It's Been A Long Ten Years

Given the events of the past decade, I thought I should check in to see if I still have any followers... and if so, to probably alienate them.

It has been an eventful ten years since my last post in 2012.

The Republican Party is off the rails. I never was a Republican (as readers will no doubt recall) but often voted for them. As it stands now, I wouldn't vote for a Republican for dogcatcher. The TEA Party and then Donald Trump tore the heart out of the conservative movement and replaced it with tribalism (a trend already in progress when I semi-regularly posted here, to my dismay both then and now) and a reactionary instinct akin to the very ideologies I dedicated my political life to opposing throughout my young adulthood. In short, I look at the Republican Party today and I see the beginnings of fascism.

This is a serious charge, and I make it in utmost seriousness. (I also know that I'm far from the first, and that I used to make fun of people who called us fascists at protest crashes with PW circa 2005. I look back and wonder if they maybe had a point, even then.)

The TEA Party made opposition to the Obama administration dogmatic and reflexive, rather than issues-based, something I noted in my last post. It has gotten worse since. Donald Trump has been undermining our elections since shortly after his first run, baselessly alleging fraud and attacking election workers and administrators. As readers may recall, I was a poll worker myself in the 2008 primary. I have served in that capacity (never again as inspector, but several turns as both clerk and judge) many times since, and I can assure the reader of one thing: It is impossible to steal an election at the precinct level. We keep constant tally, and their are both Democrats and Republicans in the room, either of whom would scream bloody murder if the others tried to tamper with the votes - and everyone who signs up to work the polls (at least until recently, thanks to Trump) is committed to the democratic process and would do no such thing to begin with. Now we're under threat - both physical danger for poll workers because of Trump's lie that we stole the election (I'm in less danger than some because Trump unfortunately won my state, but I feel for election workers in Georgia and Arizona), and in terms of the integrity of future elections, with would-be officials running for positions that oversee elections with an eye towards putting a thumb on the scale next time. I solemnly swear I will continue to serve and do my duty to the utmost to ensure that does not happen, but the power of a precinct judge is extremely limited in the face of a crooked Secretary of State, should such a person be elected.

Needless to say, this sort of behavior does not behoove a party that purports to be loyal to the Constitution and the Republic. But there's more. Donald Trump, while in office, subverted and obstructed justice, committed gross abuses of office, and attempted to use the power of the Presidency to extract favors and quash oversight. He did everything he could to obstruct the Mueller probe, as the Department of Justice memo released today reminds us. He attempted to withhold military aid duly appropriated by Congress from Ukraine to extort President Zelensky to announce a sham investigation of his election opponent, with consequences we see today. Volumes can be, and have been, filled with other misdeeds by the former President, so not to belabor them, we'll get to the big one.

The Capitol insurrection. When I rallied with Protest Warrior, I thought the people we were counterprotesting were misguided, but with few exceptions I never believed them disloyal or traitors. But on January 6th, 2021, the then-sitting President of the United States unleashed a mob - a mob he knew was armed - on the United States Capitol, urging them to stop the certification of an election he had duly lost and egging them on against his own loyal Vice President, who to his credit did his Constitutional duty despite first pressure and then threats by the President. Trump only called off his dogs when it was clear the gambit had failed. For some time it appeared that they might succeed, but to the credit and through the sacrifices of the Capitol Police no members of Congress were caught. Bare yards separated Vice President Pence from a howling mob screaming for his head. It could have been much worse than it was. It failed, but I fear that unless serious consequences are levied soon it may occupy the same place in our history that the Beer Hall Putsch does in Germany's.

And in the failure of his scheme, Trump has been laying the groundwork for the next one. He has endorsed candidates for office who pound on the lie of a stolen election - and many are now nominated for positions that will let them at least try to steal elections. After all, if you believe the only way you could lose is fraud, why would you not "correct" the vote when you lose, if you can?

Meanwhile, despite the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden is still pursuing the interests of security and democracy abroad, killing Al Qaeda's leader (funny how Republican Presidents since 9/11 haven't managed to pull that off, but both Democratic Presidents since have) and supplying Ukraine's defense against Russia's naked attempt at conquest (which Trump, I reiterate, held hostage in the interests of coercing foreign aid in his own reelection campaign).

Ironic as it might be coming from a blog with this one's record, I call on all readers to vote for Democrats. Until the Republican Party comes to its senses, if it can, we cannot afford it to be anywhere near the levers of power. Our very republic is at stake.

This may well be my final entry into this blog, simply because it's an obsolete if not dying format, but I had to get that off my chest in it lest the views I held in my 20s define it forever. We shall see.

Since I've apparently accidentally encouraged a "Truther..."

Well. In my last post, I embedded a video of a debate between the makers of the film Loose Change and the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine. Unfortunately, I failed to realize that some people are too dense to recognize a good intellectual thrashing when they see one, and instead side with the guy who shouts the most (when in actuality, being reduced to shouting in a debate usually means you've lost), so I've decided to correct that oversight.

So I am posting to promote the "9/11 Debunked" video series by R.K. Owens. These lay out, in simple format, precisely why the various 9/11 conspiracy theories do not stand up to the facts. I heartily recommend watching at least some of them to anyone interested in the issue, whether you believe the conspiracy theories or not.

The videos may be found here. Highlights include this video on why the fires in the World Trade Center didn't have to melt steel to collapse the buildings, this one handily shows that the towers did not fall at free-fall speed as frequently claimed by conspiracy theorists, and this one showing that the damage to the Pentagon is entirely consistent with a 757 hitting the building.

Be warned: Many of the videos, including the first two I linked, show the World Trade Center's collapse multiple times from multiple angles. If this is an emotional subject for you, as it is for me, you may wish to not take it in all at once.