Aging Process

Burr phones in with apologies.
He is out today with tests for an age related condition, tests that are going longer than expected.

He does not see much advantage to the aging process,
and does not recommend it to others.

Despite advancing years, he assures us he will remain cheerfully immature.

He promises to be back next week.

Combat Hero in a Library

Note from Raymond

[This was first published in 2008. It seems fitting today.]

by Burr Deming

Last evening he reacted with amazement. “You gotta be kidding me!” I had just mentioned I was writing about him. I thought for a moment he might object. As it is, I hope he forgives me for the details I may have gotten wrong.

It was one of several encounters I had happened upon with this impressive, self-deprecating man. I often stop by the local library, and that’s where we kept bumping into each other. The first time, he was trying to recover a lost file on a library computer. I tried to help him, unsuccessfully as it turned out. We talked about the coming election. He was for McCain, I for Obama.

Then he told me a little of himself. He is a war hero from the Vietnam era. That’s my description not his. He seems hesitant as he talks about it, and he talks about it sparingly. “I just went a little crazy,” he says. His “craziness” saved others who were in mortal danger, pinned down and taking enemy fire. He was later awarded the Bronze Star for bravery. That medal is awarded for any of several acts, but when earned for bravery in combat, it is the fourth highest possible military citation given by the U.S. Armed Forces.

For years, modesty and uncertainty of how it might be regarded prompted him to keep the award stored out of view. He would not expose this symbol to derision. It was his father who changed his mind. His dad had served in the Air Force in World War Two, flying over the Empire of Japan with General Curtis Lemay. He confessed to his son that he felt just a little envious. The younger veteran was incredulous and so his father explained, it was that hidden Bronze Star. The son objected. The old man was a hero many times over. He pointed to the many ribbons, medals, and awards the elder hero had on his own wall. “But I never earned a Bronze Star,” the father stated simply.

They are everywhere, these heroes who have our lasting thanks and admiration, earned in far off lands. They are lucky to have made it back, and we are blessed in having them back. A choir director, members at church, workmates, and casual acquaintances are among them. There are many more unknowingly met in bank lines and pharmacies, the routine encounters that are part of everyday life. I have a letter from a onetime coworker, recently assigned to Afghanistan. He has my prayers until the moment he returns.

My friend in the library had a special relationship with his dad. They each shared an admiration of the other, quiet and well deserved. The last act of that regard came as the son gazed into an open casket. He placed next to his father the Bronze Star that had been awarded for an act of desperation decades ago in a land far away.

The father had chosen his son well.

How to Explain to Your White Friends…

found online by Raymond

 

     [Image from Reductress]

From Reductress:

…That You Don’t Know Who Billy Joel is Because Your Dad is an Immigrant

But remember, it’s not your fault – it’s your dad’s. It’s nice that he gave up everything he ever knew to raise you in a country halfway across the world, but it’s left him in a position where all his American pop culture references start in the year 1994. He effectively failed at his primary duty as a father, which was to play popular music in the car as a kid so you would later be able to relate to your white friends who are far too enthusiastic about Gordon Lightfoot for their age.

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5 Right-Wing Myths About “Cancel Culture”

found online by Raymond

 

     [Image from Pim Chu on Unsplash]

From The Propaganda Professor:

“Cancel culture” is such a big deal to conservatives that one of their leading (if that is the correct word) voices, Congressman Jim Jordan (Q-OH) went on Fox “News” and declared it to be the biggest problem facing the nation today. Yep, bigger than the pandemic, the economy, terrorism, climate change, or even Jewish space lasers. And given Jordan’s backstory, he clearly considers it a graver threat than sexual assault.

Whenever these folks are penalized for their actions, they invariably scream and whine that they are being censored, oppressed, persecuted, marginalized and socialized by Orwell, Hitler, Goebbels, Marx, George Soros and Hillary. They have adopted the cute phrase cancel culture for this imposition of accountability. They would have you believe that they yearn for a society in which anyone is free to say absolutely anything, anywhere, anytime, with absolutely no repercussions. And hey, maybe some of them actually mean it. Because the thing is, if that were the case, they would have a huge advantage — even bigger than the one they have now.

A forum that has no holds barred would be hugely tilted in favor of right-wingers for the simple reason that they are willing to say absolutely anything. And the truth is no match for lies; after all, for every single truth there can be an infinite number of lies. This is why right-wingers have flocked to Parler, which claims to have no “censorship”, no “cancel culture”; that isn’t true, of course –Parler has been known to ban people for being too progressive. But the very promise of having no restrictions lures conservatives like a stockyard lures flies.

In the narrative about “cancel culture”, which is really being driven into the ground on the social media from which they supposedly have been cancelled, there are five myths they consistently promote. Let’s take a look at them.

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Accidentally On Purpose?

found online by Raymond

 

America First Klan Coin     [Image from Strangely Blogged]

From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:

I get that CPAC is about right-wing signifying, but the CPAC stage being laid out to resemble the Odal rune once used by the SS Waffen and preferred by some neo-Nazis over the swastika is a little bit….much, right? I mean, surely it’s a dumb coincidence.

Nope, we’ve been here before. The argument over “accident” vs. “on purpose” is partially about fucking with the libs, partially about letting the white supremacists (who would know what it looks like, even if regular folks don’t) feel included. The way some fash or fash-adjacent person might flash white power hand gestures and then pretend they are just feeling A-OK. At some point, there is no benefit of the doubt left.

I mean, when Josh Hawley explicitly says he is paraphrasing a quote by Daniel Webster (“Union now, union forever”) but changes it to “America now, America first, America forever”, it’s that little detail of three clauses that might make you hear echoes of George Wallace at first, but the insertion of “America first” is what drives it home for people with long memories.

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CPAC: Conservative Political Action Cult Disciples Ask for ‘Our Marching Orders’

found online by Raymond

 

     [Image from TODAY]

From News Corpse:

As a testament to the efficiency and competency of Donald Trump and his ultra-rightist brigades, the website for the Conservative Political Action cult (CPAC) has been down for hours, and still is at the time of this writing. And this is on the big day when Trump is delivering his first “Post-Presidential Losers Address.” Metaphors abound.

Why anyone is looking forward to Trump’s speech is a complete mystery. Anyone who has been watching him for the past few years knows exactly what he’s going to say. He will touch on the only four speaking elements he knows: Lying, whining, insulting, and bragging.

Prior to the Trump keynote, Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union that stages this affair, delivered his own remarks. The interview that followed began with the moderator asking what he said was the question uppermost on the minds of the conference attendees:

Moderator: I went around the lobby this morning asking people what they wanted me to ask you. And person after person said “Ask Matt what are our marching orders.”

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that these glassy-eyed devotees of Trump are pensively pacing the halls of the Hyatt wondering what in hell they should be doing and pleading for some authority figure to provide the guidance they require to function.

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Boom! Lawyered:
How to Bankrupt the Proud Boys

found online by Raymond

 

Proud Boys hold rally in Portland     [Image from CBC News]

From Imani Gandy & Jessica Pieklo at Rewire News Group:

Jessica Pieklo: Like Imani said, it targets Trump, Giuliani (who in my circles we call him a paisan of shame, we don’t claim him), the Oath Keepers, and the Proud Boys, and said that they incited a riot designed to prevent Representative Thompson and others from carrying out their constitutional duty in certifying the election.
 
So this is a really super targeted lawsuit. And it’s so sexy.

Imani Gandy:  It’s so sexy, and it’s literally the reason that the KKK Act was passed. Right? Because white folks, listen, you all tend to get a little bit buckwild sometimes. Not all of you (hashtag not all white people) but you all have been pulling a lot of nonsense related to elections since slavery and the reconstruction, including violence and intimidation.
 
Like straight up. “Oh, Black guy, you want to vote? How about I hang you from a tree instead and send that as a message to your family?” This is serious, serious stuff, while white folks have picnics under the hanging bodies of Black folks.

Jessica Pieklo: “Let’s play some badminton while that’s going on.”

Imani Gandy:  Right, exactly. “A little croquet never hurt anyone.” So this is a bear.
 
I’m very excited about this lawsuit.
 
I’m particularly excited about the fact that it’s a civil lawsuit and not a criminal lawsuit. So that means the burden of proof for the claims is lower. In the criminal lawsuit, you’ve got go beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil lawsuit, it’s just preponderance of the evidence, which just basically means a little bit more than a majority.

Jessica Pieklo: More likely than not.

Imani Gandy:  More likely than not. Where beyond a reasonable doubt is like: you got to be like 99.9% sure. Preponderance of the evidence, 51% is fine.
 
Oh, and it gets even better than that.

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Ted Cruz as Archie Bunker

found online by Raymond

 

     [Image from Goosefriend licensed under Creative Commons BY 2.0]

From David Robertson at The Moderate Voice:

Cruz complaining about a lack of respect must have Rodney Dangerfield turning over in his grave.

Cruz might not be in such trouble now if his wife were Edith Bunker instead of Marie Antoinette.

The latter woman allegedly said, “Let them eat cake.” Heidi said (paraphrasing) “Let’s go to the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún!”

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Emotion and Politics

found online by Raymond

 

     [Image from Marina Kazmirova on Unsplash]

From Nan’s Notebook:

…those who follow the conservative/Republican point of view tend to be very deeply emotional individuals.

As many have expressed here and elsewhere, whenever the subject of Trump and/or his policies has arisen in a conversation, the discussion often devolves into little more than insults and verbal abuse from the Trump supporter.

(Regrettably, on occasion, these exchanges have resulted in lost or strained friendships and/or damaged family relationships.)

However, as many will attest, such incidents are not limited just to the topic of Trump. Discussions that include Democratic vs. Republican points of view frequently devolve into angry words and name-calling as well.

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