 


Still, as crooked as Reagan was, maybe even up to committing actual no shit treason by selling weapons to our enemies, man, you know, he loved America! Hero. Cowboy. Man's man. A real president. Better than that wimp, Jimmy Carter. I mean, sure, Carter actually lives the life Americans claim to admire, honest, humble, truthful, hardworking, godly, selfless... 

Reagan might have been a senile traitor, but you wouldn't want Carter, would you?

Well, at least George H. W. Bush was a decent guy, right? Never mind he was Chairman of the Republican National Committee during the worse years of the Nixon Administration, literally in charge of the GOP's Dirty Tricks operations when "ratfucking" actually became an accepted mainstream political term. Or that as such, he tried to use that position to influence the corruption investigations of Spiro Agnew and later Nixon himself. Or that part where he was the head of the CIA running Operation Condor and directly assisting military dictatorships in Central America. And those ratfuckers who were behind Nixon and Reagan? Guess who George put in charge of everything? Yeah, but in fairness, he kinda owed them. Anyway, the guy who promised not to raise your taxes did anyway. 

Can't trust government, right? 

Couple years later and it's George W. Bush and who was it pulling the strings? You guessed it. Same old dirty ratfuckers from the Nixon Administration, same ones who worked for his dad, name for name. And sure enough, they lied us into two wars that would go on for 20 years and cost us another generation -- and that was maybe the least horrible thing that came out of that administration of secret laws and waterboarding and indefinite detention and rendition and ... well, you get the idea. 

You just can't trust these people. 

But hey, at least we didn't end up with that stiff, Al Gore, right? Mr. "I invented the Internet." Boring! That guy couldn't commit a crime if you gave him a thousand bucks in cash and dropped him off in Vegas at the Adult Video Network Awards after-party. 

And then they elected Trump. 

The you-can't-trust-government crowd elected the single least trustworthy human being in America.

Maybe the world.

This guy broke every promise he made -- and then lied about it right to our faces. 

This guy lied about every minute of every day he was in office, clumsy stupid lies like a child would tell -- and then he went golfing and lied about that. 

This guy hired crooks and liars and grifters and they proceeded to steal, lie, and grift -- and they didn't even try to hide it, they're still doing it. 

And all the while, Republicans cheered. 

Ha ha, they sneered like mean rotten brats. Cry more, liberals! Owned! Fuck your feelings! 

They were proud of it. 

And now? 

Now they say, well, you know, you just can't trust government. 


Well, no shit

When you keep electing worse and worse people, crooks and traitors and imbeciles, sometimes all at once, when you repeatedly elect people who are patently untrustworthy and you know they are untrustworthy, well no shit you can't trust them

Look, I'm not trying to say that the other side is all that great either. Lyndon Johnson lied us into Vietnam with that Gulf of Tonkin bullshit. And Bill Clinton, well, yeah, I'm not going to defend Bill Clinton. But Obama was as upright a president as we've likely ever had, with the exception of Carter. None of them were perfect, but at least they didn't sell weapons to our enemies or attempt an insurrection or tell people to inject bleach for fuck's sake.

And at least Democrats believe in good government -- even if they often fall short.  

Not only do Republicans not believe in good government, they actively hate government altogether. 

Reagan himself said it: "government isn't the solution, government is the problem" -- and then America elected him and he proceeded to prove it. 

And Republicans have been proving it ever since. 

We have to stop electing people to run government who don't believe in government. 

We have to stop electing people to run America who don't believe that America is for everyone. 

We have to stop electing people to run government who think government is the problem. 

We have to stop electing people who don't believe in democracy. 

You don't trust government? Then stop electing people you can't trust. 

In America, if you can't trust your government, well that's more a reflection on Americans than it is on government. 

If you want a better nation, you have to better a better citizen. 





61 comments:

  1. A little reminder, the sainted Ronnie Raygun was one bad helicopter engine away from being a minor footnote to history.

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    1. If you are referring to his trips aboard Marine Corps One, the VH-3D helicopter was a twin-engine aircraft so it was not completely unpowered with one engine inoperative. IF not that then it is unclear what helicopter engine you are referring to.

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    2. Don is likely referring to the chopper that stalled out in the Iranian desert while on a mission to rescue the American hostages in Tehran.

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    3. Desert one. The failed
      hostage rescue.

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    4. I suspect Mr. Gisselbeck is referring to the engine on the helicopter that went down in the desert on a failed rescue attempt.

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    5. He was referring to the attempted rescue of the hostages.

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    6. I think he might be talking about the Iranian hostage rescue attempt where the helicopter crashed under Carter. If it succeeded, Carter would have been in a stronger position in 1980.

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    7. A pretty darn good stroll thru history! Also a good poke at “doing your own research.” No one on these blogs can really do that anyway. That’s why you have experts.

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    8. Here’s a good article on why “doing your own research” is utter bs.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/07/30/you-must-not-do-your-own-research-when-it-comes-to-science/?sh=674f15af535e

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    9. @Ken- "Doing your own research" is generally shorthand for "blindly assume anything I tell you is true, and use only the most basic logic to immediately reach the result of my suggestions, innuendos, and blatant fraudulent claims completely without any evidence supplied (that's YOUR job)- and NEVER actually fact-check, just seize on any immediate information that satisfies your confirmation bias". It has nothing at all to do with actual research.

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  2. Part of being a good citizen is to think about the good of every citizen. Do I necessarily trust politicians, hell NO. Do I trust science and the scientists trying to stop this pandemic, yes, more than I trust my fellow citizen who won't do what is for the good of all. I am so f**** tired of the ones who won't get vexed and then end up end in the hospital begging science to cure them. I have zero f***s to give anymore.

    As for Republicans, they can all go to hell in a handbrake. I used to look at each politician, no matter party, for who they were and what they believed in. Those days are long over.

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    1. I'm on the same path, and that's how I was brought up.
      I wonder which of my generation decided that WE were more important than those that came before us, and those We were bringing into the world; Because I wasn't brought up to be like that.

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    2. Neither was I. I don't know when it changed, but it has. Honestly, I don't understand the "me, me, me" mindset.

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    3. Same feelings, Jan. I wonder what happened to the country that I had six years ago. I want to clean out the government we have and put new blood in there. No one is perfect, but, geez, there have to be better people out there.

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    4. Carol, There ARE better people out there, but who wnats to play in that shithole that is Congress? Death threats, constant fundraising, having to tow the party line no matter what you believe or what's good for your constituents. It doesn't pay enough!

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  3. Amazing piece of writing that should be published as an oped in NY Times & WaPo!! Such a trip through memory lane and a reminder why, despite their flaws, I have always voted for the Democrat. People either don’t remember these events you recount or are too young, ignorant or brainwashed.

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    1. I certainly appreciate this amazing piece of writing. We tend to forget and need to be reminded and often.

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  4. Excellent points as always Mr. Wright. The myth of Saint Ronnie Raygun continues to this day as you know. Talk about a puppet. Satan (Dick Cheney) and his spawn (Donald Rumsfield) had a long run from Nixon to Bush.

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  5. Damn! I love your writing. It makes me laugh, saddens me, infuriates me, and inspires me all within a few minutes. It makes me want to be a better citizen, as I fervently hope it does to others. Thank you for this.

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  6. "We have to stop electing people who don't believe in democracy.

    You don't trust government? Then stop electing people you can't trust.

    In America, if you can't trust your government, well that's more a reflection on Americans than it is on government.

    If you want a better nation, you have to better a better citizen."
    That right there says it all. Every bit of it is the bottom line. If you want a better Government, a better United States of America, you gotta work for it. Well written as usual. Thanks Jim. I'm happy to see this format come back. Cheers!

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  7. Words on a headstone: "He died doing what he loved - his own research."

    Idiots!

    And when you say "that one blonde with the big tits on Fox News", can you be more specific, cause there are lots of them.

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  8. This is one of the best columns I've ever read, loving the facts presented with such great humor/sarcasm. The Sara Palin description quite literally made me laugh out loud.

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  9. Great Recap you said it straight and true. We need more people like you that speak out.

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  10. "transcribed by a monkey working its way through a couple tabs of acid." Snort! Funny that the Dead and Company summer tour has had very strict COVID protocols in place. No proof of vaccination or 48 hour COVID negative test, no entry. No entry to the front of stage pit without proof of vaccination.



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  11. Thank you. Two blogs I rarely miss: Heather Cox Richardson and Jim Wright.

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    1. It seems to me that part of the reason my right wing acquaintances don’t/didn’t like Obama is because he was too upstanding…. They _like _ watching people get screwed. They don’t even mind if they have to bend over too, as long as they own “the libs”.

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  12. Historically, I'm glad you've reminded us of the big picture. Too bad 99% of America can't be bothered. Excellent read Jim. Thanks!

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  13. Thank you, Jim, for putting 'can't trust the government' into proper context. Keep on keep'n on, my friend!

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  14. Really good essay. I feel you covered all the histories of the recent presidents very well. I have a friend who often says “you can’t trust the government,” and he was very uncritical of the Trump government. I said, all these years of warning me about government corruption, and here one is on display, in all it’s massive orange horribleness, and he was totally blind to it. It was astounding. But he is also a 2 issue voter; pro gun and anti-abortion. And so that keeps him in line.

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  15. Brilliant, as always. Just one minor detail: Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment. The Republicans in congress warned him that was his only option, since they weren't yet quite corrupt enough to flip off the country by letting him off scot-free.

    Well, *most* of them, anyway. Ford was certainly corrupt enough to grant him a bullshit pardon later.

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  16. Excellent walk through time, Jim. You left out one part of that era though... the gang that took over after Nixon vacated the Oval Office. Not Jerry Ford, but the group that moved in with him. Rumsfeld running defense, GHWB heading up the CIA, and Cheney keeping Ford in check (and everybody informed) as his chief of staff. The only thing that screwed up their plan was Carter getting elected. But they solved that with installing St Ronnie four years later and The Shrub in 2000 so they could continue the march toward controlling the country well into 2008.

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  17. And that bastard Roger Stone in the fucking middle of all of it.

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  18. I continue to respect and appreciate your wordcraft. I can only hope more people pay attention.

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  19. Oh, I don't know. The GOP does believe government is the answer for certain things. They find it perfectly acceptable for government to coerce a pregnancy to the 'natural' end even if if kills the mother in the process. They believe in government for issuing certain types of ID to be presented at the polls to cast a ballot. They believe in the capability of government to enforce criminal law against persons of color - and if the person of color ends up dead at the hands of a police officer? They got no trouble at all with whatever excuse - shoddy or otherwise - is presented to defend the actions of the shooting officer and no independent investigation needed. Support the troops as long as they don't have to pay for that support. They only don't trust the government when it comes to things like empowering and funding the IRS to enforce the tax code against high income earners. They will trust the government to enforce a marriage of one man and one woman; and enforce sexual 'morality' against otherwise consenting adults. Once we figure out how to live with COVID, it will be interesting to see how elections go forward. They seem to be killing off an awful lot of their own voters by pushing the 'don't trust the COVID vaccine'.

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  20. Variations on this sentence have been percolating in my mind for the past several days: The Democratic party struggles with corruption. The Republican party celebrates corruption.

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  21. I couldn't agree with you more. Honestly, I don't understand how anyone can revere St. Ronnie the Senile.

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  22. Why is it society as a whole never learns from it's mistakes? Would you go back to the same used car salesman if every used car you bought failed? Why do people keep putting their faith in the same used car salesmen of politics when they get shit on time after time.

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  23. Funny how Republicans always forgive Republican traitors. As for that tweet that said "Jesus didn't trust the government," actually, Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's," so it sounds like Jesus kind of did trust the government or at least that even he recognized that church and state should be separate.

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  24. Republicans, like Confederates before them, believe that the only legitimate role for government is protection of private property. (In the case of Confederates, private property included African Americans.)

    That's a perfectly legitimate opinion to hold, the problem is Republicans are willing to destroy democracy to prevent the government from doing anything else, certainly anything that would promote the general welfare.

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  25. I problem eye have with these people is I was against government, "don't trust the government", when against government, when "don't trust the government", wasn't cool.

    Has something to do with Dick Cheney ...

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  26. Well done. I get blank stares when trying to make many of the same points to friends and family. But at least this make me feel like I am not alone.

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  27. Spot on, sir! As was stated, the Democrats are far from perfect, but they had more sense than the Republican party ever could.

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  28. Any time I hear the name "Reagan", Iran/Contra immediately comes to mind.

    Freckles

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  29. Great piece of writing as usual. Only one thing bothers me, and you do it often, Jim. Can you stop with the injecting bleach crap. I fucking hate the orange baboon, but even I will admit he never said that. He said disinfectant. There is audio proof of it. It's bad enough Trump and the right lies and exaggerates about everything, but the left needs to be better than this. Please take this into consideration in future posts.

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  30. Short-shortsightedness, greed, and willful ignorance are powerful reinforcers. One wonders when/ how the values of rapacious competition, tribalism, and self-righteousness will be seen as "godless".

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  31. Well said. My husband repeats this over and over again. I have listened and I have learned a great deal. And he started over 50 years ago and predicted most all of this. It's a goddamn crying shame!!!

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  32. Aside from being a little rough on psychedelicized monkeys - Bravo, Jim.

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  33. This is the content I've been waiting for :).

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  34. So glad you are able to give us your thoughts in this platform, Jim. I appreciate your writing. You are one of three people I follow now who are fully cognizant if what is happening around us.

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  35. Laughed off my ass...is said correct, yes?

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  36. > She was describing how
    > she's not anti-vax per se
    > mind you, but she's not
    > vaccinated for reasons
    > that sounded a lot like if
    > you took the text of a
    > Trump COVID speech and had
    > it transcribed by a monkey
    > working its way through a
    > couple tabs of acid.

    Now that is the Jim Wright I have missed. Good see you firmly back in the saddle again.

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  37. I wish more people knew that that “hippy McGovern” flew 25 missions in a B-24 fighting actual nazis.

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  38. I guess that the Republican "race to the bottom" is not done yet... https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/24/shannon-burns-ohio-republican-strategist-profile-513622

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