Three mini posts for the price of one, partisanship, mental illness and driving

 

First I want to make a side note. I do not plan to make this a subtitle to this blog, yet you may read me reference this blog is a city of man blog. I hope this is the only time I intentionally reference this phrase. I am doing something else and it is attached to this blog, but only on Substack. I will be posting my normal madness on all the platforms I use, but my secondary project is only on Substack. If I mention city of man it is an unintentional comment probably based on I have finally gone shoulder deep on my other project and it just slips out here.

I am on a new kick about partisanship. I post quite a bit about it on the social media notes etc about it. I really want people to pay more attention to what is going on. I mentioned before the book “Hate, Inc.” and it is written much better than anything I can do so as always I suggest reading it. The book dives deeper into the media aspect of partisanship. I want to rant and rave about the failed political aspect of it.  For today though, I ask you, why do we, as a society, fall into this trap. Our political world has fallen into our side must win so horrendously that both sides are failing us. I know I say this often, yet how do I break through this locked in mindset destroying out country. NO side is supposed to win. Both sides should be more focused on doing better. And by doing better, they win. And this is not just any election, but win for our country. Until we break this dead end cycle of pointing fingers, my side or the highway mentality our country will continue to deteriorate. I wish I could find the right words to break through this duopoly’s hold on our country. So for now stop and think, what are the two parties really doing and if your first answer is trying to keep the other side from winning because they are the bad guys or something similar. You need to get out of your echo chamber and do one of two things; reread history and what made us great even with the flaws or get completely away from the world for quite awhile and just think about what is it we truly need.

And on that note, time for the second mini post. This is not going to be a lecture about the needs for better mental healthcare in America. We desperately need it and not anything to do with the political monsters going on right now. This is about true better care for people with mental health issues. We need to do more. For now thought this post is for you. Too many people still cannot break out of their routine, their rut, social media, electronics, working too much or whatever to give your brain a rest. A pure unadulterated rest is needed for you right now. Don’t believe me, I don’t care, just do it. Go somewhere away from your life and sit down and stare at landscape. Do something with no noise, no background distractions, no partying, no anything, just go for a walk. Find a hiking trail even if right around the block. Get on it, walk and then turn into the woods and then just stand. Wait for a few moments. Your body and brain are going to go stir crazy instantly. It will take strong will power to stay. And stay you must. If you plan just a little bit, your work will be fine, your family will be fine, your pocketbook will be fine, your life will be fine. Let your brain rest. Listen to the sounds, smell what is around, see what is there in front of you. Do not think, just relax and the harder it is to do that means you need it more. Bring a timer, set it for a half hour and do nothing. And your brain will fight you. Your worries will come flying at you. Ignore them. Just breathe. And the harder you work at your job, the more you do for others, the running around you do because no one else is going to do it means you are struggling to come to grips with yourself. Do this to get comfortable in your own shoes again. Think about who you are as a person. And don’t just do it once. Ironically this will take actual effort for it to help you. You need it more than you realize. Billionaire or working class, all need to rest your brain.

 

And finally this is about driving. Yes people cannot drive. I don’t care what you say about not being in a wreck you still cannot drive. And mainly because people are so stressed they are not paying attention. Personal example, my daughter needed to go somewhere, but I needed to drive her. I worry what would have happened, because she was only navigating and we still almost missed our exit and then took a turn too soon. If she was relying on looking at her phone for directions while driving who knows what would have happened. Second at stoplight the light turns green and nowadays you know you have to wait two or three seconds because people are running the red light and sometimes it gets really bad. So at the stop light, the light turns green and as always three to four cars pass in front of us after it turns green for us. Then everyone goes, and after people have not just entered the intersection some have already gone through it when another car for whatever reason comes speeding into the intersection I guess trying to beat the red light that had been red for easily ten seconds now. By the grace of God there was no accident, yet that car had to merge into moving traffic to get through the intersection. It was quite scary to watch. This happens way too often.  Driving a car is a responsibility and a privilege, it should not be taken for granted. Yes I am old so it sounds like I am lecturing. No this is a flat out scream at you to pay attention.

 

Cheers

Capping off Valentine’s weekend with a movie and some other thoughts

 

So just saw Solo Mio and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was simple, beautiful, predictable, and definitely worth seeing. Sure part of the beauty was because it had the Rome sightseeing moments, the countryside of Tuscany, and also beautiful because it wasn’t pretentious or tried to force something on you. It flowed comfortably. You can relax and just watch it.

Nowadays something joyful with love seems so rare. Or maybe it is me that I am caught up in all the drama of our political world. No one enjoys life, food, wine, good company well actually the better half and I do have these moments, but as soon as you pick up your phone and look at it, the monsters of insanity permeate your brain. So an hour and a half of simple pleasure in a movie for something different is more than refreshing.

And having Andrea Bocelli make an appearance and sing a couple of songs just adds to the beauty of the movie. I won’t spoil one of the songs.

I have more madness I want to add to this blog and make all my opinions about everything, yet for the moment I just want to offer the opinion that for a little love and joy go see the movie. It will not blow you away. There is no pyrotechnics, no action scenes filmed a 100mph, just a simple story with simple plot and a simple ending. Yet for escapism from the harshness of planet Earth right now, it is worth the time.

 

Cheers

 

And on a side note, after watching the movie I could sure go for some more Italian wine and a long tour of Tuscany.

 

Double cheers

Bondi vs. Noem vs. Vance

 

Who needs to go first?  This is just a fun quick quiz question for your Valentine’s dinner debate.  Why not?

There are other people who need to go in the Trump Administration, yet the three listed at the top are the three who most tried to ride Trump’s coattails for their own ambitions. Or maybe they are the most pathetic of the coattail riders. I think there are even some in the MAGA universe who are possibly debating this question.

Yes, Patel, Miller, Blanche and more all need to go. Yet, who can question how blatantly pathetic these three people are in this Administration. Sure Vance may be trying to lay low, or is getting away with laying low for the moment, yet he is just as bad as Bondi and Noem.

It is hilarious to watch three human beings create the most cringe worthy political lives to further their careers, yet with every step it is apparent this is going to be their last hurrah. I will nominate Mike Johnson as the less than honorable nominee for fourth.

So let’s do the country a favor and pick one to go first so we can get back to enjoying a nice dinner with the person we love. Feel free to leave your choice in the comments and if so inclined with your rationale.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

And oh yeah, Happy President’s Day, a day that should be honored more, yet right now, maybe not.

A continuation of the sad part about MAGA, partisanship, clueless elitists, what next and adding a touch on the voting of the lesser of two evils

 

I usually am a spit shit talk trash kind of opinion writer. I like spewing my thoughts and letting the reader determine if they care.

Then earlier this morning I tweeted or “Xed” a post about the lesser of two evils. Since it was “X” there is limited space I use. I do not feel the need to give any of my money to Musk. He doesn’t need it.

And then I got to thinking. I already knew there is substantial literature about voting the lesser of two evils. So I researched it a small amount this morning and it goes back further than I realized. To spare you a dissertation I will ask that you do some research on your own.

I do want to mention though I will pitch my tent on the side that you should still vote principles, not succumb to I don’t feel anything will get done if I don’t fight what I can by compromising my principles to vote for the lesser of two evils. In the long run, we don’t get better until we don’t give up our principles.

One argument from some of what I read this morning is an article from the publication Pysche by Robert Simpson an associate professor written about the 2020 election. And his points are specific to that election, yet you can apply them broadly or over all elections. He also references a philosopher Bernard Williams. Honestly I didn’t go back and read all of Mr. Williams’s books this morning so I may be going down a rabbit hole I don’t want to. Yet, 

Professor Simpson’s comments struck a chord with me. Here is a paragraph that outlines the dilemma a bit:

“A more familiar context in which this problem presents itself is at the ballot box. Suppose you believe the state should look after the wellbeing of the poor and combat the structural forces that enrich the wealthy. Suppose you’re in a two-party electoral system, and that the party notionally aligned with your ideals made a Faustian pact with business elites to shore up the policies that perpetuate poverty – low minimum wages, tax incentives for rent-seekers, privatisation of public services, etc. What kind of ballot should you cast? You can’t vote for the party pushing things further to the Right. And if you don’t vote, or you vote for someone who’s almost certain not to win, you’re helping that same regressive party get elected. Yet lending your support to the ‘lesser of two evils’ candidate, whose platform you don’t really support, feels like an unacceptable compromise to your ideals.”

Here is some of the set up of the point I ask you to consider. These are sections of early paragraphs in the argument:

“Bernard Williams argued that you should care about maintaining integrity in your personal ideals – not necessarily at all costs, but at least a bit. That’s because you have a special proprietary responsibility for acts you perform. Those choices and acts are, in some special sense, yours, distinct from outcomes that result from combining your choices and acts with everyone else’s.”

“Don’t vote for the front runner. You are responsible for the acts you do, not for everything that they lead to. If you quit and those animals suffer more, you aren’t responsible for this; your boss is. If a demagogic president remains in power, that’s not your fault.”

“But perhaps you find this way of thinking a bit spineless, or even a bit lawyerly. ‘The outcome wasn’t fundamentally my fault’ seems like a feeble excuse for something you could have helped to prevent, if you had just suspended your scruples for a moment. It sounds like the special pleading of a moral narcissist – someone who cares more about preserving an unblemished moral record than about making the world a better place.”

“Williams acknowledges this concern, and he agrees that integrity matters little when you’re just trying to maintain the warm, fuzzy feeling of being a flawless do-gooder.”

Now I am going to brag a bit, Yes I know as a Christian we are to remain humble, but I am still closer to the sinner side of the saint to sinner sliding scale anyway so here goes. Or at least I live out this idea of being more than writing or maintaining a fuzzy feeling of being a flawless do-gooder. I honestly feel not just in in mad ravings on this blog, but overall I try to not compromise and do things just to make me feel better. I have stated repeatedly I don’t vote for the duopoly. I don’t. Yet it did take years to find a party that truly came close to my values. Luckily I found them and vote for them wherever they are on a ballot. They are a small party so it is not often, but I do. It is a small act, yet to me it is the my part in fighting the good fight.

And here is the paragraph I want you to think about:

            “Williams’s ideas about integrity suggest that someone who’s reluctant to follow a lesser-of-two-evils strategy needs to at least interrogate that instinct. If you’re genuinely trying make the world a better place, Williams says, it isn’t enough to simply promote the good within the limited range of choices you’re being offered. You need to try to become someone who actively builds those choices, shaping which outcomes result from which actions. And that means taking on projects and principles that you mean to live by – even if this might produce undesirable outcomes in the short term.”

Yes I know I cherry picked a couple of sentences from the article to have you circle back to the above paragraph so go read the whole article. There are more indepth examples of what leads to the points.

And again any simple search on the internet for the phrase voting for the lesser of two evils is going to give you that inordinate amount of literature to read. I quickly read through a few, hence how I learned this argument goes back to the 16^th century. Also there are interesting takes on what Pope Francis meant when he said we should vote for the lesser of two evils. One touches on the literal aspect of the verbiage and another touches on you have to listen to his explanation that it is not the lesser of two evils, but that finding the good is the lesser of two evils. Knowing a bit of Pope Francis’s work I feel the latter better represents what he says.

And using one article to make a point is  never enough, yet I hope you at least do some self contemplate on on the sentence:

“Williams’s ideas about integrity suggest that someone who’s reluctant to follow a lesser-of-two-evils strategy needs to at least interrogate that instinct.”

What does that mean for you and how can you apply what I ask you to do is give up on the duopoly and help us find more common pragmatic solutions to the issues facing our country?

Cheers

The sad part about MAGA, the clueless elitists, partisanship is now a four letter word and what next.

 

Well the title just wore me out. Let’s start with the easy part, partisanship is effing this country good.

Second how do you address people, identify where you see the problem without name calling. Well I just blew it in the title, but I feel stuck saying clueless elitist because that is exactly the problem with a good chunk of the leadership on the left.

Which leads to the sad part of MAGA. There is only a minority of MAGA that is racist and misogynist and unfortunately that is the loudest part on social media. There are some MAGA that get involved, yet they are overshadowed by the worst of their movement. Why do I say this is sad because unbeknownst to the left many of these people are the hard working Americans they talked down to for decades. Hence the cluelessness.

I have talked about it before yet without the emphasis on partisanship making it worse. In fact extremely worse therefore the effing it up problem. And partisanship is effing the country not just the two sides.

Put good hard working Americans who just wanted to have someone stick it to the people who  ignored them politically and generally economically, add in FOX News creating a demonization narrative that began to hypnotize them, a one sided partisan argument that acted like they were on the hard working American’s side when actually their political actions added to the struggles of these same hard working Americans and you have the recipe for the greatest grifter in our country to succeed. Trump knew the words of the anger. He doesn’t give a spit about his voters, but he knew how to spit out the words. He knew well what they wanted to hear. And now he has taken partisanship to a whole new level. The clueless left can’t match it though.

They do have sort of a base, yet nothing as intense as the wave of hate Trump jumped on and is surfing through every turmoil he can or did create to continue to hold in line scared Republicans who care more about their little island of power than the people they represent.

And this is why it is sad for MAGA. The one person they felt understood and appreciated them stashed them on his surfboard and created a tsunami that is destroying this country. And they are all on board screaming with joy as their lives are about to be thrown against the rocks when the wave crashes. Unfortunately this is all about to crash down on the whole country so yeah even us “who didn’t vote for this” will be wiped out. So is this the end?

It never is, it is just a matter of how fast we can figure out what to do when the wave hits the rocks and the subsequent undertow pulls us all under. How do we swim back to shore?

We can’t rely on the cold water waking MAGA up immediately. It may or may not take a generation. And my fear is those waiting in the surf as the water clears will be the clueless elitists with a damning I told you so attitude. And the kind that ain’t good for healing. Yeah, the same mindset that ignored the real problems facing this country as they told us everything we did especially MAGA that was wrong with us. Complete and utter elitism with no understanding their partisanship is part of the problem.

So instead of the waters clearing, the murkiness will continue unless we who understand both sides of the current left/right partisan madness then realize we can’t let either side take charge. And it is okay if there is a left/right or true conservative/liberal divide in the country. I stated before I believe in that let’s say minor dichotomy. Why, because times change and you need policies that reflect the times. And sometimes we need to move forward and sometimes we need to pull back. It works when we understand we are not partisan sides trying to win, but offer solutions that work best for the times.

We were already headed for a my side must win long before Trump joined the partisanship battle in American politics. He was just the catalyst the created the current I would say gridlock, but it much more than that politically.

So going back a couple of paragraphs, I do believe in the left/right see saw or whatever other metaphor floats your boat, but what I do not like is saying compromise is a solution. Or the system needs compromise. No, it doesn’t. Compromise only dilutes what you are trying to do to appease people and can create gridlock. And as mentioned we are nowhere near any political gridlock, we are two hard headed rams butting each other and getting nowhere. And we are about to fall off the cliff of sanity.

So right now and going forward in the immediate future people not caught up in the effing partisan rams falling off the cliff need to find a few very specific issues that affects the vast majority of this country. And I mean just a few issues and where liberal or conservative is more about what is the best solution. We need to work on those for a few election cycles, really sit down and hammer out solutions so we can start clearing the water and give something concrete people can see in the water.

And there are a few issues people can prioritize pretty easily in my limited sight. Social security, balancing the budget, leveling the tax code and finally new election finance and campaign laws. The first three can be worked on together in some of the policy. The campaign laws need vigorous overall so people can be represented, not the select few. Money should not be the driving force behind choosing people to represent us. Somehow we need to make this change now.

There are other major issues that need immediate attention also, such as new immigration policy, and a rebuild of what education means to us as a country. For now the immediate needs are paramount. The direction must change and spending two or three election cycles working on settling the dynamics down and fix our immediate financial situation gives us the biggest bang for the immediate buck now worth 28 cents.

You can argue what might be more important and if you have a good case I will listen. I chose my three based on some general concerns. Social security was our first program to help the average person and we need it to survive so people can survive. The budget is a disaster. Yes we need to reign in spending, it is imperative, you just can’t spend all the time. Cuts will need to be made. Not the DOGE cuts for political theatre, but real well thought out cuts, so this is why I say two or three election cycles. Our government can still do in the background much of what it already does, but we need to reduce the bureaucracy, not dramatically, but practically. There are things we need from out government like roads or law enforcement. Those will need work now and in the future, yet for us to move forward we need to identify the most important issues facing us. I have laid out the campaign issue and then the trilogy of tax code renovation/leveling, social security and the budget. And you can tie some of the solutions up in one package if done right.

Then by the grace of God if you can not compromise, yet actually write real solutions we, the people get victory at so many levels that by then the waters will have cleared. Once we see our feet again standing in the surf, we can start working on the next highest priorities to continue this great experiment of what our country truly can become. And yes then the right/left or liberal/conservative pendulum can swing as needed not based on partisanship, but who has the best ideas for the moment.

That was the framework our Founding Fathers worked to try and give us. Let’s celebrate 250 years and start finishing the job.

If the dominos start falling…….

 

Honestly I am not sure if we are there yet, but if Greg Bovino’s ouster is the first domino, it might get crazy fast.

And many of the dominos will need to be knocked down. So where do we start?

Kristy Noem looks like the next domino and whether she fights it or resigns won’t matter. She is probably gone and soon. The better half just said there is some Senate Hearing she is scheduled to attend in March. If she makes it that far I will be surprised.

So let’s look at some other potential dominos.

First though you see some people still running cover for President Trump hoping to give him some wiggle room to stay on. There is a secondary issue involved with Trump and I will get to that in a minute.

And let’s look at the some of Trump’s cover provided by the lovely Laura Loomer. Apparently she is laying this at the feet of Vance in some sort of new(?) conspiracy rant. I question the new because she may have brought up this conspiracy before in some shape form or fashion. I don’t follow her so going by second hand knowledge.

I am of the opinion that Vance always thought Trump was circumspect so let himself get on the train hoping for either getting ahead post Trump or being the rational one if Trump’s world collapses.  So I don’t think he is forcing this madness as per Loomer, but hoping for it.

So let’s go look at some potential other dominos. I think if Stephen Miller gets put in the domino line he will fight it big time. He has much riding on the success of Trump’s immigration policy so he will try and find ways to convince Trump that what they are doing is still the right path, just need to ride out this current hiccup.

In general Pete Hegseth will stay on as Defense Secretary until forced out in some way. And it may or may not have anything to do with the ICE situation.

Marco Rubio may be the first one to jump ship and find some facing saving way to resign.

Pam Bondi is an interesting situation. Even though the Epstein files are not in the headlines right now, sooner or later people can pick that back up and make it front page news again. Once that happens Trump may tire of her. And I won’t put them on paper just yet, but my brain’s imagination just went crazy and there are some crazy outs for her. And most don’t do Trump any favors. So let’s leave the conspiracies to the conspiracy theorists for now. And she may also be impacted by the current ICE and general immigration fall out specifically the voter rolls threat.

Kash Patel may just wake up and ask himself why did I sign up for all this. He may resign also. I don’t think he can successfully come up with a face saving way, but who knows. Or he is completely hopeless and ends up going down with the ship.

I think Scott Bessent and maybe Howard Lutnick jump ship. They have/had careers in the financial world they may want to salvage and if things start to really sour they may run for cover.

Tulsi Gabbard is so far out of the spotlight now that she may be able to quietly walk away. Who knows?

There are a few other Cabinet members such as Labor Lori Chavez-Deremer and Education Linda McMahon that have their own issues or embroglios they may go down on their own as the ship falters.

And now to get back to Trump. Trump is 79 years old and stress eats up healthy human beings. The stress he must be feeling or is about to hit him may be too much. I wrote a previous post talking about some of these people need to figure out what to do in a post Trump world. I don’t wish bad on anyone, just want accountability, yet Trump’s health may take a huge hit if he for one second realizes how bad his world is about to implode. There is much potential for high stress health events to happen and everyone near him and his supporters in general cannot be surprised if something does happen. He is just not a man in excellent health no matter what he tells himself and the American people.

There is going to be a fall out even if Trump stays healthy. And things will get worse before they get better. Unfortunately the Democrats are still clueless and maybe only a couple can cobble together enough of a plan to get us to 2028.

Secondarily Mike Johnson needs to resign as Speaker so we can move forward faster. I am not sure who should be Speaker, yet if the Republicans do hold the majority for the rest of the year, someone from the centrist group should be elected as Speaker. Hakeem Jeffries would be a disaster. Yes I know all the Democrats think they are ready to be the heroes, yet the amount of fall out from the collapse of this administration is going to take some real leadership and some real ingenuity to get us to 2028 and beyond.

And why do I say 2028 and not the upcoming midterms? If Trump falls, then Vance is rightfully the President and he has managed to stay away enough from the immigration and Epstein disaster it would be hard pressed for the Democrats to try and impeach him. They might try, but no one will have the stomach to convict him or at least not enough so he offers I won’t say stability, but a placeholder until 2028. And then hopefully someone can come through and chart us a new path forward.

And once we get to 2028 and hopefully a new path forward, let’s hope it is someone who truly understands the gravity of the moment and knows if he or she does it right they probably won’t be elected in 2032. Too much real painful work will need to be done to right this ship.

Anyway there is sparkling wine (we are Americans) on ice so to speak, but not even close to being open. We will see what happens.

The Dallas Mavericks conundrum

 

The discussion is permeating the Dallas Mavericks ecosphere. Should the Mavericks tank or continue to try and make the playoffs?

There is quite a bit of people on both sides of the coin. And there are pros and cons to each side. So what should they do?

As a believer in using pros and cons to help you make decisions maybe we should explore those. Or maybe we should let the proponents of each side make their own arguments.

Okay they can on their own platforms. lol

Obviously tanking is to get better draft picks. Keep Kyrie and AD sidelined, let them rest up for next year along with a more experienced Cooper Flagg and hopefully a high draft pick and that does look promising.

Unfortunately there is no guarantee with draft picks. And I don’t think you can rest Anthony Davis enough to ever completely see a healthy AD for a full season. And I am not picking on him specifically. It just seems big men in general struggle with injuries. Not all of course, yet quite a few. AD just seems to have more than his fair share. His latest hand injury is just strange.

Anyway do we rest him up so his hand is good for next year? And do we rest Kyrie so he can truly be one hundred percent? Yet this adds another year of age to both of them. How rusty is Kyrie with being out for well over a year?  So are there more cons to tanking than pros?

Or what if we try this year? Cooper Flagg gets even more experience in a playoff push that last month of the year with AD and Kyrie. And who knows? Like I mentioned and I am not a fan of rooting for injuries, but like AD, Chet for OKC and Victor for the Spurs are big men that might face injuries themselves. Look at Giannis this past week. He will be out for 6 weeks more or less. Should the Bucks rest him? So what does the West look like end of March. A healthy Kyrie and a functional AD make the Mavericks an interesting possibility. The LA Clippers are on a major run. If the playoffs started right now, they would be the team no one would want to face. Maybe at the beginning of April the Mavs could be that team.

Yet if we bring back Kyrie to early or push him too hard what happens? And will AD’s hand be healed or will he be playing hampered? Is it worth chancing these two again?

And what about the other players involved? I am not sure what happened, but what happened with Dlo? I actually had hope he might be at least a contributor throughout the year and definitely not what is going on with him now. I cannot figure out why he dropped off like on a cliff on this team. Maybe his couple of good years were just the perfect storm for him and he just isn’t a player that can adapt to his surroundings. Who knows, but definitely disappointing.

Klay Thompson quite frankly is where we need him to be. I hope he gets the opportunity for us to stay competitive and he has a good rest of the year. He would definitely fit as a successful 6^th man scoring threat in a playoff run.  Trade deadline talk is irking me since I would like to see him stay.

I am not sure what is going on with Daniel Gafford, but would definitely like to see him healthy and involved.

And for me the reason I hope we do not tank though is I think it would be an insult to Naji Marshall, Max Christie and PJ Washington Jr for us to tank. I mean a serious insult. These three players are not role players. They are players on a competitive team that make a difference in winning and losing. All of them are valuable and I don’t want them to lose their attitude and grit in a tanking season and affect their attitudes next year. We need to keep them long term because they are the types of players that shape teams and make the impactful difference. 

Also Dwight Powell is much more than a stopgap these past few games. He is always overmatched, yet over matches in attitude and effort. He also deserves to play competitive basketball even if he is sitting on a bench for most of the game. He epitomizes what it means to have a winning attitude.

Could Caleb Martin actually come around like the past few games?

Of course the heartbreak is Dereck Lively II being out for the year

And then there is Brandon Williams, Ryan Nembhard and Moussa Cisse. Why waste what they are doing?

We have the players to compete so I am of the opinion we should. 

Go Mavs