I’ve not watched much news lately. Working on a new book can be a demanding task. But I can’t keep quiet in the face of the existential threat the GOP and its leader, the Evil One, represent to our democracy. Trump’s playbook couldn’t be clearer—it’s Mein Kampf, chapter and verse. Talk about immigrants poisoning the country, blatant racism and antisemitism, white supremacy, and the angry nationalism of MAGA is Nazism dressed up in a blue suit, a red tie, and Depends. The loss of women’s right of choice over their sexual health is an added totalitarian facet right out of The Handmaid’s Tale. If Americans cannot see the danger the right wing represents to what we used to call America the beautiful we will deserve the consequences. mvd
Trump Hates America, the Military, the Wounded, and Especially You
My blood is boiling. Read the extraordinary interview given by former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, to Jeffery Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly. Milley talks about his mounting fears that Trump represented a growing clear and present danger to the nation during his time as president. It also points out Trump’s distain for wounded military personnel.
General Milley invited Army Captain Luis Avila, a veteran of five combat tours in Afghanistan, to sing God Bless America at an Armed Forces welcoming ceremony. Avila lost a leg in an IED attack in 2011. He subsequently suffered two strokes, two heart attacks, and brain damage as the result of his injuries.
After Avila sang, Trump asked Milley within earshot of others, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded.”
I’m asking myself how can anyone with a shred of empathy see Trump as a possible candidate for office—not dog catcher, much less POTUS.
I have visited many military hospitals. I’ve seen first hand the unimaginably horrible wounds suffered by our military men and women in service of our country. They have reaped the consequences of war voluntarily because they saw their service as their duty.
For this despicable pretender—a coward who avoided military service with a phony claim of a “bone spur”—to refer to wounded veterans as “these people” spits in the face of our most sacred traditions. Trump’s disparaging remarks about John McCain’s service because he was a POW, and his unprecedented reversal of a military court’s conviction of a Navy Seal for the murder of a prisoner of war, speak volumes about Trump’s unfitness to be Commander in Chief, and his utter lack of character.
Some of you reading these pages may still believe that Trump is qualified to be POTUS. We’ve had example after example of his ignorance, bigotry, misogyny, inability to tell the truth, contempt for the Constitution, and treasonous disloyalty to our country. If you like Trump, you’d better check your own soul to make sure it hasn’t shriveled and died.
Don’t Be Dumb, Americans!
Listened to James Carville’s podcast this weekend where he told a story—which he swears is true—that demonstrates Trump’s breathtaking stupidity. We all remember Trump asking why not drop a nuclear bomb on a hurricane to neutralize it; and why not drink bleach to kill the Covid virus. Listen: ranchers along the Rio Grande complained that the border wall prevented cattle from getting to the river for water, and could holes large enough for the cattle to walk thru be cut in the wall. “No, no!” said Trump. Put up ladders so the cow could get to the other side.” Remember some Americans are actually dumb enough to vote for a candidate this stupid. Does that send chills up your spine?
Ron DeSantis: Nobody Loves Me
Ron DeSantis has a likability problem he can’t figure out. Here’s a hint: many people are uncomfortable with DeSantis-style rewritten history, especially when it’s so blatantly self-serving and downright stupid. Insisting that some black people BENEFITTED from slavery on its face reeks of good old-fashioned American racism. The White Christian far right wants to return to segregation and institute White Nationalism. Their puppet DeSantis is unapologetically trying to mainstream a return to Jim Crow in America. Can right-thinking Americans like that?
States of Cruelty
Texas women suing the state of Texas over its abortion laws shines a spotlight on the utter cruelty the state’s law. Amanda Zurawski initiated the suit after she was denied an abortion when it became clear that her unborn child was dying. She nearly died of septic shock because no doctor would perform an abortion as long as her baby had a detectable heartbeat. Woman after woman has testified to similar life threatening experiences. Texas has become a NO MERCY ZONE for pregnant women. Legislators have declared themselves medical experts, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence and public opinion. If a pregnancy goes bad in Texas, the woman becomes a victim of the willful ignorance of Governor Abbott and the Texas legislators. They do not care if women die. Remember that many MAGA states have adopted similar statues dedicated to cruelty to women. Remember ladies, these male-dominated states want to keep a foot on your neck. They want you to obey or die.
Evolution’s Broken Promise
Evolutionary improvements in the human brain have done little to protect us from the ruthless impulses of our often dominant, old reptilian brain. Our history is littered with senseless wars, pogroms, mass murders, and serial killings. Evolution tinkered with humans for eons, but finally gave us up as a lost cause. Evolution said, “Go get me a couple dozen Orcas, and let’s see what we can accomplish.” Beware the human.
Right Wing End Game
Listen: the Supreme Court ruling against LGBTQ today continues a right wing campaign against the Constitution. The right is hell bent to create second class citizens. If you are not white, Christian, straight, male, and conservative you will not have full constitutional rights. This agenda will end the Constitution as we know it.
Turning back time
Affirmative action ends. Ain’t that America? The America that has codified racial discrimination in its constitution. The America that gives lip service to being “colorblind” but with a wink and a nod practices good old red-white-and-blue racism. Our country’s sad right turn continues taking us back to an all white America.
The Untruth is Out There
Artificial Intelligence is out there. It’s creating political ads, it’s making fake video and pix. And you can’t recognize it, Fluffy. It’s child’s play for AI to write phony journalism, campaign ads, and opposition research. It’s going to be a rocky road this election season telling the lies from the truth. Keep your eyes peeled for bullshit. It’ll be coming from the Right and Republicans will be holding the shovel.
In Memoriam
Dear Rick,
I’ve been remembering that humid night in Pleiku when I saw you and your friend Rusty, grinning up at me from the front row, your young faces furrowed by the burdens war. Fear. Sorrow. Grief. Frustration. Boredom. Homesickness.
The music from the little band I brought with me must have been balm to your ears after the metallic crashing exploding crying of combat. You were close enough to see my face streaming with sweat, close enough that you could’ve touched me if you reached out.
And I winked at you, Rick. I saw the momentary shock on your face and you turned to your friend, Rusty, and said something. And you both laughed. I did my show and sang my songs and you never took your eyes off me. And when it was over and I had helicoptered off to another God-forsaken fire station, you and Rusty went back to your daily routines. The other men who watched my show that night went on patrol and none of them returned. I was the last woman they saw in this life, and they took the memory of me along for company.
And you, Rick, when the sniper’s bullet ripped through your brain where your memory of me lived, and your closest friend Rusty knelt next to you as your life fluttered away like a frightened bird—you took along a piece of my heart and left a piece of yours with me.
So I’m thinking of you on this Memorial Day’s eve, Rick, thinking of the night I flirted with you, and wishing there was a better way to honor you than with these inadequate words. But they are all I have. So with all my heart, rest in peace.
Love, Mamie.
Memorial Day is about honor and remembrance of those who did not return from war. Do that today. And every day.
Inside/Out 