tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post1365307709908384200..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Debate & Switch III: The Ultimate ClumpKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-46690849261067551682016-10-22T13:17:09.548-04:002016-10-22T13:17:09.548-04:00We are trapped in the Age of Absurdity. Crowds ru...We are trapped in the Age of Absurdity. Crowds running off cliffs are absurd; but so are saints kneeling in their holy corners living individual lives free of fault. Highlighting the absurd is a reasonable thing for writers to do at this point in history, and Karen's report is an exemplary description of how absurdity itself, as a distinct agent, is on the verge of seizing great power to push us deeper into confusion and absurdity.<br /><br />Elsewhere a father, with whom I am remotely acquainted, and his son recently entered into an email conversation about the absurdity of our times and the available correctives. This father might fairly be classified as a long-time and radical low-consumption architect/city planner. Father and son have shared their conversations with a circle of acquaintances about what is to be done as we wade through the absurdities. Here, edited by yours truly, is the father's closer.<br />__________<br /><br />What can we individuals do?<br /><br />We've all heard those sixties expressions, ‘save one person, and you’ve saved the world.’ Be content with depth, not breadth, acting locally, as you do so beautifully, and thinking globally. I’ve been thinking about this and have reached a depressing conclusion. If I do ALL the things that lie within my power to limit my greenhouse gas emissions, it will be utterly inadequate in the face of the problem.<br /><br />I don’t see anything individuals can do that are adequate. Only the President and Congress have the power to make adequate changes.<br /><br />Clearly neither Trump nor Hilary will do the right things. Hilary is a hawk, beholden to the corporate elite. Her administration will increase fracking, offshore drilling, tar sands development, cars, oil, wars, militarization of the police, further elimination of our rights. Climate change will worsen under a Hilary administration. Voting for her is ecological suicide.<br /> <br />In stark contrast, the Green Party platform states that humans are not separate from each other and not separate from the Earth. Here are some points of her platform. <br /><br />Recognize that climate change is the single greatest threat facing life on Earth. If we continue business as usual, the life that remains on Earth will be nothing like what we’ve known. Imagine a 6 billion person die-off. Imagine 90% of Earth uninhabitable by mammals.<br /><br />A Jill Stein/Green Party administration could initiate exercises for the nation that will empower people now desecrating nature to come to the realization they are desecrating themselves, and to stop.<br /><br />Stop all burning of fossil fuels by 2030, switching to renewable energy. Enact an emergency Green New Deal, creating 20 million new jobs well worth doing. Cut military spending by at least 50%, and close the 700+ foreign military bases. The military is the worst polluter, the most wasteful part of the USA. (JS: employ the military to do good instead of killing.) Her platform includes many other life-giving parts: education, health, food, women’s rights, minimum wage, etc. etc. etc. Check it out:<br />http://www.jill2016.com/platform<br /><br />If enough voters choose not the lesser evil but our only hope for survival, we have a chance.<br /><br />Love you,<br /><br />DadJay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-42769032017706816992016-10-22T11:32:33.634-04:002016-10-22T11:32:33.634-04:00Here's Obama back in 2008 admitting voter frau...Here's Obama back in 2008 admitting voter fraud and rigged elections exist, contrary to what he's saying now in response to Donald Trump's identical assertions. <br /><br />“Well, I tell you what it helps in Ohio, that we got Democrats in charge of the machines,” Obama said regarding the threat of election-rigging.<br /><br />He continued, “Whenever people are in power, they have this tendency to try to tilt things in their direction. That’s why we’ve got to have, I believe, a voting rights division in the Justice Department that is nonpartisan, and that is serious about investigating cases of voter fraud.”<br /><br />“That’s why we need paper trails on these new electronic machines so that you actually have something that you can hang on to after you’ve punched that letter—make sure it hasn’t been hacked into,” he added, admitting that even Democrats have "monkeyed around" with election results:<br /><br />"I want to be honest, it’s not as if it’s just Republicans who have monkeyed around with elections in the past. Sometimes, Democrats have, too."<br /><br />Recorded by C-Span which is linked in this article:<br /><br />http://www.mrctv.org/blog/obama-speaks-rigged-elections-2008annenigmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-25703007527396680842016-10-21T15:53:54.964-04:002016-10-21T15:53:54.964-04:00A friend told me he believes he has the symptoms o...A friend told me he believes he has the symptoms of a cocaine user. Remember he demanded that they have drug tests before the last debate accusing Hillary of being on drugs as a result of the intensity of her arguments. But definitely something wrong with him, especially at the Al Smith dinner. Hard to watch.Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-76205852725401077092016-10-21T15:35:06.854-04:002016-10-21T15:35:06.854-04:00Any comment on the Al Smith dinner on TV, with Tru...Any comment on the Al Smith dinner on TV, with Trump/Clinton & everybody smiling and joking? Saw a glimpse, and it looked unappetizing. Meredith NYCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-75884849908962446132016-10-21T15:32:37.387-04:002016-10-21T15:32:37.387-04:00Karen... love your brilliant script. Get some of i...Karen... love your brilliant script. Get some of it into Times comments. <br />Heckuva job, Hillary? Now there’s a useful phrase for the future. I didn’t watch the debates, just read reports. But this one, I couldn’t even stand to read about it. <br /><br />Trump is perfect for Halloween---the political Frankenstein monster. With just a little make up he’d be perfect. <br />We need Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder to do a remake of their Frankenstein spoof, starring Trumpf, and he'd probably love it. Get Hillary in there as the one who will protect the townspeople from the monster, somehow.<br />TCM showed just showed the whole chain of Frankenstein movies. To watch those and then the debates soon after is too big a dose of horror! <br /><br />Anyway, maybe she’ll let the wealthy and corporations decide how much tax they will pay. They know best. And means testing is the easiest way to polarize various groups, using resentment to play them off each other, then win elections by budget cuts. <br /><br />The media lives off these debates and then endless star pundit ‘analysis’. <br /><br />From Alternet: <br />CBS Exec Brags How Trump Is Great for Ratings.<br />Les Moonves---<br />“They’re not even talking about issues. They’re throwing bombs at each other....Most of the ads are not about issues; they’re sort of like the debates. They’re saying, he did this or he did that. Doesn’t say what I stand for.<br /><br />I’ve never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say, but bring it on, Donald, go ahead, keep going.<br /><br />Man, who would have expected the ride we’re all having right now? This is pretty amazing…. Who would have thought that this circus would come to town?<br /><br />But, you know—it may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS, that’s all I got to say.”<br />Meredith NYCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-37153739099147351442016-10-21T01:21:21.733-04:002016-10-21T01:21:21.733-04:00jk said...
Thank gawd its the last one! For the p...jk said...<br /><br />Thank gawd its the last one! For the past 14 months I have been mesmerized by this spectacle, wondering how it would all break bad, hoping for the Hindenberg explosion (where the Donald is overcome by an unexpected moment of clarity and self awareness about the colossal nature of his imbecility that he either goes into exile or offs himself), or waiting for a deafening high impact vehicle collision accompanied by a ball of flames (where the GOP renounces him and stops campaign funding when he is convicted of tax fraud). But no...there is no functional GOP, and there will be no spectacular ball of flame, no self awareness accompanied by public shame. That's what we're all waiting for, right? No, this campaign is the car careening off highway 1, bouncing down the hillside, wheels flying off, top and hood crushing roll-overs, fenders flying off in never-ending end-over-end pitches until there is no sight of the car...no spectacular ball of flame, just silence, no sight of broken Donald. Ahhh, silence. I'll take it gladly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-17393701832993874322016-10-20T21:49:25.661-04:002016-10-20T21:49:25.661-04:00It's tough to do a parody of this stuff. It so...It's tough to do a parody of this stuff. It sort of transcends anything you can say about it. This was a fun read, though, and would actually have saved me a couple hours of my life had I just waited and read it instead of watching the debate. I certainly laughed more than I did during the real debate. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06856160423100846727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-21593839167726093562016-10-20T21:40:18.835-04:002016-10-20T21:40:18.835-04:00"War saves lives and makes wars end."- B..."War saves lives and makes wars end."- Brilliant!hbernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13088030794850141658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-36262307947634150702016-10-20T19:55:18.857-04:002016-10-20T19:55:18.857-04:00This transcript is a scary, funny, crazy, appallin...This transcript is a scary, funny, crazy, appallingly true tour de force. You've conjured Oscar Wilde. Brilliant. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08410385110428223455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-69898930406860123822016-10-20T16:02:10.903-04:002016-10-20T16:02:10.903-04:00I watched and listened to some of it via Jill'...I watched and listened to some of it via Jill's Facebook feed. Trump landed some good ones. HRC is so infuriating with her finger-pointing at Russia (and China), repeated assertions that Trump and Putin are in cahoots, and assurance of a no-fly zone. She has no cred whatsoever as a feminist or progressive, yet she is supported as such by self-proclaimed feminists and progressives. The cognitive dissonance is so thick, and the MSM provides a cover for this continued judgment lapse. I do love reading the occasional testimonials of people who were pro-HRC, even voting for her in the primaries, but have since changed their minds upon learning of the corruption.<br /><br />I absolutely LOVED reading this, Karen. Made me laugh out loud, and I am still grinning. I am going to share it widely and read it over and over.Elizabeth Adamsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-90870797696353343292016-10-20T14:25:07.256-04:002016-10-20T14:25:07.256-04:00Karen, you nailed it! NYT should give you a column...Karen, you nailed it! NYT should give you a column. <br /><br /><br />annenigmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-69104355396332399742016-10-20T13:02:27.214-04:002016-10-20T13:02:27.214-04:00Thank you. I was busy downloading pictures of my ...Thank you. I was busy downloading pictures of my trip, with my lovely wife, to the Bread & Puppet Museum in Glover, http://breadandpuppet.org/museum, having a quick lunch at the Busy Bee Diner, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Busy-Bee/148519892015272 and, before heading back to the Champlain Valley, checking out the Museum of Everyday Life. http://museumofeverydaylife.org/<br />It was a lovely, Indian Summer Day in Vermont, although peak leaves are gone in the NEK. And the after glow was not really ruined either, although I did watch maybe 20 minutes before I walked away and moved onto better things. I also picked up a small book, at the Bread and Puppet, "Daisy Dopp's Vermont" published by the Orleans County Historical Society. Reading parts of it, does make me wish for a simpler time of hard work on the farm, but alas, those times have vanished like the jobs to Mexico and China. And pretty sure that after yesterday, the warm weather we have been enjoying has headed south to Mexico with those jobs. I thank you for spending your time watching for me and reporting back. Later that night I sat in my favorite chair and read Chapter 32 of "Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton, and finished a chapter of "In Dubious Battle" by John Steinbeck. Talk about cognitive dissonance. It seems the Clinton/Trump imboglio would have created the same feelings, but I think my blood pressure was better controlled by relaxing and reading Wharton's elegant prose and appreciating Steinbeck's impassioned speechifying for the common man.Ste-vonoreply@blogger.com