Another day in the tRump administration. At least four new scandals, any one of which would have derailed any previous president, are being covered. The Epstein arrest which implicates our fearless leader who vouched for the sex-trafficker's character, his boastful claims of his nonexistent environmental stewardship, the mess around the citizenship question on the census and the continuing horror of the detention centers aka concentration camps on our southern border.
Any tRump supporter at this point is like a cult member. They have drunk the Kool-Aid and nothing the president* says or does will shake their worship of him and their condemnation of anyone with the effrontery to offer facts which disprove their beliefs. At this point, I think most of his supporters are all about "owning the libs". The only revelation that might shake some of them would be his tax returns. Much, if not all of the Donald's mystique is based on the belief by many, again in the face of much evidence it is not true, that he is a self made man who built a small family real estate business into a global empire worth millions. Many media outlets have published stories showing that much of tRump's vaunted wealth derives from his father and much of his recent success in business is based on his reality TV show and possibly money laundering for Russian oligarchs.
As the fog of scandal continues to swirl around this White House, a legitimate question is when is enough, enough. When will we finally wake from this nightmare.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Monday, July 8, 2019
Gardening in July
The front part of the July 4th weekend was what most of us think of as summer. It was hot, humid and altogether miserable for gardeners. Saturday was perhaps worse with the same dose of humidity but with off and on thundershowers spoiling any attempts at outdoors activities. Sunday was the cure. Low humidity and bright sunshine made for a perfect summer day.
The garden is producing possibly too bountifully for my CSA members. By next week there will be dark mutterings as they carry a bounty of greens and lettuce home where they will either have to cook and enjoy quickly, or share with friends and neighbors.
Weeds and succession plantings were the order of the day and will continue for a few more weeks. The weather has settled into a more dry regime, but the damage from heavy rains earlier in the season, including hard soil with major clods will continue to hamper plantings for the remainder of the season.
The garden is producing possibly too bountifully for my CSA members. By next week there will be dark mutterings as they carry a bounty of greens and lettuce home where they will either have to cook and enjoy quickly, or share with friends and neighbors.
Weeds and succession plantings were the order of the day and will continue for a few more weeks. The weather has settled into a more dry regime, but the damage from heavy rains earlier in the season, including hard soil with major clods will continue to hamper plantings for the remainder of the season.
Friday, July 5, 2019
Post Indepence blues
Now that the high flying patriotic rhetoric is packed away for another year and America's supposed pre-eminent place among modern democracies is proclaimed secure, most of the media will redouble its concentration on the political horserace among democrats for their party's presidential nomination. What will suffer will be coverage of the continuing outrages on our southern border, tRump's disastrous foreign policy and the worsening economic disparity between the rich and poor in our nation. I think the media giants who control much of what we see and hear like it this way, since they are beneficiaries of many of the policies being pursued by the present administration.
Alexandra Occasio Cortez, known more by her initials, AOC has pointed out the detention facilities in Texas, where up to 11,000 children are being held are "concentration camps". Cue the right wing outrage, led by torture advocate Liz Cheyney who pretends to believe these references cheapen the Holocaust history. Instead of educating Americans about our own history in this regard, the media resorts to both siderism once again.
The fact is, going as far back as the Civil War, we have abused prisoners in search of political victory. Andersonville, Georgia is the site of an infamous Confederate prison camp where up to 45,000 Union soldiers were held with no shelter through a Southern summer. Nearly 11,000 died and the commander of the camp was charged with war crimes. In the Phillipines at the turn of the century we did the same thing to freedom fighters in that country. Of course the Japanese internment camps of WW2 are another lasting stain on our country.
If all we are going to get for the remainder of the year is non-stop political coverage, I hope the candidates will use their bully pulpit to advocate for the refugees being abused by this administration and that they continue to shame the media into covering this outrage.
Alexandra Occasio Cortez, known more by her initials, AOC has pointed out the detention facilities in Texas, where up to 11,000 children are being held are "concentration camps". Cue the right wing outrage, led by torture advocate Liz Cheyney who pretends to believe these references cheapen the Holocaust history. Instead of educating Americans about our own history in this regard, the media resorts to both siderism once again.
The fact is, going as far back as the Civil War, we have abused prisoners in search of political victory. Andersonville, Georgia is the site of an infamous Confederate prison camp where up to 45,000 Union soldiers were held with no shelter through a Southern summer. Nearly 11,000 died and the commander of the camp was charged with war crimes. In the Phillipines at the turn of the century we did the same thing to freedom fighters in that country. Of course the Japanese internment camps of WW2 are another lasting stain on our country.
If all we are going to get for the remainder of the year is non-stop political coverage, I hope the candidates will use their bully pulpit to advocate for the refugees being abused by this administration and that they continue to shame the media into covering this outrage.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Happy 4th?
As most Americans celebrate Independence Day as an unalloyed milestone in governance, we might take a few minutes to think about the what ifs. Dylan Matthews over at the Vox media site speculates about what might have happened if the Revolution had not.
If a few feisty white men chafing under British rule had not organized the American Revolution, we might never have had a Civil War. Had we remained a part of the Empire, slavery would have been abolished in 1834, and presumably the lives of former slaves in the south would have been better.
Native Americans probably would have been treated better if Independence had been put off until the 19th century if Canada's experience is any guide. The Canadians were not exemplary in their handling of indigenous people, but they did not carry out the wholesale ethnic cleansing Andrew Jackson and other American leaders did.
Finally, without our Constitution which allowed the dysfunctional system of strong presidential powers we would have inherited a parliamentary system which seems to work better in our modern world.
Of course many people would dispute these conclusions, but it is an interesting thought experiment for those who have always, uncritically hailed America as the exceptional democratic system. It certainly works for white, middle and upper class males. For the rest of the population, maybe not so much. Happy 4th!
If a few feisty white men chafing under British rule had not organized the American Revolution, we might never have had a Civil War. Had we remained a part of the Empire, slavery would have been abolished in 1834, and presumably the lives of former slaves in the south would have been better.
Native Americans probably would have been treated better if Independence had been put off until the 19th century if Canada's experience is any guide. The Canadians were not exemplary in their handling of indigenous people, but they did not carry out the wholesale ethnic cleansing Andrew Jackson and other American leaders did.
Finally, without our Constitution which allowed the dysfunctional system of strong presidential powers we would have inherited a parliamentary system which seems to work better in our modern world.
Of course many people would dispute these conclusions, but it is an interesting thought experiment for those who have always, uncritically hailed America as the exceptional democratic system. It certainly works for white, middle and upper class males. For the rest of the population, maybe not so much. Happy 4th!
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
OPK
The title of this post is "other people's kids". As we roll into the celebration of American Independence tomorrow, it is unconscionable that we stand by as thousands of children are jammed into concentration camps on our southern border. A gaggle of local protestors were on the main drag in Plattsburgh yesterday to weigh in on our government's treatment of refugees, but it was a small affair covered in a desultory way by our local paper.
It seems if our own children or those of other Americans are in jeopardy, no amount of money or action is too great for us to spend, at least if the children in question are blastocysts or zygotes. Once born, the fact 20% of them are consigned to a childhood immured in poverty doesn't seem to sway public opinion. If we can't or won't care for our own in "Christian" fashion, I seriously doubt the images of brown children jammed into substandard accommodations and held indefinitely in cruel conditions will tug enough heartstrings to ameliorate the situation. In fact, for many of the president's* supporters, the cruelty is the point.
It seems if our own children or those of other Americans are in jeopardy, no amount of money or action is too great for us to spend, at least if the children in question are blastocysts or zygotes. Once born, the fact 20% of them are consigned to a childhood immured in poverty doesn't seem to sway public opinion. If we can't or won't care for our own in "Christian" fashion, I seriously doubt the images of brown children jammed into substandard accommodations and held indefinitely in cruel conditions will tug enough heartstrings to ameliorate the situation. In fact, for many of the president's* supporters, the cruelty is the point.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
So little time
This blog has for the most part concentrated on current events as seen through the lens of a liberal baby boomer gardener. If I had more time, I would probably churn out more postings on popular culture to the dismay of the few people who actually see them. Unfortunately, current events require me to dedicate an inordinate amount of space to the antics of our current president*.
How any self respecting American can look at or hear the rapist in chief and not come away with a queasy sensation is beyond me. His latest adventures in diplomacy with Kim jong Un is a case in point. He provided the arguably most brutal dictator in the world a chance to upstage the G-20 summit with a photo op in the DMZ and came away with nothing but a promise there would be more negotiations. He then blatantly lied to the press, claiming the previous administration had "begged" for a meeting with Kim and had been turned down.
Meanwhile, the tragic farce on our southern border continues as thousands of refugees are herded into camps meant to hold a fraction of their numbers for short periods of time. Horrendous stories of 4 showers available for up to 700 detainees and people held in such crowded cells there is no room to lay down and sleep are being reported. One woman even reported being told if she was thirsty she should drink out of a toilet. A private facebook site open to present and former CBP officers was gleefully running gimmicked videos purporting to show liberals such as AOC performing oral sex with refugees. This is tRump's America in 2019.
Finally, Paul Krugman in today's NYT tells us that in the latest fiscal year, the state of Kentucky received 40 billion dollars more from the federal government than its residents paid in taxes. If that state was a nation, the 40 billion would represent 20% of its GCP. The same is true of most states which voted for Cheetolini. Socialism indeed!
How any self respecting American can look at or hear the rapist in chief and not come away with a queasy sensation is beyond me. His latest adventures in diplomacy with Kim jong Un is a case in point. He provided the arguably most brutal dictator in the world a chance to upstage the G-20 summit with a photo op in the DMZ and came away with nothing but a promise there would be more negotiations. He then blatantly lied to the press, claiming the previous administration had "begged" for a meeting with Kim and had been turned down.
Meanwhile, the tragic farce on our southern border continues as thousands of refugees are herded into camps meant to hold a fraction of their numbers for short periods of time. Horrendous stories of 4 showers available for up to 700 detainees and people held in such crowded cells there is no room to lay down and sleep are being reported. One woman even reported being told if she was thirsty she should drink out of a toilet. A private facebook site open to present and former CBP officers was gleefully running gimmicked videos purporting to show liberals such as AOC performing oral sex with refugees. This is tRump's America in 2019.
Finally, Paul Krugman in today's NYT tells us that in the latest fiscal year, the state of Kentucky received 40 billion dollars more from the federal government than its residents paid in taxes. If that state was a nation, the 40 billion would represent 20% of its GCP. The same is true of most states which voted for Cheetolini. Socialism indeed!
Monday, July 1, 2019
Weed control
Most of my communing with nature these days is from the business end of a wheel hoe or the old fashioned blade on a stick. I enjoy the bird chatter and even an occasional mosquito bite, but midsummer in the North Country is weeding time and if you don't pay attention, these interlopers can quickly swallow a garden.
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