If Rittenhouse Were Black

Consider, in your own mind, and your own heart, the following scenario:

Look at the known facts of the recent case involving Kyle Rittenhouse.  Not the conjecture, but the indisputable facts.  Replay the scenario, replacing Rittanhouse with a young man who shares all his attributes, except that he is black.  This man becomes concerned with civil unrest in the state adjacent to his own.  He arms himself with a loaded AR15, and inserts himself into the midst of the unrest.  A couple hours later, within a violent, confusing environment, he has shot three people, two of whom have died. 

What do you see different in the aftermath?  Would this young man be treated the same?  Would he be granted bail, and allowed to return home in another state? 

I ask these questions provoke introspection, not to begin a heated conversation.  There are, no doubt, legions of commentators ready and willing to answer these for you.  My intent is just to suggest you consider them yourself.  I likely will not respond beyond posing these questions. 

Democrats and the Big Tent

I am as frustrated as anybody that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stand between us and passage of a very large, very valuable legislative program.  

It's not completely clear what kind of compromises it would take to get them on board, but they need to be brought on board - and neither will yield to coercion.  If they say it needs to be reduced to $2.0T, or $1.9T, it's time to trim to that, get the legislation passed, get shovels in the ground, and begin healing the party ... and the nation. 

Manchin and Sinema were not elected by the Democratic Party, but by the majority of voters in two fairly conservative states.  Their push-back on this spending bill is not a sudden change of course for either of them - but is consistent with their record, and the stated positions that got them to the Senate. we should consider the possibility that those who angrily complain that these two are not 'real' Democrats might convince them that that is the case ― leading them to look for a new home outside the party.  If either of them does that, Mitch McConnell would overnight retake his former seat as Senate majority leader, and the $3.6T package will be reduced, not to $1.9T, but to zero.    

This will be a victory for ideological purity, and not settling for 'half a loaf', but a devastating, long-term setback for the progressive agenda I value, and which is the stated goal of those who most strongly oppose compromise.   

Scenario - Invasion of the Identity Snatchers

Consider this scenario ... 

You get a Facebook Messenger note from an old buddy.  He says, "I love that picture of your old Camaro you posted!  Check out this one I just saw today!"  

You can hardly wait to see the car he mentioned, so you click the picture, and sure enough, it's a Camaro.  

Almost immediately, your computer starts acting funny.  It's really slow, and sometimes won't open files, or go to web pages you select.  Your friends start asking you why you are sending them spam Messenger texts.  

You suspect these may be related, so you contact your friend to ask about the picture he sent.  "I didn't send you a picture of a Camaro!", he insists.  "Sure you did.  You even mentioned the picture of my first car that I posted a couple days ago, that you liked." 

"I remember liking that picture of your first car, but I didn't send you any pictures today!"

Then who the hell did?  

A North Korean bot did.  

How did is know I loved Camaros?

Because you told it, when it asked about your first car.  And when it saw that your friend 'liked' your comment about your Camaro, so it knew just who to pretend to be to get you to click the link that would surrender control of your computer.  

All these quizzes seem fun.  But if a total stranger came up to you on the street and asked you these same questions, would you just answer them, or would you keep on walking?

Ironic Nanny-State

Ironic, isn't it, that the states that are most parsimonious with rental assistance, food aid, welfare, or any other human services—because they say the government has no business interfering in people's lives—discover their inner nanny-state when it comes to private individuals doing something that violates the religious sensibilities of those in power?

Critical Race Theory - Just History

• The US deaths from COVID-19 have passed the three-quarters of a million mark, and continue rising.  
• July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded worldwide.  The ten hottest years ever have all occurred within the last twenty
• Gun violence in the US has reached epidemic proportions, with mass shootings becoming so routine, they barely make the news. 

So, you'd think these issues would have been front and center in the elections earlier this month.

Uh yeah, but ... as it turns out, a number of key races were decided on the margins by voters panicked by the prospect that schools would teach students that people of color have faced institutionalized racial discrimination throughout our history.  

Good Lord!!  Have people lost the ability to tell when their fears are are being manipulated?  

Cult Violations and Enforcement

 The ‘Big Lie’ serves a number of purposes within a cult beyond simply convincing gullible members of its veracity.  It also: 

• Separates cult members from no-believers in the lie, since the lie is so outlandish, it is so far from accepted reality, it creates a barrier of embarrassment and interpersonal conflict with outsiders.

• It provides a weapon to enforce cohesion and adherence to the cult leader’s pronouncements.  Any member who dares to disagree, or dispute the big lie is ostracized and shunned by fellow cult members.  

• This serves both to keep their potentially disruptive views from spreading, but at least as importantly, this punishment serves as a warning to other cult members of the fate that awaits those who think independently. 

As difficult as it can be for anybody to counter a belief accepted by one’s peers, it is a true profile in courage, when these peers are fully invested in categorically disproven lies, and worship the con man who promulgates them.  

I am not a fan of this Liz Cheney, but I tip my hat to her today.  

Armenian Genocide

Kudos to President Biden for being the first U.S. President to muster the courage to state the obvious, and refer to the Armenian genocide as a genocide.  

Between 1915 and 1922, over 50% of the Armenian population of Turkey was killed by Ottoman / Turkish forces, with most of the rest deported from their homeland.  

Until the Holocaust of European Jews in the Second World War, this was the worst wholesale ethnic slaughter in the modern western history.  Like European Jews, Armenians still carry the trauma of this crime.  Unlike European Jews, Armenians have received neither an apology, nor even an admission from Turkey that this horrible chapter occurred.  The fear of losing Turkey as an ally has pushed our nation to be complicit in this conspiracy of silence until now.  President Biden’s official acknowledgement of these crimes is way overdue, but has been welcomed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

Dorian Gray and Trump

He loved nobody but himself, but felt it was his birthright to be loved unconditionally by all.  He had no friends.  His world was inhabited only by potential prey, enemies, and by those with whom he would form temporary, revocable alliances.  

He knew that good looks were the only way to make sure people would love you, and wanted to find a way to remain beautiful.  He heard about a guy named Dorian Gray, who negotiated a deal with the devil; in return for his soul, he would never age; retaining his handsome, youthful looks forever.  No matter how corruptly he led his life, he would remain handsome, vital, and youthful; his corruption would be reflected only a painting of him, which would age, and become hideous.  

This seemed like a sweet deal – a bargain, really.  And nobody knew the art of the deal like he did.  So, he sent his best man to meet with the devil, to get him the same deal.  Giuliani returned from the meeting the next day, and assured his boss that he had succeeded; no matter how corrupt a life he led, none of the dozens of portraits of himself—which he kept in every room—would ever age a single day.   

Impeachment and Jaime Herrera Beutler

In the last two elections, I have supported, and contributed to, Carolyn Long in her campaigns to unseat Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, and ‘Flip the Third’ Congressional District - and have been disappointed that neither of these efforts were a success.  

I can’t say that I will reconsider my choice next time.  It will really depend upon the qualifications of the candidates.  But I will say that today the Third Congressional District of Washington is represented by an individual who is displaying rare courage.  

This is not just political courage - though her vote to impeach may well cost her her seat.  But it’s also personal courage, a week after an insurrectionist mob invaded the Capitol, particularly targeting those Republicans they considered disloyal to the Current Occupant of the White House.  There were more troops bivouacked in the Capitol than at any time since the Civil War.  And many of these same people are targeting members at their homes.  

I just called her local office to thank her for her courage in support of our constitution.  I imagine most of the calls they are getting are less thankful than mine.  If you would care to add your voice either way, the number is (360) 695-6292.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2021/jan/12/herrera-beutler-mum-on-aftermath-of-capitol-siege-impeachment-vote/ 

Herd Immunity

 Let’s start the year off with a little knowledge bomb.  

The term ‘herd immunity’ has taken on a life of its own, and is most popular with people who don’t know what it means.  

Herd immunity is not the same as individual immunity.  The stubborn, the foolish, and the unlucky will continue to get sick and die.  Achieving some nebulous level of vaccination in our society will do nothing to save the lives of those who persist in foolish behavior like tongue-kissing strangers on the street, not wearing a mask, or maintaining distance from others.  

What ‘herd immunity’ means is that those who contract this disease have a reduced incidence of passing it on to others—and reinvigorating the global pandemic—since the majority of those whom they contact will be immunized against it.  

And societal herd immunity provides no protection to stubborn subgroups, who have lower levels of immunization, and continue to mingle without protection.  All one has to do is look at the last few years of localized outbreaks of measles and mumps among the anti-vaxxer cult community to get the point.  We have had societal herd immunity against those diseases for decades, but that does not protect fools.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTRKCXC0JFg