If I was the Americans (all of them at once, like Rose Tyler having looked into the Time Vortex), I would go through their Military and police with a very very wide-tooth comb. The present situation is one that requires a cool head and a generous mindset. You have to be very careful to avoid conducting witch-hunts, like the McCarthyist tragedy. It is not, and should not be illegal to hold fascist or racist views in America. It is and should be illegal to act on those views. If Military folk have acted in breach of their oaths, they must be disciplined or dismissed, but that's all. If they have committed a crime, let the institutions of justice deal with them.
I think you mean fine-toothed comb. A wide-toothed comb lets things slip between the teeth.
Exactly. Intel isn't concerned with niceties. It's about identifying threat. Knowing what it had for breakfast. Having worked in the trade, you do not want to come to their attention. You really, really don't. Even in liddle ole Ingerlund Swings.
Someone suggested banning Fox from military bases, where they said it was on all TV screens where they were stationed. Do not know how true that is, but does not sound good if true.
Any other Americans feel like we're in ancient Rome, etc.?
:eek:
"And, in other news, the praetorian guard is rumored to have many dissenters, just waiting for a signal... And YOU are there!"
(Ref to '60s/'70s TV show "You Are There", a news-like kids show that sent broadcasters (including Walter Cronkite) into history to report on it, as if really there.)
Someone suggested banning Fox from military bases, where they said it was on all TV screens where they were stationed. Do not know how true that is, but does not sound good if true.
Not only on military bases, but most civilian bars, cafeterias, motel lobbies etc in the US.
My son owns a bar in Northwest Washington. He absolutely refuses to allow FOX News to be shown in his establishment.
CNN says he's pardoned Steve Bannon - not a big surprise really, is it. His crimes (says CNN) are also a state crime, so NY state may still prosecute that guy. Good on them!
Any other Americans feel like we're in ancient Rome, etc.?
:eek:
"And, in other news, the praetorian guard is rumored to have many dissenters, just waiting for a signal... And YOU are there!"
(Ref to '60s/'70s TV show "You Are There", a news-like kids show that sent broadcasters (including Walter Cronkite) into history to report on it, as if really there.)
Any other Americans feel like we're in ancient Rome, etc.?
:eek:
"And, in other news, the praetorian guard is rumored to have many dissenters, just waiting for a signal... And YOU are there!"
(Ref to '60s/'70s TV show "You Are There", a news-like kids show that sent broadcasters (including Walter Cronkite) into history to report on it, as if really there.)
This thread has taught me so much about the American political system, and the more I discover, the more I have to learn. But lack of knowledge has never stopped me expressing an opinion.
I realise I will never go back to the way I looked at American politics before: basically ok with what was going on, and tuning in for the one year plus show every four years, like watching a horse race. I think I will probably spend the rest of my days looking at history in an attempt to understand the present.
I am so pleased for our American shipmates, so relieved for you. The endless game of whack-a-mole will continue against the fascists, but at least the President won't be holding the FBI's arms behind its back. Thankyou, Americans, for correcting me when I was wrong and for explaining things for me. It looks like Australians won't be able to travel without a permit for the rest of this year, but when I do manage to go back to America, I plan to meet as many of you as my wife (an introvert) can manage.
Thank you. We really do appreciate the prayers and well-wishes of people from other countries. We really need it right now. Josephine and I will be happy to meet you, and put you up if you need a pad to crash in, if you visit the Seattle area.
Well, now, when can I, a neighbor down in Tacoma visit you and your charming wife, Mousie? I'm hoping to be moving to Seattle before 2022...
Well, now, when can I, a neighbor down in Tacoma visit you and your charming wife, Mousie? I'm hoping to be moving to Seattle before 2022...
As you know, Seattle isn't that much farther than Tacoma, so your moving thither will not greatly hinder potential meetings. However we're in "Nobody gets out nobody gets in" mode right now because of the plague.
Any other Americans feel like we're in ancient Rome, etc.?
:eek:
"And, in other news, the praetorian guard is rumored to have many dissenters, just waiting for a signal... And YOU are there!"
(Ref to '60s/'70s TV show "You Are There", a news-like kids show that sent broadcasters (including Walter Cronkite) into history to report on it, as if really there.)
^ Sorry, that link didn't post the right article. The actor's name is Skip Hinnant, and he was indeed the voice of Fritz, in both the original Bakshi film, and the non-Bakshi sequel a few years later.
Goodbye to the worst human being ever to have held the office of President and the worst President in American history. Leave in disgrace trump. No class, no grace, no dignity. Good riddance.
According to wikipedia, one year into his term a survey of historians rated Trump as the third-worst President after the ones on either side of the Civil War. I can't think Trump has done anything to improve his standing.
The man doesn't have enough moral fibre to overcome his feelings and admit out loud that he LOST and enough grace, goodwill towards his country or common decency to turn up at the victor's inauguration. He seems not to see that it all harms his image while the world looks on with little respect for him as his successor takes over.
Just reading Judith Butler in the Guardian, arguing that Trump and his followers cannot accept loss, and hence, cannot mourn. This is interesting as mourning was written about by Freud near the end of his life, and in fact, led to new developments in psychoanalysis. For in mourning, I allow someone to inhabit my soul, temporarily, so that eventually I can let go, in Freud 's language, the shadow of the object falls upon the subject. I suppose that some white people, similarly, cannot accept being a minority. And Brexit is a denial of dependence. No link, sorry.
Is it actually true that Trump wants to start a Patriot party? Lots of chatter on Twitter. If he did, wouldn't the Dems win every election?
It may be like Farage's lot in the UK where his 'party' had enough of a following to worry the major party in the same part of the polital spectrum (Tories here) and said they'd stand their own candidates (threatening to split the right-wing vote) unless the Tories adopted certain policies. It got Brexit done and trump could shift the Rep more to the right unless they became even more hostile, rascist, isolationist and anti-immigrant than they really want.
Is it actually true that Trump wants to start a Patriot party? Lots of chatter on Twitter. If he did, wouldn't the Dems win every election?
Almost certainly, on the Dems winning every election in that scenario. UNLESS...
A. Trump is so popular that he pulls the totality of the GOP's electorate with him, thus making the Patriots the new Republicans.
OR...
B. Trump is so unpopular that no one votes for him, and the Republican electorate remains undivided.
My best guess right now is that, in the event of DJT forming his own party, their viable third-party status would hold until the 2024 election, inclusive, thus guaranteeing the Dems at least one more presidential victory. But a combination of voter disenchantment and fears of a Democratic dynasty would finish off the Patriots in time for a possible GOP comeback in 2028.
The long-term viability of a Trump party would depend on it not being merely a Trump personality cult: such that some other person could take it over and make it all about them instead. Trump I think has no interest in making anything that isn't a Trump personality cult.
As I post this, I wear the bandage from my first COVID vaccination. Joe Biden is being sworn in today in Washington D.C., after which he and many, many others will begin the task of picking up the pieces after the devastation of the past administration. Please God, a brighter light is dawning.
And so it's time to close this thread. As you may remember, I had thought to write something comic—a parody of Christopher Marlowe's play of Dr. Faustus’ descent into hell, but in the style of Dr. Seuss. The attack on the Capitol put paid to that idea. So I will let Isaiah and Ezekiel speak for us, as they have done for all who suffer under such a leader as we have had. And here, at least, let him be nameless.
Ezekiel 28:2-6, 16-19 and Isaiah 14:4-20
“Because your heart is proud,
and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,’
yet you are but a man, and no god,
though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
…
you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
into your treasuries;
5 by your great wisdom in your trade
you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth—
6 therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you make your heart
like the heart of a god.
…
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you.
…
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade
you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out from your midst;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.”
And Isaiah says,
“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury ceased!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
6 that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
8 The cypresses rejoice at you,
the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10 All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people.
Comments
Exactly. Intel isn't concerned with niceties. It's about identifying threat. Knowing what it had for breakfast. Having worked in the trade, you do not want to come to their attention. You really, really don't. Even in liddle ole Ingerlund Swings.
:eek:
"And, in other news, the praetorian guard is rumored to have many dissenters, just waiting for a signal... And YOU are there!"
(Ref to '60s/'70s TV show "You Are There", a news-like kids show that sent broadcasters (including Walter Cronkite) into history to report on it, as if really there.)
Not only on military bases, but most civilian bars, cafeterias, motel lobbies etc in the US.
My son owns a bar in Northwest Washington. He absolutely refuses to allow FOX News to be shown in his establishment.
In answer to this, on Facebook: "No. Rome had good roads."
You Weren't There
(Only the first few minutes is the parody.)
That's Fritz The Cat playing the host, and I'm sure you'll all recognize the photographer.
Actually laughed out loud...
Bye bye Mr Trump.
The Ralph Bakshi Fritz the Cat?
They removed the "G's". Eorge Bush sounds funny.
Well, now, when can I, a neighbor down in Tacoma visit you and your charming wife, Mousie? I'm hoping to be moving to Seattle before 2022...
As you know, Seattle isn't that much farther than Tacoma, so your moving thither will not greatly hinder potential meetings. However we're in "Nobody gets out nobody gets in" mode right now because of the plague.
Yep.
Eore Bush sounds like a donkey shrub.
Barnabas62
Purgatory Host
What a sad pathetic sight he is.
I think it very likely that Joe Biden will at least try to do it His way.
It was paper towels.
It may be like Farage's lot in the UK where his 'party' had enough of a following to worry the major party in the same part of the polital spectrum (Tories here) and said they'd stand their own candidates (threatening to split the right-wing vote) unless the Tories adopted certain policies. It got Brexit done and trump could shift the Rep more to the right unless they became even more hostile, rascist, isolationist and anti-immigrant than they really want.
Almost certainly, on the Dems winning every election in that scenario. UNLESS...
A. Trump is so popular that he pulls the totality of the GOP's electorate with him, thus making the Patriots the new Republicans.
OR...
B. Trump is so unpopular that no one votes for him, and the Republican electorate remains undivided.
My best guess right now is that, in the event of DJT forming his own party, their viable third-party status would hold until the 2024 election, inclusive, thus guaranteeing the Dems at least one more presidential victory. But a combination of voter disenchantment and fears of a Democratic dynasty would finish off the Patriots in time for a possible GOP comeback in 2028.
Also, regardless of paper type, I question whether it was "to" rather than "at."
It’s been a hell of a four years.
As I post this, I wear the bandage from my first COVID vaccination. Joe Biden is being sworn in today in Washington D.C., after which he and many, many others will begin the task of picking up the pieces after the devastation of the past administration. Please God, a brighter light is dawning.
And so it's time to close this thread. As you may remember, I had thought to write something comic—a parody of Christopher Marlowe's play of Dr. Faustus’ descent into hell, but in the style of Dr. Seuss. The attack on the Capitol put paid to that idea. So I will let Isaiah and Ezekiel speak for us, as they have done for all who suffer under such a leader as we have had. And here, at least, let him be nameless.
Ezekiel 28:2-6, 16-19 and Isaiah 14:4-20
“Because your heart is proud,
and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,’
yet you are but a man, and no god,
though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
…
you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
into your treasuries;
5 by your great wisdom in your trade
you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth—
6 therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you make your heart
like the heart of a god.
…
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you.
…
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade
you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out from your midst;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.”
And Isaiah says,
“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury ceased!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
6 that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
8 The cypresses rejoice at you,
the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10 All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.