Reflection Day, 2020

In the Exinger household, tomorrow is “Reflection Day.”  It’s a holiday we created a number of years ago because, well, why not?  Traditions have to start sometime.

We’ve modified it over the years.  In the beginning we used to take breakfast as a time to look back, lunch as a time to enjoy today, and the evening meal (or tons of snacks) to look forward to the coming new year.  At some point we learned about the “Happiness Jar” concept (also known as “Good Things” or “Memories” jars), so we just that right after breakfast (we still do tons of snacks at night, but this way there’s more room on the table for the snacks).

Throughout the year we write little notes and stick them in the Cookie Jar by the front door.  These notes occur every time we complete a project or do something “good” worth remembering.  At the end of the year, we can read ‘em all and reflect on just how much we accomplished the previous year, and then we look forward to doing more, different things in the year to come.  And eat snacks.

Even though 2020 was a total clusterfuck of a shitstorm year, I am looking forward to reading all those notes tomorrow.  I took a peek earlier today (because I was adding two notes), and there’s a LOT of stuff in there.  Of course, one of the notes I added today was “SURVIVED COVID” (I feel fine right now and we’re not leaving the house for a few days, so this should remain an accomplishment.  I hope.)

The thing is there’s plenty more notes in there.  I can recall a few of them (my writing accomplishments, including this blog, for one).  There’s all the work we did in the garden, the fact that I lost more weight (down to 188 now – I haven’t weighed that “much” since 10^th grade), and some other projects we completed in and out of the house. 

Part of the fun in opening up the jar is to discover all of the activities over the last year that we can’t remember.  That’s why we do it.  It helps so that we can “give ourselves credit” for these accomplishments, and it spurs us on to do more. 

COVID notwithstanding, for us it was a good year.  And things are looking brighter for next year – Biden and Harris take office in about three weeks, the vaccine is underway (but too slowly, thanks to you-know-who), and eventually the stain of Trumpism will wear off some (though sadly, not completely). 

I hope that you and yours can also reflect on the past, take the good from it where you can, and everyone – let’s ALL have a much better 2021.

Worst Christmas Ever? That was 20 years ago…

I hope everyone survived their holiday.  I realize that 2020’s version is one for everyone’s record books, but I do hope that you were able to celebrate whatever you celebrate however you celebrate it to the best of your abilities, given the circumstances.

Checking social media yesterday and today, I noted that very few had anything negative to say about it; most everyone took the limitations in stride and did the best they could.  I saw many happy faces, and that’s a good thing.

This was certainly not our worse Christmas.  There were many others that linger as memories best forgotten.  In our first ten years of marriage our families were not large but they were all in Michigan and all grandparents were still living, meaning that there were “command performances” every holiday and you were expected to put in an appearance at every event and this means eating, too.  So yes, that means a holiday meal AT EVERY LOCATION.  If you ever saw the movie “Four Christmases” you get the idea what we went through, though to be honest Thanksgiving was worse because this meant four big meals IN ONE DAY.  We were able to spread Christmas over two days (Christmas Eve and Christmas).

But that wasn’t the worst.

When we moved out west in 1985, we were separated from family for the holidays for the first time ever; in this way we actually became pioneers as everyone else (except my brother) ventured from Michigan eventually.  This meant we were dependent on shipping gifts via USPS and UPS (we weren’t so lazy that we had to rely on FedEx for overnight shipping), and whatever long-distance services we had at whatever location we were living at at the time.  I think Mona’s folks came to see us once when we lived in Boise, and my parents came to Louisiana one year (on their way to New Orleans for a UM bowl game), and there was one year we went back over the holidays which taught us never to travel by air during the holidays.

But that wasn’t the worst.

No, the worst Christmas was twenty years ago, in December 2000, as we started our new (and grandest) adventure – moving from Boise to Seaside, Oregon to take over an ice cream and candy parlor.

Christmas was on a Monday.  We spent the entire weekend before Christmas packing everything up and then loading it into a big U-Haul truck on Christmas Day.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  We cooked dinner (warmed up leftovers from Chinese the night before) on a camp stove and slept in our sleeping bags on the floor.  On Tuesday, breakfast was something cold (cereal, probably) and coffee from the camp stove, then we hooked up the car trailer, loaded one of our two cars onto the trailer, and took the other car to the Title Company to sign away the house we sold a month before.  Coming back to the now-empty house, we loaded the rest of everything and our suitcases...and our three dogs…into the car, and we took off for Seaside (well, one dog wanted to ride with me in the truck, so Mona and the two bigger dogs rode in the Corolla).

Through rain and wind (especially going through the Coastal Range where for the first time we experienced the phenomenon of rain and fog…at the same time), we drove on.  Nearly eleven hours later we made it to Seaside and our first home – the local Comfort Inn where we booked a room for the five of us.  The only memorable event at the hotel was Heidi (alpha dog) learning that the toilet is NOT a water dish.

On Wednesday, we headed for the bank to sign for the loan to buy the business.  On Thursday we headed back to the bank to sign for the loan to buy a house (one we picked out after looking a month earlier for all of four hours).  Then to the Title Company there to sign, and finally, on Friday, we could move into the house.

We spent the next three weeks cleaning and fixing up the shop and converting it into “Zinger’s Ice Cream Parlor and Sweets” (we didn’t make our own ice cream at first…that came later, when things really went to shit).  It’s a tale I’ve told many times though never on this blog.

Short version is that sales weren’t what we expected given the shop’s track record, plus there was more competition in town every year we operated the shop, and in 2003 we had our worst year ever by far…and learned TWO MORE SHOPS were planning to open in 2004.  What to do?  Because we also had issues all summer with our ice cream supplier (Tillamook), we though that one way we could (a) stand out from the crowd and (b) eliminate those issues was to make our own.  That meant going back to the bank for more money (and we were close to paying off the original loan) and even more work for us (we had to re-reconfigure the shop to accommodate the ice cream making equipment).  THAT’S even a longer story, but as you might have guessed, it turned out well.  We ran “Zinger’s Homemade Ice Cream” until selling it in Fall, 2018.

In those ice cream years some Christmases were pretty good, some not so, but none can compare to the one we spent as domestic stevedores sleeping on the floor of an empty house.  And certainly 2020, while challenging, was no 2000.

Part Two of Four Freedoms, Revisited

Yesterday we revisited two of Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” (from his 1941 SOTU speech).  I was of the opinion that with the first two – freedom of speech and freedom of worship – we’re doing OK.  But, boy, the other two…

FREEDOM FROM WANT – Well now that everyone is getting an additional $600, we’re all good, right?

Obviously, I’m kidding.

Even before COVID, the gap between “those with lots of money” and “those with hardly any” was getting larger and larger.  And one of the major reasons for this was the very people who Roosevelt thought should be making that gap go in the opposite direction – the Federal government.  Thanks to two huge tax cuts for the über wealthy and corporations (Bush in 2001 and 2013, Trump in 2017), average Americans are picking up the tab for the super-rich.  Meanwhile, the minimum wage has remained stagnant at the Federal level.

Some states have decided to do something about that, as many have decided to raise the minimum to $10 or more, with some headed to the “magic” amount of $15/hour (that’s a whopping annual salary of $30K).  Strangely enough, if you overlay a map of those states who either have a minimum wage STILL at 7.25 OR LOWER (looking at you, Georgia) with a map of Trump states, it…looks pretty much the same.  OK, not so strange.

So it was bad before, but now, in 2020 thanks to COVID, it’s dire.  More people out of work or at jobs below what they used to be making.  People still working but fewer hours.  Millions scheduled to “face the music” with evictions come January.  And Trump’s latest action is sure to help put food on the table – an Executive Order “prohibiting new federal buildings from being built in anything other than Neoclassical, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, or Art Deco styles.”

25^th Amendment Now, please.

 

FREEDOM FROM FEAR – Jeebus, isn’t the above enough?

Nope.  Tack on some of this:

• Hacking of government networks by Russia
• Right-wing extremists planning massive “Civil War” protesting the election
• Shortages at food banks
• Economic insecurity
• Global warming
• Hiccups with the Presidential transistion
• COVID
• Vaccine distribution problems
• Murder hornets

You get the idea.  The thing is, every one of those things above is bad, and MADE WORSE by the Trump Administration.  How can one man fuck up so much?

And how can so many gullible fools* continue to support him and send him money?

Worse yet, Trump revels in fear and chaos.  Remember the caravans?  Ebola?  Mexican immigrants who simultaneously will rape and murder us and then take our jobs?  He did nothing but campaign on a message of FEAR FEAR FEAR and the “comforting” thought that “I alone can fix it.”  A man rife with a history of failure and bankruptcies, here to save the world.  Right.

And now, when Americans are just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, when the new administration is only a month away from taking the oath of office and the vaccine for the coronavirus is being distributed and people are talking about “getting back to normal,” the moron-in-chief is seriously considering a coup d'état to remain in power.  And the Republican Party is complicit.  They’ve done nothing to put America at ease about this situation; offering passive words of “oh, it’ll be fine” but none of them actually standing up to the Orange Clown and saying, “ENOUGH.  Pack your shit and leave.”

The transition of power, when it’s vitally needed to secure proper distribution of the vaccine, to secure our borders (real and online), to put America back together, is compromised and held hostage by a party who is far more interested in remaining in power than in actually doing anything for the average American.

And the vote in Georgia’s runoff elections, which will decide the makeup of the Senate and perhaps the direction the country will go in for the next two years, is expected to be very, very close.

No wonder people are scared.

 

* Yes, gullible fools.  They’re sending their money to someone who supposedly is one of the richest men in the world.  Think hard about that.

FDR’s Four Freedoms, Revisited

It’s been nearly 80 years since FDR made his infamous “Four Freedoms” speech (his 1941 SOTU).  You may recall that Roosevelt listed four “freedoms" - 

• Freedom of speech,
• Freedom of worship,
• Freedom from want, and
• Freedom from fear.

Let’s take ‘em one at a time – we’ll do the first two in this post. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH – I would say we’ve got this, but there are many who would disagree.  Problem is, they really don’t understand the communicative process, and they also confuse this with the First Amendment, which merely prohibits the government’s restrictions on speech. 

You can say whatever you want to say.  Period.  Well, OK, there are a few restrictions (see: fire in a crowded theater).  But what’s not covered here is private entities restricting what goes on within those private entities.  If you want to rant about subject “A” and write a 1000-word essay for your local paper’s “Letters to The Editor” and there’s a 500-word limit, guess what’s going to happen? 

Now, take this concept to social media.  Remember those agreements you (mindlessly) clicked “OK” to when you signed up?  Same issue – when you break your “terms of service” your speech might become restricted.  YOU AGREED TO THE RULES.  Break ‘em and pay the consequences.

And that’s the other part about “Freedom of Speech” that people gripe about but don’t comprehend.  You say what you want, and others are free to do likewise.  And if there are consequences for your speech, so be it.  You say racist things and it gets captured on TikTok and your employer finds out about it…well, unless you’re in law enforcement, there’s a good chance you’ll face some disciplinary action for that speech.

Hope it was worth it.

FREEDOM OF WORSHIP – Here again I think we’re doing OK (like a heathen would know this, right?).  Back in the day, our Founding Fathers whipped up that First Amendment to protect this freedom and the one mentioned above:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Of course, the concern then was the ability to practice any Protestant religion of your choosing, Jews and Catholics were not much of a concern and few worried about Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. But today folks are free to worship however they please, or, as I am thankful for, to not worship at all.

But, here again some folks feel persecuted (and they always use that word, having the previous religious context as if that adds some weight).  Thanks to COVID some services are limited in size, or they’re online only, and other restrictions may apply.  There have been lawsuits galore and much misplaced anger because of these restrictions which are merely intended to keep people safe and alive.

You know what people used to do when they felt like their religious liberty was at risk?  THEY MOVED.  Packed it all up and went…well, surprise!  They moved here to America. 

If you feel like you’re not getting to practice your religion as intended (and you’re not since I don’t see anyone doing the burnt offering thing), perhaps you’d better pack the U-Haul and move to one of the Dakotas or Florida, where you’re free to cluster as tight as you want indoors and sing and move about with total abandon.  Knock yourself out.

Literally.

 

These two Freedoms are doing pretty well – next time we’ll discuss the other two, which are taking quite a beating.  Stay safe and well.

 

Extreme Toadyism

Is Pepe really a toady?  Yup.

Even though Biden won the election and Trump will soon be out of the White House, one of his “legacies” will live on.  We’ve always had sycophants in government, but never to the extreme as we’ve witnessed in the last four years.  One of my marketing professors said the difference between butt kissing and brown nosing was depth perception, but for Trump Toadies, they’ve often gone full bore up the colon.

I can understand why grown men already secure in their position would grovel to Trump while he was all-powerful.  It was obvious that bucking the Trump Train could cost you votes from his loyal cult fanbase, and maybe even your job.   Your loyalty was always a one-way street – he needed you to continue to be loyal in the face of every storm, and in return, you got…well, you were able to be there to continue to be loyal.

That’s about it.

Go against him, and suffer the fate of Flynn, Sessions, McFarland, Spicer, Bannon, Cohen, etc.  One day you're best pals, the next, he hardly knows you and you were only a minor player in the campaign (even when you held the title “Campaign Chairman”).   A quick review of the last four years of hirings and firings sees many of the dearly departed with RUP next to their names (“resigned under pressure”).  No shit, Sherlock.

But like I said, I can understand why some folks with small, shriveled balls would do Dear Leader’s bidding no matter what, as long as Dear Leader held their fate in their hand.  I don’t like it, but I understand it.  But not any more.  He lost, dammit.

I do not understand why anyone with a -R next to his name (and they’re all men, aren’t they) or anyone with a Fox News contract continues to be so damn loyal in the face of this.  Bending over backwards loyal.  I mean, not any more.  Even Putin has acknowledged Biden's legitimacy, so why can't Ron Johnson?  Trump is finished, done for, over.  I mean, what's going on?

It's Extreme Toadyism.

The most prolific example continues to play out in front of us.  Despite a 1-59 court record (good for 3^rd place in the NFC East), Trump continues to promise to “see this out” as he has “just begun to fight” (he spelled “Grift” wrong in that tweet).   And every day, he sends millions of emails and personal tweets to his loyal cult fanbase asking for money to “continue the fight so we win.”  And they respond, for some reason, sending Trump millions and millions (wait – isn’t he supposed to be rich?).  And they STILL are sending him money, when all seems like a lost cause.  And in emails to supporters in Georgia, he’s making claims that money is needed to protect those two Republican Senate seats, so SEND MONEY.  Problem is, they money doesn’t go to either GOP candidate.  It goes to him.  The common toady loves to send the rich man money.  Because...I have no idea why.

And even with all of this malarkey, the professional toadies continue to…toad.  The latest example of ET is in the naming of the coronavirus vaccine, as if it actually NEEDS a name.  Generally, vaccines are named with some sort of trade name (see this list) or after their creators such as the polio vaccines of Salk and Sabin.  We’re already calling the COVID-19 vaccine put out by Pfizer the “Pfizer vaccine” as it’s different than the Moderna one or the Janssen one or the AstraZeneca one.  To my knowledge, no vaccine anywhere in the world is named after a political person.

So why name the COVID vaccine after Trump?  Two reasons have been given.

The first was by Geraldo Rivera, who said it should be done to “placate a downtrodden President Trump” (becwause the poor widdle baby lost the election, awwww).  And today in an op-ed in the Washington Post, Marc Thiessen suggested this be done because, “…is the best way for Biden to unite the country.”

Seriously?

Name the vaccine after the guy who called the disease the vaccine treats “a hoax,” downplayed its severity, suggested bleach and black lights and hydroxychloroquine as treatments…and is pretty much the whole reason that the COUNTRY ISN’T UNITED?  THAT GUY?

Damn.  That is some seriously ass-flogging.  Of course, Rivera is a known hack, but some folks might be familiar with Thiessen’s history of arse-licking; he also thinks the best way for Biden to unite the country is with a Republican Senate, and he looks forward to Trump rewinning the White House in 2024 (my fave is calling Trump “…one of the best conservative presidents in modern history — if you turn the sound off”).  Like that’s a possibility.

I used to think Republicans fawning over Saint Ronnie Reagan was the worst thing, ever.  Putting him on the dime and all of that (even Nancy wasn’t on board with that shit).  There was even a call to add a fifth head to Mount Rushmore of Reagan (it went nowhere, thankfully).

It’s a wonder the Trump Toadies haven’t floated THAT idea yet.

Shit – OH WAIT!

Do We Need More Days of Infamy?

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

 

It’s a good chance you’ve never heard the word “infamy” except in the concept of FDR’s famous speech.  The dictionary refers to “infamy” as “the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.”

Pearl Harbor certainly fits that definition.  Here in America, we actually have several of those days, although only 12/7 is usually refenced as a date of infamy.  There’s also…

•        November 11 – we recall the end of WWI at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh year.  Sadly, “remembering” the close of WWI didn’t keep us from WWII
•        September 11 – It’s not been quite twenty years, but 9-11 is another day of infamy, remembering the terrorist attacks in New York, DC, and in Pennsylvania,  although there was some doubt we’d remember I guess because they had to go and make it an official “holiday” (Patriot Day) and my guess is that in another generation there will be a call to make it another one of those roving Monday holidays like President’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, etc., so folks can have a four-day weekend rather than actually sit around and remember stuff.  Is that bitter enough?

My question is – do we need more of these days of infamy?  Sure do.

Consider the Holocaust.  No doubt you saw the headlines this Spring that a survey showed a number of Americans with a shocking degree of LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about the Holocaust.  Granted, it was a survey of those who were not alive when it happened (people age 18-39), but still –

•        Sixty-three percent of those surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
•        More than half of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million.
•        22 percent of respondents thought it was associated with World War I.
•        One in ten did not recall ever having heard the word "Holocaust" before.

No wonder the idea of mass genocide continues to resonate around the world.  Not as in “we will never forget” but rather “let’s do it again.”  Stalin’s purges, Khmer, Rouge, Boko Harem, North Korea, etc. etc. and sadly, etc. 

Want to read a horribly scary list?  Try this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history

 

So…When do we designate a day of infamy for those who have died of COVID?  Currently in the US, we experience the same death toll as 9-11 or at Pearl Harbor nearly every damn day this month alone (five times out of six so far and you know there’s more death coming).  COVID has killed twice as many people as soldiers who died during WWI (116,516), and my guess is it will kill more than died in WWII before it’s over (407,316).

We can’t forget.  And we can’t forget how it all happened.  I don’t know how we could just pick one day to represent the horror of COVID, but if we must, let’s use June 14^th.  That way we can remember the failure of the Trump administration to actually DO anything to protect Americans from the spread of the virus and honor those who fought (and continue to fight) to keep us safe.

Yes, June 14^th is Trump’s birthday.  Got a better date?

We Need More Parties!

The current state of American Politics is a mess.  We’re supposed to be a “two-party” system only by default but what we have now is one party and one cult.  There are lots of little parties on both the left and the right, but they tend to be narrowly focused and/or poorly funded/staffed (in that their candidates aren’t much to write home about).

I actually believe in the idea of “different voices help make better choices.”  I lived in Ann Arbor in the 70s when the Human Rights Party rose up and grabs some City Council seats.  Splinter parties usually achieve greater success at smaller levels of government simply because of the money i$$ue (costs of campaigning, etc.).  Certainly other small parties and independents have made inroads in other locales, but nationally, the last time someone other than a Republican or Democrat was President was 170 years ago (Millard Fillmore was a Whig, as was Zachary Taylor who died in office, allowing Fillmore this distinction).

When you look at other democracies, you see more coalition-type governments because there are multiple parties involved.  There’s less money, elections are shorter, etc. etc.  Lots of reasons.  Here in the US we’ve “evolved” to a two-party system almost by default.  There’s so much money involved, the time lag leading up to elections are enormous, and no one really seems interested in changing anything. 

It’s no wonder we’ve developed this “us” vs. “them” mentality, as a two-party system invited just that type of thinking.

But having only one party is a disaster waiting to happen.  Obviously, I’d prefer that if we only have one party it be the Democrats, but honestly that’s not a viable solution.  We saw what happens when there’s total control of everything by the GOP back in 2017-18.  And going into 2021 and beyond…well, no one really knows what’s going to happen for sure until they count all the votes in the Georgia Senate races and Biden is actually sworn in (I mean that last thing is a sure thing but there’s 70 million people who will hold out hope until that moment).

Yes, some will continue to hold out hope even after that.  But let me tell you what I think is going to happen after January 2021, and why that has me worried.

Once Trump is out of office, it’s like the curtain is pulled back on the Wizard of Oz.  He suddenly has no real power.  Oh, he’ll bluster and fundraise (not in that order) and TRY to hold the power of the GOP is his (tiny) hands, but…why would anyone fall in line? 

C’mon.  Impeached.  Two-time popular vote loser.  Never had favorability ratings about 50%.  Only President to end his term with FEWER Americans employed than when he started.  And as long as someone is dying of COVID, there is going to be massive reluctance to put the guy that fucked it all up on the Presidential pedestal.  Give me ONE good reason why the GOPpers should continue to march to his tune?  OK, he’s got embarrassing pix of Lindsey Graham.  But what about everyone else?

So who steps up to take up the torch?  (Not the tiki torch, BTW) – Here’s a list from Ballotpedia of both Republican politicians and business leaders who could be considered candidates at this time…

Republican politicians

·       Greg Abbott, governor of Texas

·       Tom Cotton, U.S. senator from Arkansas

·       Ted Cruz, U.S. senator from Texas

·       Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida

·       Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio

·       Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations

·       Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland

·       Josh Hawley, U.S. senator from Missouri

·       Mike Lee, U.S. senator from Utah

·       Mike Pence, vice president of the United States

·       Mike Pompeo, secretary of state

·       Marco Rubio, U.S. senator from Florida

·       Ben Sasse, U.S. senator from Nebraska

·       Rick Scott, U.S. senator from Florida

·       Tim Scott, U.S. senator from South Carolina

·       Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States

Republican business executives and public figures

·       Tucker Carlson, Fox News anchor

·       Donald Trump Jr., businessman and political adviser

·       Ivanka Trump, businesswoman and political adviser

 

The politicians are mostly Trump-sympathizers (or actually Trump himself, and the “business executives” are actually other Trumps (I am convinced Tucker Carlson is Trump’s cousin or something).  Hogan or Sasse aren’t strong supporters, true.  DeWine has been critical of Trump lately (and was one of the first to admit Biden won the election), but Trump campaigned for him in 2018.  Sure, Trump has a tendency to turn on people he’s supported in the past, but that’s a feature of people who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder – they turn on ANYONE who isn’t completely loyal to them all the time. 
Who else ya got?

I always assumed it would be the Democrats that would divide into more than one group; progressives, greens, socialists, etc.  Sure, the Libertarians take from the GOP, but nationally they fall in line to vote red.  Maybe the Republican Party will splinter into two (or more) groups, one of more moderate Republicans and the other of the radical far-right tea-party Trump-loving GOPpers.  If not, it looks like they’ll continue to be controlled by either Trump or someone-very-much like him.

I’m not the only one concerned with this.  Perhaps this will be clearer at the end of January.  Or when Trump’s convicted and/or flees the country.  And even then, I have doubts…

What do YOU think?