macphysto

An arguable bigger accomplishment by DJT and bigger failure by liberals and progressives: The inordinate amount of time and mental and emotional energy we devote to him (to use a popular, tiresome but true expression: DJT is "living rent-free in our heads").

Thank you, Lindy! In capitalist America, financial boycotting by citizens domestic and abroad is, IMO, one of the more effective means of protest. Hit the fat cats where it hurts them the most: their wallets! Here is the link to the 50501 Movement.

I dig. The only television news that I watch is on MSNBC, which will be changing to MS NOW next week. The arguable "star" of that channel is Rachel Maddow whom I first heard on the late, lamented Air America radio, which also begat talk show hosts Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes (both of who are still at it). I know that I am in an "echo chamber." But, life is short -- and getting shorter -- and I am not wasting one precious millisecond on phoney-baloney, "fair and balanced," right-wing, corporate agitprop that skyrockets my blood pressure and bunches my undies.

For me, the most influential left-leaning shows are not on television (I balk at folks who get their news from TV comedy shows). They are on the radio; that is the medium where I get most news. Besides National Public Radio (which ain't what it used to be and probably will be less so because of reprehensible GOP funding cuts), "Pacifica Radio" provides the radical Leftist-Progressive-Socialist perspective that educates and appeals to me. Of course, Democracy Now! is a Pacifica Radio staple. Perfectly complementing Amy Goodman and her DN colleagues is (national treasure) Ralph Nader whose Radio Hour is highly informative and inspirational. I also listen to CounterSpin, the radio show produced by the national media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and several locally produced radio talk shows. To be added to my playlist: The Final Straw and The Project Censored Show.

Cap'n, I've never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance because the subject matter (which, according to my cursory World Wide Web investigations, is not about Zen and motorcycle maintenance) does not interest me. I'm not into philosophy.

The subject matters of the reports by "Gonzo journalists" Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson might not seem to have much in common. But they do: both tomes profile American counterculture mavericks -- respectively, novelist, den father, and "tripper" (in more ways than one) Ken Kesey (and his "Merry Pranksters) and the outlaw motorcycle "club" "the Hells Angels." In both cases, the open road and "wheels" are significant, physical supplements for satisfying the travelers' metaphysical hunger for freedom and exploration.

Although military conscription in America is no longer mandatory, the novels by Trumbo and Heller stand as cautionary tales about the horrors and costs of war. 21st century American youths do not have to fear "The Draft." However, the human appetite for war is never satiated. Americans currently might not have the stomach for war. Nevertheless, the American belly is always hungry for it.

If I correctly understand your explanation, your October 12 review of your December 15, 2024 review of The Bible generated the five star rating below the review title, right?

Pardon my obtuseness. Are you saying that I should rate (post a review of?) my liberal arts reviews? Aren't the Like, Negative, Confused, Haha, Award Worthy emojis used to rate a post?

Guns: The American Sickness. The Eternal and Incurable National Social Disease (the "gift" that keeps on giving). America's Favorite Candy and Not At All Guilty Pleasure. Gun deaths? School massacres and church shootings? Meh. Sh!t happens. There is no unacceptable tipping point. No intolerable amount of "collateral damage." No "beyond the pale." The sky's the limit. And like Heaven above, the Second Amendment is holy and sacred and must be honored . . . at all costs. No matter the costs. It will never be infringed. God willing. . . . and God is a Rock-Ribbed, Right-Wing Gun Owner . . . who has all of us in His gunsight.

With all due respect, Cap'n, as a "VERY LEFT" liberal, why bother vote then? Blow up the "voting system that's built with square holes," say I! I'm at an age where I've got more years behind than I have ahead of me. I retired several months ago, and I am absolutely livid that it seems that I will have to spend my "Golden Years" in an America that is willingly careening towards right-wing fascism. I want radical-leftist change that will benefit future generations of Americans. But, I also want that change for me. I'm not into "delayed gratification." I have neither the time nor the patience for America to take slow, incremental baby steps towards truly and earnestly becoming "a government of the people, by the people, for the people." I want America to take HUGE, clodhopping stomps to realizing Abraham Lincoln's noble credo. My problem with Barack Obama is that he shamefully, damnably squandered the two years when the Democrats controlled Congress. His bushwa "hands across the aisle" diplomacy miserably failed. I want a progressive candidate who has a combination of Obama's ethics and values and DJT's damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead boldness and determination. Regarding Obama, his wife Michelle famously declared, "When they go low, we go high." But last year when she was stumping for Kamala Harris, she went into attack-dog mode regarding Harris' opponent. On a social media platform (I forget which one), a commenter hilariously described Michelle's new attitude as "Girl, hold my earrings while I open up a can of whoop-ass on this mofo!" That is the type of fire, heat, and fight that I want to see in a liberal, progressive candidate.

I voted for Proposition 50. But according to "How an upcoming Supreme Court ruling could wipe out a Prop 50 victory" by Executive Director of the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law David Carrillo and attorney Stephen M. Duvernay, should Prop 50 pass, "it may not matter."

I stopped watching Real Time with Bill Maher years ago only because I cancelled my HBO subscription -- and his show was the only reason that I subscribed to HBO. If he has become more conservative in his politics, that is, I think, a shame. Reportedly, comedian Dennis Miller (who was never on my radar) underwent a similar transformation. The maxim "If you are young and not liberal, then you have no heart; but if you are old and not conservative, then you have no brain" is one possible explanation. But I have always regarded that adage as specious. It certainly does not apply in my case . . . . . . nor in the case of this guy:

I willfully vote Green. Democrats who lecture me, scold me, wag their fingers and cluck their tongues at me, and try to guilt-trip me for the second election of DJT and the GOP control of Congress can go Twirl on It. I want and will only support a Progressive platform that advocates affordable Education, Healthcare, and Housing as Basic Human Rights. I will only vote for a candidate who fights for those rights. I'm not buying the "Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils" cop-out. I refuse to get behind mealy-mouthed, middle-of-the-road Democratic Centrists. I want Real Change. Radical Leftist Change. Change away from the status quo.

I am unable to pick more than one message.

"Proper education" is a loaded, subjective, and contentious perspective. Define your terms. Is a "proper education" the three Rs: Readin', Ritin', and 'Rithmetic? Beyond inculcating those basic skills, be prepared to do battle with opponents of "Woke" brainwashing and "Librull" propaganda. I think that Ignorance (lack of knowledge and information) can be fixed. Ditto Dumbness (lack of Intelligence). Stupidity (lack of sense and reason, being foolish), I aver, is grounded in willful and defiant obstinacy. Color me Pessimistic. But as I see the current state of affairs, blue-collar Red State Republicans, Conservatives, and MAGAts deeply and bitterly resent being "educated" and "enlightened" by snooty, supercilious, and condescending white-collar and no-collar Blue State "Elitists" (Paging Deplorables Hater Hillary Clinton!) . . . who need to communicate with "The Great Unwashed" in ways that do not trigger and alienate them and incite them to go on the warpath.

Ahhh but, before someone can be educated, he/she must want to be educated. As an inveterate and incurable cynic, I remain hopeless about not only educating The Irredeemably Intransigent in particular but also about the decline of education in America in general.

To me, Rod Serling's "sermonizing" was sometimes heavy-handed and didactic (e.g., The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street). He's Alive is afflicted with the writer’s characteristic moralizing. Yet, it is redeemed by Serling's prescience and, sadly, by its timeliness and relevance during the dark, bleak, and dangerous American era of DJT.

Who do you regard as "Hollywood Liberals"? From the past: "The Hollywood Ten," Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, John Garfield, Katherine Hepburn, Stanley Kramer, Norman Lear, Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, and Gale Sondergaard . . . to list but a few.. In the present: Warren Beatty, George Clooney, Jane Fonda, Mark Hamill, Spike Lee, the aforementioned Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Rob Reiner . . . among many others. Regarding V.3's swipe at the Hollywood movie industry, the fame, fortunes, and idolatry lavished on movie stars and filmmakers* . . . to quote William Shakespeare out of context, "The fault . . . is not in our stars, but in ourselves." To use another quote, "Don't hate the player. Hate the game." If Hollywood demigods and demigoddesses are outrageously adored, worshipped, exalted, and rewarded by society, the blame lies not with them but with society whose cultural values are seriously twisted. * And also showered on ridiculously overpaid and idolized "superstar" athletes and fashion models.