Post Election 2024 II

 

A Day in the Life 

I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph 

Which news did you read? 

I made a prediction according to Game Theory, that in the Nov 5th election that  2/3 of the voters would be able to determine the winner in “regulation time”  and would favor Republican policies by 60% to 40% and 1/3 of the voters would go to a tie breaker which would be the character of the candidate. Given that the total popular vote was 50.3% for the Danaid Trump, the Republican candidate, that means that tie breaking voters preferred the character of that candidate over any opponent by 30.9% to 69.1%.  Given that this candidate was a convicted felon, was fined because of racial bias in renting his apartments, has filed for bankruptcy multiple times, his charities were suspended for being used for personal use,  swindled those attending his University, was a civilly convicted as being a rapist,  opposed by those who served with him, etc., it is surprising that this was as high as 30.9% and not 0.0%. 

The problem is that the voters depend on the trusted opinions of others to judge character when they vote.  Many of those trusted sources either did not carry news applicable to the candidate's character (Fox News, News Max, One America News, Breitbart, Sinclair, etc.) or if they did carry the news of behavior applicable to the candidate’s character either “sane-washed” his statements, or because of fear of reprisals,  a misplaced sense of politeness, or taking the “high” road,  put that behavior in the best possible light. When the news goes dark, is it any wonder that darkness results.

Post-election 2024

 

I Will Survive.

No, not I, I will survive
Long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got my life to live
And all my love to give and
I will survive
I, I, I will survive

Sing it loud.

Before the November 5^th election I was prepared to start a blog post with the lyrics of Easter Hymn, The Strife is O’er. In the aftermath of the election I was prepared to start a blog post with lyrics of the Doors, This is the End. But that is behind me and I have calmed down. There is a difference between marginal and effective, relative and absolute, certainty and dominance, free and unpriced. Just because a majority of those voting got confused does not mean that there is no difference. But we will survive.

Lies

 

Sympathy for the Devil

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails, just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint
So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm, yeah 

All that glitters is not gold.  And all that is gold does not glitter. 

The best lie is one that contains a glimmer of truth. Then it is not obvious to the listener that the statement is a lie.  Not all cops are criminals, and therefore not all sinners are saints, and heads is not tails. 

President Nixon famously said that “I am not a crook” and we wanted to believe him, and then came Watergate and we knew that he was a crook. Ronald Reagan started his career by “re-broadcasting” Chicago Cubs games, which meant that he added sound effects , etc. in orders that those listening to him on the radio did  not know he was merely reading updates of the game which he received by telegraph. Henry Kissinger believed that the "Enemy of our enemy is our friend" which is why our country supported Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, when they were fighting our enemies.  Barry Goldwater said that “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Except that moderation is always a virtue and extremism is always a vice.  Newt Gingrich become famous for the broadcasts of his  speeches on C-SPAN but what the camera did not show is that he was speaking to a mostly empty House Chamber. 

It is like the dialogue when Dorothy discovers that the Wizard of Oz is a fraud. She says  “I think you are a very bad man” to which the Wizard replies, “I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad Wizard, I must admit”.  When voting today, remember that you are voting for a good man, not a good wizard.

Revenge

 

I Wanna Be Around

I want to be around to see how he does it when he breaks your heart to bits,
Let's see if the puzzle fits, so fine,
And that's when I'll discover that revenge is sweet,
As I sit there applauding from a front row seat.

Revenge may be sweet, but is it correct?

“I am your retribution”-  Donald Trump, CPAC convention, March 2023

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. - Romans 12: 19

So which one do you believe? It sounds like revenge is something that God reserves for himself. Is Donald Trump God?😝

Isn’t that violating the First commandment. “I am the Lord thy God, you shall not have strange gods before me.” You have to give Donald Trump credit. And here I thought he was trying to violate all of the Ten Commandments. He bears false witness, covets, commits adultery, steals, etc. I guess he IS obeying the Fourth Commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”  Considering that:

• Donald’s father, Fred, was a slum lord, who was arrested for attending a KKK rally, who cheated at taxes, paid a fine for discriminating in rentals of his apartments, and who pretended to be Swedish after WWII, and 
• Donald's paternal grandfather, Friedrich, who died of the Spanish Flu in 1920 not during the WWI years as Donald claimed, emigrated from Bavaria to the US to evade Bavarian military service, made his fortune in America by running brothels, returned to Bavaria after he married, and was promptly exiled from Bavaria for previously evading their draft,.  

Donald Trump might be violating almost all of the Ten Commandments,  but why did he have to pick this one to obey?