Like virginity, credibility is hard to get back.

I watch with some amusement as the broadcast media struggles to regain a shred of their former dignity and credibility. For 3 years the media has been the avant-garde of the Trump deference movement and now that Trump tells reporters to basically 'go fuck yourself' at press conferences those pigeons appear to have finally come home to roost. I wonder what deference tastes like?



Their shortsightedness saw Trump as a golden ticket for those willing to trade a respectable role in the evolution and maintenance of democracy for celebrity, wealth, and a cute sounding show title like "Flashback Friday, Keeping Them Honest, The Situation Room, and Don't Get Suckered." They have always known that the emperor had no clothes -- he has no intellectual clothes, rationality clothes, honesty clothes -- they knew he was butt naked in all regards except for his thousand dollar suits.

Nonetheless, they lined the roads and heaped respectability on him in the hopes that he would wave his hand and they would profit from his magnanimousness (and in some ways they have). But in addition to the short-term wealth they received, he also through shit on them. I foul shit that stains the soul, honor, and respectability and now all the water in the world doesn't seem to be enough to wash that shit off. As the saying goes "He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas," and all the celebrity anchors with their made-up faces and nice clothes are scratching the hell out of themselves off-camera.

They wanted to be entertainers and now they are! They wanted their 15 minutes of fame and they got it. They want us to see them as professional journalists -- nope, that ship has sailed. History I suspect will note emphatically the role of the media in America's flirtation with fascism, at which point they will wish their names were a bit less known and that stain a bit less permanent.

American Decadence: Part 1

The Systematic Devaluation of Life in America

23 August 2018 (11:17 am) 

Prague, Czech Republic

 

Donald Trump on Mollie Tibbetts' Death

Prologue

It has been my long held belief that America has run its course and is now a failing state. An analogy that I think works well is that of the Titanic. There was a period after the iceberg was spotted but before the iceberg was struck where everything appeared fine, however, the tragedy was inevitable. No amount of rudder or reversing of engines could prevent what was about to happen. America is in a similar situation; we live in a time where all seems, at least relatively, normal, but the future is fixed and its tragic fate appears to be unavoidable.

Exploitation of a Tragic Death

One sign of decadence is the devaluation of human life. In this case the devaluation took the form of an old man using the death of a young woman to further his political career and divert attention from his own personal failings. By turning her life and tragic death into political meat for his base, he devalued her life to an extend that rivaled the person who killed her.

 Trump Speaking in Charleston, West Virginia

As for the those at the Charleston, West Virginia palaver that feasted on the meat he threw out to them, they also did their part to devalue her life. The decadence of one man is not enough to threaten America, on the other hand, a decadent political party and a decadent electorate is much more than enough.

A few days before, in the nearby state of Colorado, another tragic story unfolded. In this case an affluent white father had killed is wife and kids. However, to Trump, their lives had less value than Mollie Tibbetts because they were not killed by an immigrant who was in America illegally. The names of Shanann Watts, Bella Watts (age 4), and Celeste Watts (age 3) could not be used to whip a mob into a frenzied chorus of "Build the Wall," because Chris Watts is just too white and just too American.

The Republican party, represented by people like Rick Santorum (on Anderson Cooper), is desperately hoping that they can use the tragic death of a young woman in Idaho to divert attention from the worst, yet most inevitable, president in American history. The debauchery manifest in Trump and his party are revolting to the eye, so they used the untimely death of Mollie Tibbetts, at the hands of an immigrant, to make us look away. I'm sad to say, I think most Americans will look away, which is why I think America's randevu with its iceberg is inevitable.

 

I’m the Masterpiece Cakeshop baker. Will my freedom be upheld? By Jack Phillips

Taken from the Washington Post web news - 26 Apr. 2018

Jack Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo.
Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

Many people have asked me how I’m feeling as I await the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in my case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. My answer changes moment by moment because my feelings are a whirlwind. More than anything, though, I wonder if there will be a place in the community for me when the dust settles. Will this big, diverse country of ours still have room for me and the millions of others who share my beliefs about marriage?

To answer Mr. Phillips' question – I sincerely hope not. I hope America will end and never tolerate again the beliefs of Mr. Phillips or those who share his beliefs. American society has fought, long difficult, and divisive struggle against those who feel that they have a religious right to discriminate. While the end is not yet in sight, acceptance and tolerance of those who would discriminate is a dead-end alley and not the way forward.

At times, my concerns are quite specific. I consider whether I’ll ever again get to do the wedding art that I loved. Will I get to see that gleam in a bride’s eye when my cake design captures her vision for the big day?

A: Mr. Phillips desire to see a gleam, regardless of creative skills, will never outweigh the bigotry that is the root most religious beliefs. Cloaking oneself in artistic creativity inspired by god, fails on one very important point – there is no god, which leaves the fountain for such inspiration coming from the worse part of mankind – the desire to divide the world into US vs. THEM. 

Will my shop survive the 40 percent loss of business that we suffered when the government forced us to decide to stop designing wedding cakes? Or will everything that my wife and I worked for be gone?

A: If the past is predictive, prejudice dies hard in America, therefore, there is every reason to believe that the bigotry of Mr. Phillips will survive for quite some time and his shop will remain viable. Fortunately, the bigoted path to financial suggest is a tougher road than it used to be, for which I am grateful.

I also wonder whether the people who have taken an interest in my case truly understand who I am and how I operate. It’s really quite simple: I serve everyone, but I can’t create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events in conflict with my faith. That is why I told the gentlemen who are suing me that, even though I couldn’t design a custom cake to celebrate their same-sex marriage, I’d be happy to sell them anything else in my shop or create a cake for them for another occasion.

A: I suspect some people who follow Mr. Phillips case understand him for exactly what he is; while many others accept the "I have gay friends" apologetics offered above. The position is little different than the racist who claims to have a black friend or a black employee. Rational people see through such lies with ease and the folksy bigoty offered above provides no cover.

Everyone is welcome in my shop — be it homeless folks (many of whom I’ve befriended over coffee, cookies and conversation), the two men who are suing me, or anyone else who finds their way in. The God that I serve, whose arms are open to all, expects that of me, and it is my joy to obey Him. But creating a cake that celebrates a view of marriage in conflict with my faith is not something that I can do.

A: 'Welcome' is as much a state of mind of the receiver as the one who offers it. Clearly, there are people who Mr. Phillips made feel decidedly unwelcome, and this feeling was part of the original case. Mr. Phillips' belief system lowered them to a status so low and reprehensible that even making a cake for them became an insurmountable moral issue. The god that Mr. Phillips and many others obey, clearly, according to the above statements, is just as bigoted as those who would follow it. This is the nature of every god. Gods are racists when worshiped by racist, they are misogynists when worshiped by misogynists, and they are bigots when worshiped by bigots. God has always been one-size-fits-all, with a moral relativism that none can match.

It is troubling to imagine what the future looks like for me and the millions of others — whether Muslims, Orthodox Jews or fellow Christians — who believe as part of their faith that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. After years of my state telling me that I must hide, ignore or reject that belief, my sense is that we just don’t belong anymore.

A: The future for Mr. Phillips and his millions (or perhaps billions) of fellow bigots, misogynists, and racists, is not as bleak as one might think or as suggested above. There is power in numbers and currently those who prefer to draw upon the worst instincts of our species for their daily guidance should continue to have a pretty good run in America and around the globe.

The government’s hostility toward my beliefs has spread through pockets of my community. My life and the lives of my family have been threatened repeatedly. Last year, one man swore that he’d shoot me in the head, and another threatened to kill me with a machete — all for declining to create a wedding cake. The threats and harassment have been so bad at times that my wife has been too afraid to set foot in our shop.

A: As deplorable as Mr. Phillips' thinking might be, the above threats are unacceptable and reveals that vigilance against our base instincts must never fade because the darkest elements of humans sleep just below the surface and are easily reawakened.

If the Supreme Court rules against me, I fear it will only get worse. The law, I’ve come to learn, not only dictates what you may do, but it also teaches what you ought to do. If the highest court in the land banishes my beliefs from the marketplace, that will embolden others to continue treating me with scorn and contempt.

A: If the court rules against Mr. Phillips I will be both surprised and pleased. I certainly hope it will embolden others to fight against the reign of every version of the despotic gods that have and continue to cripple the progress of our species towards a better world with less discrimination.

That sort of ruling will also exclude people who share my beliefs from certain artistic work and creative professions. I shudder to think what I’d say if my granddaughter one day tells me that she wants to design wedding cakes like I did. I guess I’ll tell her that she must choose between the faith we taught her and the wedding-cake artistry I showed her.

A: That those who praise and worship the worst aspects of our species will be deprived of their artistic license to do so, is of little concern to me. I hope the granddaughter mentioned above does want to design wedding cakes when she grows up – I hope even more that she grows up in a society free of bigots, racists, and misogynists.

But if the court upholds my freedom to serve all people while declining to design cakes that celebrate certain events, that would welcome me back into the community from which I’ve been estranged. Those who are opposing me in court have compared me to racists and argued that I’m deserving of their fate — social marginalization. But a ruling for me would reject all that and declare to the world that my faith is not a scarlet letter.

A: It is a common wish among people like Mr. Phillips, they all seem to want to serve those in their own tribe while being free to discriminate against all those they identify as the "other." Racists want this, misogynists want this, and bigots want this. It is the universal want of many, if not most, of those who continue to worship gods that favor one group of humans over another. Since all gods discriminate, all those who follow god feel, more or less, free to also discriminate as well. There is no scarlet letter for the religions, but there should be one for the religiously motivated bigotry, racism, and misogyny.

We all want to belong. I’m no different. The Supreme Court’s decision in my case will say a lot about the First Amendment. But I sure hope the court makes it clear that I belong, too.

A: I am always amused by those whose are part of the majority religion in America playing the victim card. It just as amusing as when whites complain about how tough it is being white in America, or in particular, when white supremacists complain about how disadvantaged they feel being a white person in a majority white nation. Regardless of the court's decision, it will not exclude Mr. Phillips from America. Mr. Phillips will always be part of America – however, if we are lucky, the court decision might indicate that just like homosexuals buying a wedding cake in his bakery, Mr. Phillips' ideas are not welcome.

Judge Aquilina: Justice Gets a Blackeye

In response to the video below entitled: "Did Judge Aquilina Go Too Far in Her Statement to Nassar."

I think she did go too far -- I would say she provided grounds for appeal. In this case the evidence leaves little doubt about Nassar's guilt, however, the US justice system has, with little hesitation, sent innocent people to prison or sentenced them to death on many occasions. In those cases, an impartial judge is essential to a fair trial.

Aquilina's statements to Nassar indicate that she lacks the objectivity and detachment to judge cases where is the evidence is thin and the only barrier to a politically minded prosecutor convicting and an innocent person with an underpaid public defender is a vigilant judge. While purely objective judges don't exist in reality, the idea and the goal of having highly impartial judges is quintessential to a fair justice system, and I would say she failed that particular test miserably.

With regard to her statement supporting an eye-for-eye system of justice, this further demonstrates a level of bias that we should all find unacceptable.

“Our Constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment. If it did … I would allow some or many people to do to him what he did to others.”

The idea that she needs a constitution to prevent her from imposing cruel and unusual punishment is little different from those who would support torture if the constitution allowed it or if it were legal. The inhumanity of such ideas is not dependant on the constitution or on legality and if the only thing that holds back your worst instincts are words on a piece of paper, then perhaps being a federal judge is not the right occupation.

In response to the YouTube video below entitled "Evangelicals Bending Over Backwards for Trump."

Evangelicals voted for Trump because they prefer authoritarian governments, not democratic governments. It is hard to worship a god without feeling right at home with authoritarianism.

Being anti-immigration: an inevitable step on the road to fascism.

In response to the YouTube video below entitled "Border Patrol Thinks Dead Mexicans are Hilarious."

Anti-immigrant attitudes, like racism, is just one of the steps along the road to fascism. TYT often acts or sounds surprised that this is happening in America. This has been part of America's evolution for the past 30 years. America's progress along that road has been as predictable as a stopped clock. American nationalism, which is brainwashed into people during public and private education, keeps people from admitting that the America they want is not the America they live in.

American Neo-Nazi Murderer Not Necessarily an Oxymoron

In response to the video: Neo-Nazi Murderer To Be Tried as Minor

Perhaps he is being tried as a minor, because he is a minor, and of course because he is white, with the latter being the more important variable. The American criminal justice system has never hesitated to try minors as adults if it suits the social need. In 2001, America sentenced a 14-year-old (black kid) to life in prison for a crime that was arguably equally horrible.

The actions of the American Nazi, extreme as they are, are based on an underlying philosophy that is not entirely unpopular with many, many Americans. America could not have possibly advanced this far along the road to fascism if the authoritarianism, so much appreciated by the Nazis, was not an attractive and appealing ideology for lots of people. Politicians routinely build their campaigns around authoritarian buzz words like Law-and-Order and calling protesters and activists, terrorists.

A Law-and-Order Criminal Justice System

Prosecutors, who always have political aspirations, will not piss down the neck of Americans by putting this trial under a public spotlight. As a minor, everything will be sealed and there will be no public conversation about his motivation, or where he got it his inspiration. The last thing a law-and-order society needs is to hear that this kid's murderous thinking was inspired by racism, bigotry, and the nationalism of their leaders and their political parties.

What Happens When the Blindfolded Lady with the Scales is a Racist?

As for the 14-yr-old mentioned above, parading a black child in front of the media as little homicidal animal, fit well with the American narrative of blacks being an inferior and violent race, or as Hillary would say, "super-predators. " Clinton's speech was 3 years before the crime that landed a child in prison for life. I would think that most advanced societies, as America claims to be, would find a better way to handle such a case.

A Side Note: Censorship in America

Regarding the free speech issue brought up in the video, TYT is way off base. They defend the hell out of speech when it is speech they like but quickly ask why Twitter hasn't censored the sites they dislike. This is typical of those mentally trapped within the matrix of the American system, i.e., some censorship is okay and free speech is great unless I disagree with it.

Tribal America

In response to this video. 

Blood is Thicker Than Water

Humans are biologically clannish and tribal, it is the Achilles heel of our species. America is our tribe, and the news media, consisting mostly of humans, is not going to go against the tribe. The same is true of every American politician. They wear an American flag lapel pin for a reason -- it is flashing the gang colors of America. While tribes, gangs and clans can do awful things, those in the middle, or the matrix, still show allegiance, which is why so many were outraged that Kaepernick took a knee. He took a stand above and outside the tribe.

Tribalism knows no political bounds, both parties and independents are fiercely tribal. While Sanders and Warren have polices I disagree with, I appreciated the fact that they don't wear an American flag lapel pin, which of course, opens them to claims that they are unpatriotic and un-American and not part of the tribe; on the other hand, their campaign rallies, like all others, are drenched in American flags and are wet with nationalism. 

Outcomes of American Tribalism

 It was painful to realize that this story could be equally true if we substituted American for Israeli and Afghanistan for Palestine. Perhaps this is why the US government is sympathetic to occupiers. Birds of a feather ...

 People all over the world pay a price, often the price of life, for the gang affiliation of Americans.

Law and Order is code for Authoritarisnism

This video below is the basis for my comments. I recommend the video as a chance to see multiple scenes from the inauguration day protests in Washington, DC.

I wish I shared the guarded optimism expressed in the video, but I don't see the days of authoritarian policing coming to an end in America anytime soon. The militarization of the police has been in progress for several decades and has taken place under both Democratic and Republican governments. Reversing it would be a huge task and neither political party sees a political advantage in doing so. On the contrary, both parties find the process to be in line with their ideology.

Both political parties stress "law and order," and use the phrase as code for authoritarianism. As a result, our police forces are now typical of those historically seen in repressive governments. Responses to protests in America (with gas, projectiles, and truncheons) are not unlike what we have seen in Panama, Nicaragua, Columbia, Nigeria, South Africa and what we continue to see today in Iran,  Honduras, and Egypt.

Once we start rounding up our citizens like cattle, democracy is dead.

On 31/12/17, 60 people (students) were arrested at a birthday party in Cartersville, Georgia. More than likely it was a mass arrest (or a mass false arrest) without legitimate cause. It is almost inconceivable that all 60 people presented probable cause for their arrest. Just like it was inconceivable that the 200 or so protesters arrested in Washington, DC, presented probable cause.

The high profile mass detentions in DC, and previously in New York City, offered cover for arrests like the ones in Georgia to continue unabated. The prosecution (read as the US Judiciary) of those who were near an alleged crime has offered the police the legal backing needed to randomly arrest people by assuming "guilt by proximity."

It's clear the police are now acting as a blunt unconstitutional force with the goal of coercion, extortion, and intimidation of Americans, with those having the least power, being the most heavily targeted. Policing changes that have taken place in America are part of the natural political evolution towards authoritarianism that is taking place, not just in America, but around the world.

The rules are changing -- tag, you're a criminal.
And as a criminal, you are subject to continuous control.

Federal, state and local governments are using the executive and legislative branches to criminalize dissent and any behaviors that challenge those in power or challenge the views of those who support those in power. Then they use the police and the judicial branch to make sure citizens constantly feel the boot of authority on their neck as a gentle reminder that conformity is better than a criminal record or prison.

2018: Practice makes perfect.

The US government has become so illegitimate that it has turned its power and resources toward suppressing dissent. It now rounds up its citizens like cattle just to demonstrate its power and procedures to do so. Oddly, most citizens have yet to realize these changes, while some, mainly Republicans and conservatives, have embraced these authoritarian changes as the way to save America. However, those in power know what's coming, and they don't plan to be caught off-guard. They have time to make sure that a government "For the people and by the people," will never happen in America.