I've become so disgusted with online pundits, reports of late night hosts' constant jokes and derisions, and the same old same old stuff, day after day, about Trump, and his wife (who can do nothing right, while Saint Michelle Obama could do no wrong!)
Yes, we know, and have known since 2016, that Donald Trump should never be anywhere within a thousand miles of the US presidency. Enough US citizens did put him there, he didn't get there by magic! I do wish some people would start dealing with this eventuality in a more adult way! I sometimes feel, reading, or hearing things political, as though I'm in a flippin' high school classroom!
President Trump's latest adventure, in Singapore, has brought down, as expected, more sneers. While there's no guarantee anything positive will eventually come of it - who could deny that it was a step in the right general direction - albeit a baby step? It's still more than Saint Obama managed in his two terms - he was too busy sending out drones!
Anyway, back to my first remark: here is a piece I can agree with. Maybe I'm turning Libertarian in my old age? That was the way I voted in 2016, anyway - to avoid voting for either Clinton or Trump. T'was our only alternative in Oklahoma. I've never been a Democrat anyway, always Independent, from first registering to vote, in 2008. The Democrats have been sliding further and further downward in my estimation since then - not least due to their dastardly efforts to stop Bernie Sanders from gaining the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
North Korea: Pelosi Versus Peace
by Thomas Knapp
It begins:
And ends:Which is worse: The specter of nuclear war, or giving US president Donald Trump credit for a significant diplomatic accomplishment?
In her official statement on Trump’s Singapore summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi makes it clear that a few million incinerated human beings are a small price to pay to keep the 68-year-old Korean War going. Maybe not forever, but at least until there’s a Democrat in the White House.
A genuine and durable peace on the Korean peninsula may or may not be achievable, but Trump seems to be giving it the old college try. Pelosi and her party, having proven unable to lead and unwilling to follow on the matter, should at least have the decency to get the hell out of the way.
Bravo Mr Knapp!
Afterthought:
Link to a post I wrote about the North Korean situation in 2013:
North Korea - The Unknowns
Postscript - After drafting the above I came across a couple more pieces whose authors are thinking along similar lines to Thomas Knapp - and your friendly ranting Blogger:
By John Laurits: Brand Marketing a Political Party: Inside the Democrats’ Fake Opposition.
And, The Democrats Out-Right the Right on North Korean Summit by Ajamu Baraka.
OMG
ReplyDeletebrilliant satire
Anonymous - Look again, with an open mind - satire it ain't!
ReplyDeleteHi Annie,
ReplyDelete(this message is in 2 parts sorry)
I've been living abroad for the past 7 years and have recently (Nov.) returned to the USA for good. When I was overseas, I didn't watch T.V. or listen to any main stream news whatsoever. I really learned to be apolitical and didn't delve into the quagmire of American political discourse, choosing to stay out of the fray.
That being said I did pay a bit of attention to this Trump guy seeings how he actually got to the point of being a threat, obviously to the status quo. Early on I heard the hate coming from those who were roped into the political arena, and when I would quite innocently ask "why'....or 'what is the reason for....' or 'where did you hear' this or that, (The people I'm referring to were American colleagues following the campaigns from afar) rarely would I get a solid response. I found it odd.
And then fast forward to Nov. 2017. The Pres. race was over and I was on my way home. In the back of my mind there were things I had heard about that certain people.....well let's just refer to them as the 'haters'....were prone to react to. In my mind these anti-family anti-nationalist anti-free speech anti-gun social justice warriors I'd heard tell of, were most certainly (in my mind) not going to be in my environment. And it was hard to believe they really even existed at all.
Well I arrived safe in the US and landed in L.A. with arrangements made with old relatives who offered to put me up nearby. In Southern California.
I quickly realized how naive I was with my 'politics doesn't matter' philosophy. The home I am staying in is nice and the people are very old friends/relatives. But the ugly head of who-knows-what to call it started to show immediately. MSNBC was on the T.V. 24/7....a picture of Hillary Clinton was on the refrigerator....the matriarch of the group was and is on twitter 24/7 gleefully crafting hateful insults to tweet with her followers....shouting profanities at the television and the like as if it were a noble activity. And this coming from grown elderly adults, all directed at a person who I had learned a lot about strictly by doing my own objective questioning and a little research, again, ON MY OWN. A person I thought was refreshing and tough....not perfect, but not out to get everyone who has a different opinion. Yes....I have to keep it under my hat, I admit it, I admire Trump.
I'm NOT political....I'm like you..registered Independent, and considering the people that surround me, me being apolitical isn't good enough for them. I don't hate Trump so that makes me suspect. There' 'something wrong' with me if I can't see the reasoning to hate a person and his family just because the media says so I guess. They turn the laser beam of vitriol on me if I even hint at something being inaccurate or heaven forbid state a fact that contradicts "the narrative'.
ReplyDeleteIt's insane Annie. That isn't hyperbole....it's weird and twisted this hate.
For example, I can't make the mistake of promoting discourse, or of wanting to listen to all sides or of pointing out the merits of independent research in order to form an educated opinion when an argument against 'that bastard' arises. EVERYTHING turns political every day.
Anyway....it seems that I went to live in foreign country, I learned how to be an observer of the human condition, became more well-rounded and tolerant even, only to return to what, in a sense, is a State within our country with an ideology based on pure hate and misinformation. The first 4 months I was HOMESICK for Turkey. It blindsided me. It was terrible and I felt much more isolated here than I ever did while I was there in Istanbul.
I will close this writing with a message to myself and to anyone out there willing to listen....there comes a time in a person's life at one time or another, it is unavoidable, when we have to give-up what we thought was our strongest attribute or principle because we simply didn't take the initiative to just listen, we got drunk on our own kool-aid..we didn't pay attention to the signs warning us of our ignorance... because without dialog, discourse, listening and discussions, complete free speech, with a sprinkle of debate in the mix, without these ingredients, what we foolishly believe is our strongest and most noble qualities can sometimes actually be our weakest attributes.
It's clear that when hate disguised as tolerance is the norm, then hate will have won. And the ignorant will not understand because they didn't see it coming. We need nations....sovereign nations. It's not 'racist' to want to preserve being British or being American or German.
The EU scares me.
Thanks for listening to my rant Annie. I'm happy to be back.
Michael.
Michael, I don't make a habit of commenting on other commentators. It's Twilight's blog and it's her prerogative to answer, or not, the comments she receives. But, I have only one one thing to say: the lack of an EU scares me to death.
ReplyDeleteDC (Michael)~ Hey there! What a nice surprise to find comments from you - I don't know how I missed them yesterday - must have had some distractions!
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to see you again.
Your words are comforting! So...I'm not the only one with similar thoughts. I understand 100% how you feel, your feelings are not too far from my own on the Donald Trump issue. He ought not to be president, but he is - and he is there for a reason.
The Democrats let the people down, and are continuing to let us down - and will continue to let us down until, somehow, a stop is put to their mostly conservative doings. The people have nobody truly on their side - apart from Bernie Sanders, and he is tied to the Democrats from necessity.
Some people thought Trump would be on their side, and at times I've thought the same. I believe that much of what he says and does is driven by what he is told to do by a layer of power beyond him (I do believe there is one). He says what he wants to say, which is often peculiar, but I suspect he does what he's told to do, for much of the time, but he'd never allow us to know that. Obama was in much the same position but he had a much smoother, shrewder personality, which helped to gloss over it all.
I'm wary of speaking my mind fully on the topic, but sometimes I simply have to say or write something! I'm sick of the hatred - daily, weekly, monthly, annually. I don't watch TV news or opinion shows any longer, but just headlines at Huffington Post etc. are enough to tell me what goes on, nightly. It's juvenile - it's like kids ganging up on an unpopular classmate. And to what end? Nothing will change due to their constant hating! It brings in viewers though, and viewers bring advertisers and advertisers bring $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. It's all about profits, always. Until people stop watching this garbage the atmosphere of intense hatred will continue. It sickens me!
As for the EU, though, Michael - I'm with RJ Adams on this. If I were still living in the UK, I'd dread the loss of the Union. It was never ideal, but it has, at the very least, kept the peace in Europe for many decades. Human nature being what it is.....well....
I do hope you will find it possible settle back comfortably enough in the USA, in spite of many drawbacks. :)
RJ Adams ~ As I've responded to Michael, I'm with you on the EU issue. I keep hoping for some hint of the UK to start pulling back from Brexit, but no sign of that so far.
ReplyDelete