#AMWRITING #BLOGGING - WE ARE A NATION OF HOLLOW DREAMS

For the last three months I have been in a voluntary quarantine. As soon as I heard about the Coronavirus and the first cases were announced in Seattle, I went straight to my PCP and in our short-hand lingo, discussed triage, supplies and what it all would mean for me, as I'm high-risk. Having worked in a tertiary care facility for four years, I knew that I was way down on the list for any kind of care, other than palliative, and in five minutes, I knew that I would be staying indoors for the duration of whatever this was, until a suitable vaccine was cobbled up, by our health industry.

I just had no idea that beneath the layers of what seemed to be a functioning (albeit, a dysfunctional one) nation, lay fault lines that were well-nigh insurmountable and that, moreover, the Powers-That-Be would not be swayed by a mere Pandemic to let their Better Angels out to save the day. No, all this lay ahead, to be peeled back in an ugly and rapacious manner that becomes uglier and meaner each day.

In early March*, when it seemed that we would have most of our work force staying “at home”, with the exception of the essential workers, and it was being bandied about in the House and Senate regarding Incentive checks and PPP for small businesses, there was also discussion about rent and mortgage “forgiveness” that would allow people to stay in their homes or apartments if they were furloughed. It was called H.R. 6515 and introduced 4/17/2020. This was to take care of folks to make sure that the homeless population didn't worsen, and to keep PEOPLE IN PLACE, during the Pandemic.

*Not precisely sure of the time lines, or when this was first talked about. 

I hate changing tracks like this, but I must at this juncture; one of the reasons I haven't blogged as much as I used to, as everything has overwhelming, but this, this is too much. My fiancé came home the other day from work (he works for the DOD and IS essential) and had a small children's bicycle, and a kids' hot-wheels toy in the trunk. I asked him where they had come from.

We, of course, have no children. We're going to fix them up and give them away; it just breaks my heart to see them.

It turns out that there is an apartment complex about ½ mile from our house, and it is for lower-income people. Our dog, Ripley, always runs over there and plays with all the other dogs when he gets off of his chain, or out of the house; we're familiar with the people there. So, James told me that people are being evicted right and left there. There are toys, clothing; kids' clothing, furniture, all piled up out there. I'm just enraged. What happened to all this “forgiveness” of rent? Is it because we're living in a Red State, but this doesn't translate to a Black or Brown State? Did the money just disappear into some fat cat's pocket up there in Columbia, or Raleigh, or wherever?

The toys are well-used and also well-kept. The children obviously were proud of them.

Every one of those toys is some kids' ruined dream; a failure on the part of this country. We can't teach them, we can't house, feed, or clothe them. What is wrong with this society, and what do we have to fear by teaching everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, to the best of our ability, to be the best that they can be. NO child should have his or her dream, or ideal kicked to the curb by some money-grubbing fat bastard who doesn't need another goddamned dime from the American Public, or from anyone, period!

We have no way of knowing where the families may have gone, or if they're homeless. We're in a small town. So, they're probably in Greenville, or Spartanburg.

The Pandemic laid bare the fault lines that may have remained hidden for five years, or a decade. This country has become a weakened shell; a former chimera of itself. Our infrastructure has rotted to nothing. Bridges collapse daily, killing people in cars trying to cross them. Dams burst, flooding towns; two in Michigan burst last week. We have a golden opportunity to put together another CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to re-build our infrastructure, yet, our government is so corrupt with nepotism and incompetence and revolving door-ism, if Trump doesn't like the cut of someone's jib that nothing gets done, except some more GOP judges, who are unfit to judge dog shows are packed onto benches, because right-wing matters. If Trump doesn't like the news, he either lies about it, or he lies about what he just said, claiming it was "sarcasm". Who does that?

My baby Glenn, wondering why Mama's crying.

I've said this before and I'll say it again; two of the finest Americans who were at total opposites of the spectrum as regards politics are no longer with us and I'm talking about my parents. My father used to joke about how he was to the right of the John Birch Society and my mother used to say she was a bomb-thrower (Anarchist, for those not in the know), yet, we had some of the best political discourse around our dinner table that I'll never forget, and I'm so goddamned glad they're not here to see this mess of a country. I have a passport and don't think that I'm not thinking about maybe packing it in and making it back to the Auld Sod, as an Ex-Pat, when all of this shit is over. I'm so done with whatever is going on here and I'm not even sure if the U. S. is able to see its way out of the mess that is COVID-19.

As long as people keep lying to themselves and going outside and doing all of the things that are counter-intuitive and playing politics, there is going to be THIS Pandemic. Coronavirus don't care if you're GOP, DEM or INDEPENDENT. It's not about politics. It's not about your stupid freedoms. You're not having a “Rosa Parks” moment, by defying any government's (Federal or State's) orders and herding up together with your friends. Your Civil Rights are not being trampled. Imagine this were WW II. Would you go outside in London during the Blitz, because the German bombs were taking away your rights to stand in the streets and get blown to bits? I thought not. Think on that, this Memorial Day, and remember those who died for us, so we could live.

#ROW80 1ST QTR 2016 – A COUNTRY ON THE BRINK

Well, so much for goals. I started a little serial novel, and then damn! If it didn't become part of my own little “Nebraska Creepers” serial. But seriously? It's a good thing I have that kind of psychopathic moxie, because it seems to me, we're headed down a road that is going to produce a singularity, and I may need my ability to let go of every human inhibition to survive. I do believe I posess the flip side of a serial murderer and I can conjure that up easily, if need be. With the country's situation quickly unraveling that may be necessary. Lemme explain, or at least try to clarify.

courtesy:fox8.com

The last time the USA had a Presidential slate like this was with the Dems in 1984, and no one could put up a candidate to beat Ronald Reagan. Every jackleg on this podium is not qualified to be President, and most are incompetent in whatever it is they do. God help us all.

On the one hand we have the GOP. I may as well start with them first, since they're the most obvious. Ted Cruz is running for President and so far, NOT ONE jackhole in power has done ANYTHING about the fact that he is not a native-born American! I personally believe the FEC (Federal Election Committee) is run by no one, or Keebler Elves, or Christ knows who, because back last summer they let a guy named “Deez Nuts” in Iowa register to run for Prez and it turned out to be a 15-year old kid in Iowa who polled 3^rd behind Donald Trump in North Carolina, when “Deez Nuts” asked to be polled, because dems da rules. “Deez Nuts” got the idea when some 17 year old in Kentucky recruited his friend's cat “Limberbutt McCubbins” to run for President and that created some kind of press interest. How fucked up is that?

courtesy:nytimes.com

Okay, so with these two in the Executive Branch, something might get done. Gridlock, back-biting and I suspect, greed, corruption and out-of-itness as regards the American people are at an all-time high. Not that we didn't help, by not checking out the jackanapes who were running for office and that we elected.

So, we have like 70 jillion people running for President on the GOP side, and that's a huge mess, because everyone seems to be waiting for the other guy to denounce Donald Trump, but this guy is not going away. The reality of a Trump Presidency is very real and it's scary, but no one is calling out Ted Cruz on his non-American birth, which should have been done, the minute he filed for his candidacy. When did we get so sloppy?

courtesy:www.bizpacreview.com

Gah! What a pair of feckless gorms! I'm not sure which looks phonier. Don, with that god-awful hair and flappy lips, or Ted and his Bob's Big Boy countenance. What's up with those thumbs? Are they getting ready to ram them up each other's asses?

Over on the Dems' side, it ain't lookin' much prettier. The smaller the margin, or the farther behind Hillary falls, the shriller she sounds and the more she flails around. She also is carrying some pretty hefty baggage that MUST be addressed when she takes office. Bernie was right at the beginning of the Debate Season (why must there be debates like, every other minute?) when he said “forget about the emails” at THAT juncture, he was right, but as more and more information comes out, it looks like Hillary did some pretty shady stuff. Also, I do not believe that she really and truly has the people's interests at heart. It boils down to trust and I no longer believe her. I do believe Sanders and I'm with him now.

courtesy:npr.com

Not to turn into a catty bitch, but ME-OW. That coat Hillary has on is eye-scorching and she apparently got it from Dolce-Gabana and wore it everywhere. It's hideous! One other thing, Sanders got 60% of the Primary Vote in New Hampshire, and Hillary only got 33%, yet she won more delegates, due to the stupid system they have with the Super delegates, whatever in the hell those are. No wonder the system is broken. It allowed George W. Bush to "steal" two elections and that whole system needs revamping.

Sanders is a populist in the truest, most old-fashioned sense of the word. He understand what this country is going through and while I do not believe this can be fixed in two Presidential terms, we can start the correction. I believe Obama, being a realist knew this when he took office and knew he was going to take heat for it in his second term. This mess took 40 years to take hold; it will not be fixed in six years. A new approach is needed and Sanders knows this.

courtesy:en.wikipedia.org

The Right Honorable Judge Scalia was very conservative and he spoke plainly and sometimes roughly, but all who knew him said he was a kind man and took his responsibilities very seriously. Who wouldn't being a judge on the highest bench in the country. Liberals had nothing good to say about him. Although I may seem to have a liberal cant, I am an Independent and NEVER vote platforms. He wrote opinions that I often agreed with, and I'm sorry he's gone. Most Supreme Court Judges live to be eleventy-billion years old. President Obama is correct in trying to name a replacement as soon as possible. It is one of his Constitutional duties, and the ninnies in Congress need to shut their pie-holes and read the Constitution. The House Whip needs to send them to bed without their Scotch.

And now, we have the sudden, unexpected death of Antonin Scalia and the whole of the Republican Congress goes batshit insane and tells Obama he CANNOT install a replacement. What horseshit. This is the LEGISLATIVE branch of our government telling the EXECUTIVE branch of our government what it can or cannot do with the JUDICIAL branch of the government.

courtesy:co.telegraph.uk

Geeze, President Obama has gotten gray since taking office. No wonder, dealing with all the shit he's had to take. He still has like 300+ more days. He's probably counting the minutes.

I do not believe any of these pinheads who are hollering that Obama CANNOT appoint a replacement have read the Constitution and it's time they did so. The 3 branches of government were created separately to keep any one branch of government from holding too much power or garnering it. If Obama backs down and gives in, this is tantamount to saying, “Okay, Legislature, I guess you rule here.” What nonsense.

This is the kind of stuff that brings on civil unrest and we're not all that far from that scenario. We have para-military groups within the police that act with impunity. Not all police are bad. My Aunt and Uncle's family are rife with people in law enforcement and they know their responsibilities are to the citizens they protect. You will find no more such honorable and extraordinary men and women who put their lives in harm's way.

courtesy:funnyjunk.com

A cute picture; we actually have parties with our District 3 Tampa Police, about four times a year. The fact that I live in a highly dangerous area is one of the reasons, but these guys know our names, know who lives where and they do check up on us. After the thwarted home invasion here, they've been by to check up on me. Tampa is NOT a small town, but this 'hood has a small town mentality.

However, in Ferguson, Baltimore and elsewhere, there are horrible problems with the police and they are more apt to kill a citizen and concoct some story later. There are “dark” places in Chicago, where people are held against there will, with no formal charges, thus abrogating our last true civil right that defined the difference between us and either a fascistic or tyrannical state. This may not be occurring on a National level, but we need to unshroud these mysteries and pull all of it into the light. Does Rahm Emanuel know of this? Being Obama's friend and confidante, how far up does the rot go? I'm not insinuating anything; merely trying to connect dots.

courtesy:www.slate.com

No one wants to see a military state, but with the passage of the Patriot Act, oodles and oodles of money went to local and state law enforcement and certain of the agencies ramped up their equipment, armor and weapons, beyond anything that would be needed against the local citizenry. Either through oversight, or planned, we have the mechanisms in place to become a police state, over a "terrorist act"; it won't take much

I have mentioned in the past that we've pretty much just given away our III, IV, V, IX and XIV Amendment rights, with the passage and the extension of the Patriot Act. Most of us are all too familiar with the “slippery slope” theory, or as we cross one line, it becomes easier to cross others. They're not easy to retreat from and if we are serious about “making corrections” we have to really look at where we are and be bluntly honest with ourselves. We didn't get here by being proactive and caring about what our country means to us.

courtesy.usmagazine.com

There was a time when I felt proud to be an American; that time has long gone. In a way, I'm glad my parents are deceased. They set great store on being Americans, as many immigrants do, but they would not be proud of this country. They could not look around and say, "yes, I recognize this; this is MY America!" They would just hang their heads in shame.

We can stand up and thrill to Lady GaGa singing the “Star Spangled Banner” as jets fly overhead and Super Bowl L commences. We can tell ourselves that America is still great, but it's a hollow lie and if anything, we have become the enemy. We do all of the nefarious shit that we hold against our villains and we delude ourselves, when we talk about our “generosity as Americans”. We may be so in the specifics, but in general? We are monsters; we have no compunction about bombing other countries, taking out civilians and in some cases, killing our own people in the name of “national security” or as “collateral damage”. None of it is worth it, but we, The People ceased caring long ago. We have turned ourselves over to The State, and the only reason the State exists is to ensure the existence of the State.