Right Wing Jerks

Americans understand the elections are rigged. In the last national election, in 2014, just 36.4 percent of the voting-eligible population cast ballots.
Of the 320 million Americans, about 80 million are under age to vote. of the remaining 240 million about 100 million do not participate in the elections.
There are a great many reasons to be discouraged. The American government does not represent the American people. One may look at any number of polls showing what the American people want, and what they get, often the direct opposite.

The following abruptly appeared on our TV screen, apparently due to a fissure in the spacetime continuum.  
Host: Good evening, ladies and gentleman.  Welcome to the first presidential debate of 2016 between the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.  Instead of reporters as questioners, each candidate chose a “second” who will pose questions to both candidates.  The “seconds” are Jesse Ventura for Mr. Trump and Samantha Power, for Ms. Clinton.  Now let us all introduce ourselves.  Ms. Power, please go first.

Amerika has gone far beyond its tipping point.  When I refer to the United States as “Amerika”, I’m talking about the racist/fascist aspects of my country of origin.  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the first usage was in 1968, and the use of a “k” instead of a “c” likened the good ol’ U.S.A.

Whatever happens with Donald Trump’s candidacy- whether he rides his durable poll numbers to the Republican nomination, runs as an independent, or withdraws from the race completely- the ideas he’s introduced to the mainstream political dialogue will have a long shelf life.

After 14 people were killed and 22 more injured in the San Bernardino massacre by a couple whom authorities claim were “radicalized” by Islamist ideology, Islamophobia among the American public has seemingly reached a fever pitch. But while many people are fighting back against hateful discrimination against Muslims, many are doing so with a liberal narrative of American values that rationalizes and perpetuates American state violence, while failing to recognize this violence as its own form of extremism.

Hello, is anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?

Universe in the back seat of the station wagon
I do this quite a lot – looking at those American towns I call home or still have connections with and try to make universal tie-ins to the larger world, certainly connections that overlay here, say, Portland, to the universal Amerika, fed through the lens of American Capitalism Gone Hard Fascist Right.

Baby boomers like myself remember urban Main Street America. In our neighborhoods of Brooklyn N.Y., we had the appearance of little villages. The main shopping avenues were lined with Mom and Pop retail stores. You wanted bread, we had Italian, Jewish and German bakeries. You wanted fruit, you went to the neighborhood fruit and produce store. Needed women’s wear — a ladies shop.

I don’t think anyone can dispute that GOP candidates for president have exploited the primeval forces driving humankind from its earliest moments on this Earth, those of fear and angst. Even government is posed as a threat, at all levels, but especially at the national level. In Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural address in 1981, he said: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” More recently, the “Jade Helm” U.S.

Joseph in Egypt: A Myth
 
I confess: I don’t believe in the biblical story of Joseph. Quite aside from the fanciful notion that Joseph built the pyramids for grain storage (as alleged by Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson), I don’t believe in the Bible character himself–any more than I believe in Prometheus, Rama, or the Yellow Emperor of Chinese mythology.