Week of 09/12/2022

Dey Commin' Fer Yer Pickups!
– by David Matthews 2

Once upon a time in a medieval kingdom, a young king is faced with a hostile crowd.  Half of them are carrying pitchforks.  The other half are carrying torches.  They all hate what’s been going on in the kingdom, and they all blame the young king for it.

The young king is scared.  He doesn’t know what to do.  He wanted to make everyone happy, but nothing he’s done has worked.  He seriously ponders stepping down and letting someone else rule the kingdom.  He turns to his advisors and asks for their guidance on how to satisfy the mob.

His senior advisor smiles.  “My King, I proudly served your father when he was king, and his father before him.  Believe me when I say that this gathering is nothing new.  Your father and your grandfather both dealt with this kind of unrest before.”

The young king was astonished.  “How did they deal with it?”

Before he could finish asking the question, though, the crowd got louder and louder, but they weren’t advancing towards the castle.  Instead, they broke up into two groups and went their separate ways.

The advisor said, “The same way we dealt with it just now.  We sent someone to the people holding the pitchforks to tell them that the ones holding the torches want to take away their pitchforks.”

“Divide and Conquer” is an old political tactic played by pretty much every group since the dawn of civilization.  You tell one group that another group is coming to take their things away.  Even if it isn’t true, you now have one group fearful and defensive about that other group.

Conservatives have pretty much perfected the art of division by making a good portion of the populace fearful of any kind of law or regulation or requirement.  Except, of course, for the laws, regulations, and/or requirements that they impose.

They’ve long mastered the chant of “They’re coming for your guns!” and “They’re coming for your bibles!” and “They’re coming for your children!”  During the global pandemic, they were chanting “They’re coming for your freedoms!” when it came to any kind of mask or vaccine requirement or to try to enact any kind of shut down to prevent people from getting sick and dying.  Try to suggest any kind of tax reform that would have the wealthy pay taxes, and these people will get the middle class to chant “They’re coming for our wallets!”

Last year, conservatives went so far as to chant “They’re coming for your hamburgers!” in response to a proposed climate agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions.  How they got to that hysterical proclamation required them to take a report from the University of Michigan that had nothing at all to do with anything from the White House and turn that into a scathing proclamation that accused the White House of rationing hamburger meat and forcing people to eat kale.

That’s not to say that other groups don’t play the same game.  It’s just that conservatives have been the masters of divisive hysteria for so long that it’s pretty much their go-to now.  They’re literally the faction that cried “wolf” for so long that they don’t know how to say anything else.  In fact, they were parodied by “South Park” as the group that chanted “They took our jobs,” which morphed into them mumbling “Dey took ur joobs!  Dey took ur joobs! Oot-do-doo!”

So now we have what will likely be the next chant from the faction that cries “wolf” for a living...

“They’re coming for your pickup trucks!”

Or... “Dey commin’ fer yer pickups!”

On August 25^th, 2022, the California Air Resources Board issued a rule that would end the sale of gas-powered vehicles by the year 2035.  It doesn’t prohibit people owning or driving gas-powered vehicles after 2035.  It just prohibits them from being sold in California in 13 years from now.

Now, this is California’s decision to make, and they have every right to do so.  California makes things legal or illegal to be bought or sold all the time.  All the states do that.  Some states allow marijuana to be regulated and sold.  Others don’t.  Some states allow communist paraphernalia to be sold.  Others don’t.

And, yeah, I can see other states doing the same thing.  I can see states like Washington and New York and Massachusetts following California’s lead.  But I can also see many other states with conservative-dominant legislators and conservative governors making proud declarations that they will sell all the gas-powered cars and trucks and scooters and golf carts and boats and lawn mowers and leaf-blowers that people want.  I can see good ol’ boy red-hats turning their pickup trucks into smokestacks like they’re extras from a Mad Max movie.  Hell, some of them have been doing that already.

Now, personally, this commentator applauds California’s decision, but not for the reasons you may think.  I’m not for it to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.  Rather, it’s from a simple understanding about oil that many people really don’t comprehend, and that it is a finite energy source whose ending will be sooner than you expect.

Let’s get brutally honest here... I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again... there is no real future with oil.  It doesn’t matter if it’s diesel or unleaded; at some point, it’s going to run dry.  The wells will dry up.  All those leases that Big Oil holds will mean nothing.  All of that hydrofracking will come up empty.  And, while I don’t think we will devolve into a Mad Max society when that happens, I do know that we need to plan for a time when vehicles run on something other than gasoline.

The automakers know this.  This is whey they’ve been slowly churning out the all-electric vehicles.  Some of them are even powerful enough to power a home in the event of a power outage.  The automakers know that there is no future with oil.  They know that they will need electric vehicles, cars and trucks, and even electric semis.  It’s not just a pet project of Elon Musk.

Of course it’s not enough to have all-electric vehicles.  It doesn’t help to get the gas out of the cars when they’re still charging up from power plants running on coal, which is yet another finite fuel source.  At some point we will need to come up with something to replace coal as well, and nuclear isn’t exactly it at the moment.

Speaking of which, it certainly doesn’t look good for California’s governor to sign off on that 13-year deadline to go gas-free and then tell people to cut back on electricity now to avoid blackouts.  That only shows that California has to do a better job dealing with their electrical grid than they are now, and they have a serious reason why in thirteen years.

Hysteria over gasoline, whether now or in the near future, really does nothing except waste time and show the stubborn ignorance of those who are easily offended.  No, nobody is coming for your gas-chugging pickup truck or SUV or souped-up hot rod.  You want to keep your chugger, you go ahead.  It’s your money to spend on the gas.  Just don’t bitch about the price in about thirteen years from now.

Week of 09/05/2022

Call The Fascists For What They Are
– by David Matthews 2

An elderly man was talking to his great-grandkids about the time he was served during World War II.  He talked about marching through Germany and seeing the horrors of the Nazis.  He tried to be gentle with the kids as to not disturb them, however he couldn’t help but mention all the atrocities he and his unit saw in all the towns they visited and all the camps they liberated.

But what really astonished the old man as he recounted his experiences was how fanatic the German people were to their leader.  They had banners and statues and placards all in support of their fascistic leader.  It was everywhere.  They practically worshiped him and his party like a religion.

“But grampa,” said one of the grandsons in front of the kids, “surely there were some Germans who didn’t blindly follow the Nazis.  Maybe some who liked some of the things the Nazis stood for but without all the antisemitism and bigotry.”

“Why yes,” the old man said with a grin.  “There were plenty of Germans who said they didn’t support the worst part of the Nazis.  We even had a name for them.”

“Really?” asked the grandson.  “What was it.”

“Nazis, boy.  They were still Nazis.”

On September 1^st, 2022, President Joe Biden addressed the nation from Philadelphia where he talked about “the soul of the nation”.  It’s really nothing new because he was talking about it when he was running for the White House in 2020.  But this time he named the threat: Former President (emphasis on “Former”) Donald John Trump and his supporters.  The ones he called “MAGA Republicans”.  The ones he referred to as “semi-fascist”.

Now, I have some problems with his speech, but not in the way some of you might think.

First of all, I’m glad he made it.  A part of me was wondering what took him so long, but then I remembered he was making references on the midterm campaign trail recently, so I’m guessing he wanted to make his position clear and not be paraphrased or passed over or misrepresented by the air-fluffed ego-driven media and their “conservative” counterparts in the propaganda mills.  So, welcome to the party, Joe.

But here is where he lost it.  First, he referred to folks as the “MAGA Republicans”.  There are no such things as “MAGA Republicans” because there are no “Republicans” anymore.  That party ceased to exist when they handed themselves over to the orange narcissist in 2020 and turned their party’s platform into a literal fealty pledge.  And they have been hell-bent since 2021 on purging their party of anyone who does not bend the knee and pledge fealty to their leader.  So you can refer to that party as the “MAGA Party” or you can call them the “Trump Party”, but you really cannot refer to them as “Republicans” anymore.  Ask Congresswoman Liz Cheney if you have any doubts.

Second, calling them “semi-fascists” is like referring to a smoking gun as “semi-fired”.  You’re either a fascist or you’re not.  And this crowd fits the literal definition of fascism.  They have a cult-like authoritarian leader who is an admitted nationalist, has ready-made targets whom they define as “the enemy”, continually talks about “rebirth” and making the country “great”, who use violence and threats of violence to get their way, and see conflict as means of achievement.  There is nothing “semi” about any of it.

Third, Joe waffled after the speech and said that “Trump supporters” are not threats to democracy.  Uh, no Joe, you’re wrong about that.  A few hundred of those “supporters” stormed the Capitol Building on January 6^th of 2021.  They weren’t all militia members.  Not everyone could drop what they were doing and show up at the White House on that day.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t still part of that fascist group.

The current president seems to operate on the continued delusion that there is this group of so-called “Republicans” who are not the same as the fascists who call themselves “MAGA” supporters.  That somehow those fictional “Republicans” would reject the Trump Party and reclaim the party they once had.

Mister President... Joe... those people don’t exist. 

The people you call “Republicans” do not exist as such.  They are either Trump Party members or else they are retired.  Like all the Germans who said they “had” to join the Nazi Party but weren’t supposedly Nazis; they were still Nazis.  If the people you think are “Republicans” are still around, and if you really think they are still in the majority, then they would not have Trump Party extremists on the ballot for this November’s mid-term elections.  They all would have been soundly voted out in the primaries.  But they weren’t.  You know it.  I know it.  And they especially know it.

Yes, I know, there are groups like the “Lincoln Project” who claim to be conservative but still oppose the orange nationalist and his fascistic followers.  But those folks are far from representing the “majority”.  In fact, by speaking out in the ways they have, they have been lumped in as “the enemy” of that same political party, just like Congresswoman Cheney and all the others who have found themselves on the way out of Congress.

Then we have this idea that really needs to end that Joe should be “uniting” the country.  Like I said just a few weeks ago, it is not going to happen!  At all!  Period!

America united against fascism during World War II because it was considered an outside threat and because America was attacked first by Japan and then Germany declared war on us.  But this threat of fascism is not some outside force.  It’s not from some outside nation attacking us.  It’s home-grown.  They’re Americans, and they are the ones that have been dividing America all this time. 

You cannot unite a nation that is divided from the inside, especially when one of those two sides are fascists.  They do not accept unity, only surrender.  They do not bargain.  They scheme and plot.  There is no middle ground with them, only “with us” or “against us”.  That is the rhetoric they espouse on talk radio and on their propaganda mills.  The rhetoric that they give when it comes to their campaign commercials and the speeches they give to the media.  “With us or against us.” “You’re a RINO if you don’t support us all the way!”

And then we have the hypocritical whining.  The prima-donna clutching of the fake pearls from these fascists who are “offended” at being called “semi-fascists”.  “How dare they call us names!  That’s not uniting the country!  You can’t call us ‘fascists’ or ‘semi-fascists’!  Only we can call people ‘fascists’!  That’s our term.  You can’t use it!”

Okay, first, these are the same folks who declared “antifa” their enemy back in 2016 and 2017.  What is “antifa”?  Anti-fascism!  So if you consider “antifa” your enemy, then that makes you by default a fascist.  Nothing “semi” about that!

Second, I remember quite clearly from 2016 on that this same faction were proudly wearing shirts and putting on bumper stickers that said in explicit terms for others to “F” their “F”-ing feelings; with the “F” representing the four-letter word for fornication. This same faction also loved to rip others as being “snowflakes”.  Now I happen to know that when it comes to narcissists and sociopaths and psychopaths and cult followers that they can’t help but deflect and project their own faults onto others, and this happens to demonstrate it.  They whine about snowflakes, but they are the ones that truly have fragile little egos.  They tell others to “f” their feelings, but they’re the ones that claim to be hurt when they’re called out for being who and what they really are.  Their collective hypocrisy is – to borrow from Doctor Strange – “at a level hitherto undreamt of”.

Let’s get brutally honest here... we need to call out the fascists for being who and what they are.  No middle ground.  No “semi” anything.  If you are supporting and sending money and voting for the orange-skinned narcissist and his league of conspiracy hacks and saboteurs and domestic terrorists, then you are a fascist.  Period. That is who you are and that is what you need to be condemned for being.

Our predecessors did not fight and die in Europe against Italy and Germany only to have the same evil take over America.  Hell, seven different presidents fought in that war from Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan!  None of them would have ever considered the enemies they faced as “semi-fascist”.  We should not either.