The feature graphic is created from an e-mail exchange I had with friends about Biden’s comment concerning MAGA supporters being the only garbage swirling around America. Biden was responding to Trump’s Madison Square Garden’s keynote comedian calling Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.
One of my friend’s thought Biden made a grave mistake akin to Hillary calling Trump’s supporters in 2016 A Basket of Deplorables. But it turns out that Hillary Clinton was right.
My other friend said the following, which I turned into the graphic for this blog, just hours away from Nov. 5, 2024 Presidential election.
When I lived in Germany, I felt I could see why Hitler was able to gain his power. It was my (probably naïve) view that people in Germany tend to let things happen because they don’t feel they have a lot of power to direct change in their society, just shrug small things off as long as those things don’t step on their toes. The problem is those small things add up.
Before it is too late to say it, my desire is to have leadership in this country that is based on character rather than caricature, be deliberative rather than authoritative, and have a foreign policy based on facts and diplomacy rather than on blackmail and appeasement. It is obvious who I’ll vote for. I am very worried though that it might be for naught,
Basket of Deplorables
I would like to circle back to Hillary’s comment about Trump supporters being a Basket of Deplorables. Had it not been for the Corporate Media planting the idea that this was a huge mistake for Hillary to say in 2016, we might be living in a sane political landscape today.
The double standard applied to Trump and MAGA is galling. They have been getting a free pass on saying the most fascist, misogynist, racist, and dangerous things (things that incited bad things such as Jan. 6).
Indeed, the Corporate Media‘s sane washing of everything they cover concerning Trump is design to make us think that Trump and MAGA are normal. Meanwhile, real politicians such as Hillary, Biden, and Harris are held to civilized, normal, and rational standards. And when they call out the WEIRD, ABNORMAL, and DESPICABLE behavior displayed by Trump & MAGA… they are called out on it by the Corporate Media!
And while We the People are distracted by all this sane washed reality being fed to us by the Corporate Media and Manosphere, Trump and MAGA whine, shout, threaten violence, then whine some more.
Because of this, back in 2016 we (the non-MAGA voting electorate) failed to see Trump for what he really is: Sweet Potato Hitler.
Sweet Potato
Sweet Potato Hitler — Interview with Don Lemon
And NOW in 2024, Trump IS MORE vile and repelling than ever. Indeed, Trump and MAGA are downright rancid, rotten, dirty and nasty. They are violence and hate impersonating as people.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!!!
Trump in 2024
Here is what Trump is doing RIGHT NOW in the final days of the 2024 election. And guess what? Trump is even more vile, disgusting, and dangerous than he was in 2016… it should be said Trump and his MAGA maniacs.
Trump Voters Finally TURN AGAINST HIM and GO PUBLIC
Trump Does the UNTHINKABLE at his FINAL SPEECH
🚨 Fascism Expert Gives FINAL WARNING on Trump Before Election | Mea Culpa
Dr Bandy Lee is back to analyze the danger of Donald Trump.
LIVE: Trump Epstein BOMBSHELL DROPS in Final Days | Lights On with Jessica Denson
Trump mental health conference explained with Dr Bandy Lee.
Watch Trump REACT to being FACT CHECKED TO HIS FACE
After near faceplant, Trump delivers TERRIFYING speech
Trump Does UNTHINKABLE ACT **AGAIN** at Closing Speech
Elon Musk gets BAD NEWS in Philadelphia court — for his million dollar a day bullshit effort to try to buy votes for Trump
Trump Notices EVERYONE IS LEAVING His Disaster Rally
Enemy Within | Harris-Walz 2024
Drudge Report, Rolling Stone, Ohio Capital Journal, and MeidasTouch
Recent History Refresher
In an age where opinions matter more than facts, where beliefs and biases trump human rights, dignity, and freedom for all people… these videos highlight some of the things that we have endured as Americans in the past 9 years due to MAGA and Trump.
Fight Like Hell — FULL MOVIE
FOR OUR DAUGHTERS – FULL MOVIE
Against All Enemies – FULL MOVIE
The Supporters – Full Movie
Sustain the Flame – Full (Best Version) Women’s March on Washington 2017
Kamala in 2024
And here is what Kamala is doing as Trump whines, has sex with his microphones, and shits in his pants.
Kamala Harris ad takes over Vegas Sphere
FULL SPEECH: Kamala Harris at the Ellipse in Washington, DC
Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit, MI
Kamala Harris responds to hecklers during Harrisburg, Pa. rally
Barack Obama LIVE: Obama Rally For Kamala Harris In Milwaukee Before Elections
Brighter Future | Kamala Harris’ Closing Ad
Pete Buttigieg reacts to SHOCKING Iowa poll showing Harris ahead: ‘I could see it’
Kamala Harris takes on SNL in US campaign countdown
Kamala Medley (Harris Walz Campaign Bop) – by Chris Mann
A Place For Trump
VOTE
The 2024 Election Is One Day Away. There are only two choices available to Americans that will end up in the White House in January 2025. To not vote or to vote 3rd party is to give way to fascism… that is what they want to you to do–give up or get so confused you can’t make a meaningful decision
On Tuesday, will you choose Option #1 or Option #2?
Option #1
Trump
OR
Option #2
Kamala
I’ve voted. I voted blue all the way through because Harris and Walz need sane people in the House and the Senate to take America far, far into the future instead far, far into the past.
The future of America rests in your hands. Choose wisely.
Image a country like a creature made up of all of us….
The Tao Te Ching was written around 400 BCE by Laozi (also written as Lao Tzu). He is the founder of Taoism, which is one of the philosophies flourishing during the time in China known as the time of The Hundred Schools of Thought, which thrived from the 6th century BCE to 221 BCE.
According to Mozi, another of China’s great philosophers born c. 470 BCE and died to c. 391 BCE, the achievement of social goals necessitates the unity of thought and action by the people and their rulers. His political philosophy bears a resemblance to divine-rule monarchy: the population ought always to obey its leaders, as its leaders ought always follow the will of heaven.
He is the first major intellectual to rival Confucius, founding the school of Mohism during this period of The Hundred Schools of Thought. His teaching have been summed up into 10 theses that have since been extensively argued. His most famous these is that of:
Jian’ai: This is the injunction that one ought to be concerned for the welfare of people in a spirit of “impartial concern” (jian’ai) that does not make distinctions between self and other, associates and strangers, a doctrine often described more simplistically as “universal love.” -- Encyclopedia of Philosophy
It would not be long before how well the leaders of the people would (or could) follow the will of heaven would be tested.
The Rise of Strongmen and Ruthless Rulers
Qin Shi Huang is the second of the Ruthless Rulers I highlight in my book Sapience: The Moment is Now (not yet published, but soon).
He is the first of the feudal kings of China to conquer all of the Warring States in 221 BCE, which included six dynasties, to create the Qin Dynasty. These territories include most of what we consider modern China today. Upon doing this, he declared himself the first emperor of China and assumed a title implying he possessed divine powers. He begins his rule by persecuting monks and philosophers, which cumulates in the burning of the books and termination of the Hundred Schools of Thought.
Qin Shi Huang, portrait in 18th century album Lidai diwang xiang. Artist unknown.
"Beginning in 213 BCE, all classic works of the Hundred Schools of Thought — except those from Li Ssu's own school of philosophy known as legalism — were subject to book burning. "Qin Shi Huang burned the other histories out of fear that they undermined his legitimacy, and wrote his own history books. -- History of Information
It is a pattern that has repeated itself over and over and over again since the first Ruthless Ruler walked the Earth. The inability of the people to tolerate diverse groups of thoughts seems to lie at the heart of how and why Ruthless Rulers rise to power.
And yet walking alongside Ruthless Rulers are men and women of rich intellectual mastery and wisdom such as Mozi and Confucius, Plato and Aristotle, Laozi and Zhuangzi who are only a few of individuals who have delved deeply into the human psyche and wrestled with the unknowable.
More than any time in our collective history, we need so many more people to take the plunge and do the same. To wrestled with the monsters that live inside all of us. We need groups of people in greater numbers than ever before to contemplate, debate, mutter and muster greater understanding for the tremendous diversity of thoughts, ideas, and philosophies we are capable of conceiving and creating into reality using nothing more than our minds to imagine something different than nature would have previously allowed to exist. We must work and stretch our minds far beyond the simple ploys Strongmen use to generate arguments and embed slogans into minds meant to bend the into little boxes that are easy to control and use like disposable commodities.
This is what Strongmen do, as they endlessly dream of becoming the next great Ruthless Ruler.
We see it playing out again, right here, right now, in our own countries wherever they are as the tide of intolerance, bigotry, racism, nationalism, patriotism, partisanism sweep strongmen into powerful positions–Jair Bolsonaro, Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen, Rodrigo Duterte, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, Putin, and formerly Trump.
They use righteous ideas and righteous talk like jack hammers that steadily chip away at the unity of thought and action Mozi talked about centuries ago as essential for collective good of all. When their speech doesn’t flame the right pit of emotion and opposition arises, they use violence (if they canget away with it) to silence those who don’t agree with them.
The Age of The Strongman by Gideon Rachman review – a rogues gallery of autocrats | Putin is the archetype and role model for a generation of hardline populist leaders, from Bolsonaro to Trump
Will we let ourselves be torn to pieces by ideas and thoughts flung about by Strongmen and Ruthless Ruler? It always ends the same way. They reign with terror tearing down and destroying anything good and wholesome a country or group of people has managed to achieve, turning on those who turn against them, annihilating anyone or anything who dares to question them. They tell their followers they have been sent here on a divine mission, they have been sent by God, or indeed, they are God and everyone must bend down before them.
It is for this reason I will highlight parts of Laozi’s book written so many centuries earlier. A man who was believed by the people to be a god and worshipped, though I suspect Laozi would have tolerated this as a bit foolish…he knew he was a man with faults and foibles…that is what his teachings are about navigating the stream we call ourselves full of faults and foibles, wisdom and knowledge, danger and destruction. He advocated the middle way. His system of thinking would serve modern men and women well right now in the dangerous tides we ourselves have created and now must swim.
Here is his first chapter of his masterpiece of thinking animated with modern images and music from our time now.
Chapter 1 — Tao Te Ching
First Archetypal Animation & Stanza
The tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be spoken is not the eternal Name.
The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of creation.
The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of creation. | Music: The Other Side of Darkness — Guide Me Home (One Misstep)
Third Archetypal Animation & Stanza
Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery. By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.
Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery. By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real. | Music: Freed From Desire Strange Fruits Music [1] Freed From Desire 2:24
Yet mystery and reality emerge from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness born from darkness. The beginning of all understanding.
Yet mystery and reality emerge from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness born from darkness. The beginning of all understanding. | Music: Source of Energy | Clear Conscience[1]Source of Energy
Addition Relevant Resources
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas A. Edison
Scott Simon talks with Hernan Diaz about his novel, “Trust.” It tells the story of a New York tycoon who takes advantage of the 1929 crash, and his attempts to rewrite and control his own story. In this interview, Diaz tells Scott that power is the ability to bend reality and shape what others perceive as real. Power imposes someone else’s reality onto others. Wealth and money (and the desire to get more money) does this to people. They burn with the desire to have more of that kind of power over others. Great fortunes create a reality in and of themselves that others are eager to have a part or piece of.
From workplaces to schools to national governments, leaders everywhere are being called on to solve complex problems with humility and bravery. This hour, we consider what it takes to be a leader. Guests include executive coach Patrice Gordon, organizational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh.
I found the first interview particularly compelling as the speaker relates our ancient programming to have strong men leading a tribe or clan. These were times when groups were small and all members knew the integrity of every other member and whether they could be trusted or not. However, as our small bands and groups of people surviving together against vast and overwhelming odds have grown into vast civilizations, the qualities of a good ruler have shifted tremendously.
A good ruler today does not act on gut instinct, as would have been the right thing to do 10,000 years ago. A good ruler today actually must go against gut instinct to grasp the greater complexities of our modern realities and make more calculated, incremental moves that benefits all members of the collective, even those who are against the leader. But as people electing who to rule us, we are still vastly informed by our own gut instincts and emotions choosing ruler who we feel we could have beer with rather than rulers who could stare down the missile silo of a narcissist idiot threatening to use nuclear weapons on the world.
“The World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland, 2019 – an exclusive event where the world’s richest and most powerful people get together to solve the world’s problems. I was there when David Attenborough, you know, was showing his new film. The Garden of Eden is no more. Beautiful – you know, absolutely beautiful, stunning footage of how we’re wrecking the planet. And people were literally crying while they were seeing it. And I was thinking, but, guys, you arrived here in your private jets.”
Why does Russia's massive and powerful military force continue to struggle against a smaller, less well-equipped opponent? Journalist David Volodzko wrote about this in a recent piece in The Daily Beast titled "The Embarrassing Truth Behind Putin's War Failures." He says the Russians appear not to have internalized the lessons they could have learned during other conflicts, particularly the civil war in Syria, where Russia backed the government of dictator Bashar al-Assad. -- MICHEL MARTIN, HOST
The problem is, in April 2021, I believe, the company that makes the Azart and its owner, Leonid Reiman, who's the former minister of communications, came under investigation for fraud. They had evidently been using cheap Chinese parts. This led to a bunch of problems, including the batteries didn't really work that well. So they've had to switch instead, and they're largely using mobile phones and things of that nature. And this is just one example of how corruption has left Putin and his army out in the open, in a sense, and exposed. -- DAVID VOLODZKO
I think that we all have overestimated Russia's military capabilities. And, I would add, I think that Putin did, too. One point that I make in the piece is that Moscow recently purged 150 Federal Security Service agents, and they sent the head of the FSB's fifth service, which handles counterinsurgency ops in Ukraine, to Lefortovo Prison. Now, there's a couple different theories as to why, and I'm inclined to go with the official explanation on this one, which is that Beseda lied to the state and stole funds. -- DAVID VOLODZKO
So again, as with the radio communications issue, we see corruption coming back to bite Russia. And as a consequence of that, Putin may have gone in on bad intel, thinking that the Ukrainians were going to be waiting with flowers instead of Bandera smoothies - which is, you know, Ukraine's version of a Molotov cocktail - and going in with bad gear, thinking that he had the best and the latest. And so as much as we fell for this idea of Russia being much more powerful than they are, much more capable than they are, Putin fell for that himself. -- DAVID VOLODZKO
Ridley Road | Masterpiece Theater
`Ridley Road' is the story of the 62 Group, a collection of anti-fascists who stood up against the rising neo-Nazi movement in Britain after World War Two, based on Jo Bloom's book of the same name, released in 2014. In the summer of 1962, twenty-year-old Vivien Epstein, a Jewish hairdresser from Manchester, arrives in London following the death of her father. Alone in the world, she is looking for Jack Fox, a man she had a brief but intense love affair with some months before. Her search leads her into the fight against resurgent fascism in East London, where members of the Jewish community are taking to the streets, in and around Ridley Road. -- Google Knowledge PanelNote:This is 1962 this movies is about; just 17 years after Nazi Germany almost successfully invaded England.
Music: The Other Side of Darkness36 [1] Take Me by the Hand 9:42[2] Spinning Around 5:11[3] To Start Again 4:28[4] Shelter 3:09[5] Ripples 3:57[6] Past Self 5:12 [7] Guide Me Home (One Misstep) 4:53
