I Never Do This

Tonight I see people I love and respect melting down on Bluesky. Along with that, I’ve blocked a bunch of people who deposit their asshole words on threads that I’d hope could bring some thought and perhaps even joy to their readers.

It’s been a horrible, horrible week. I imagined something like this a year ago if Trump won, although he is creative and keeps coming up with the unexpected. I have political arguments I can make about his activity this week that offer a glimmer of hope, but I’ll save that for another time.

There is a precarity to my personal situation that makes things worse. With any luck, it will be temporary.

Scott has been making a lot of sense lately, so let me quote him.

This is one of those Russian doll posts that I haven’t made up my mind whether I like, so let’s unpack it so you can see the sense.

Again, I’ll save the depths of political analysis to just say how disorienting this is. “Give up the women, the trans people, your principles, and you will win elections” is the siren centrist song. But the elections (and a good bit of history) say “Say it out straight and take action and people will follow.”

MY GOD, WE COULD WIN IF WE TOOK THAT SERIOUSLY

And people are winning. Today in Kansas, every off-year election so far by double digits. But that’s not enough to stop Trump from his killing spree in the Caribbean as he whines that the comedians he hates must be shut down because he’ll tell his mommy!

And then there’s the whining from other people about still other people, mainly Democrats, not doing that the whiners think they should be doing, wasting their time and energy and mine, energy that could be put to finding ways to change things. Do not obey in advance. That has accounted for a number of blocks today.

The cognitive dissonance – that so many are despairing or going over to the other side when there are ways to work together, when some people are doing good work – is part of what is getting to me.

The horror of a President of the United States arrogating to himself the power to kill people because of his delusions. To destroy the country’s economy, its educationsl institutions, its public health because of his resentments and hatreds.With a Republican Congress who are fine with this. Yes, even the ever-so-responsible Senators Bill Cassidy, who should be in sackcloth and ashes begging citizens to forgive his vote for Bobby Kennedy, and Lisa Murkowski, who whines in generalities that she’s scared.

We can win, but only if we stand together and speak the truth. I think what is most likely to break me are the lies. I jumped on someone I respect the other day because she spoke of Trump’s “Golden Dome” as if it could be a real thing. It can’t.

WE HAVE HOW MANY DECADES OF TRYING TO MAKE STAR WARS WORK? IT DOESN’T.

Just say it. Missile defense inherently cannot work the way people want it to. We’ve wasted billions of dollars on it. It’s a fantasy.

There are so many other lies people tell to placate the Mad King and to soothe themselves. Stop it.

It’s late. I don’t usually post anything this emotional. But we’re in a very bad time.