Can we hang on to some fundamental truths?

Calling a racist a racist is not "playing the race card".

Accurately quoting a political figure's email comments is not "vilifying" them.

A coup attempt that narrowly fails is known as a "practice run".

Decency and consistency are just not as "newsworthy" or profitable as vulgarity and scandalous corruption.

Informed and involved voters are Trump's "Kryptonite".

Elections have consequences and every vote really does matter.

I know, I know---I'm old and I am certainly not a psychiatrist. I am totally unqualified to

diagnose just what specific mental illnesses afflict Republicans like Cawthorn, Taylor-Greene, Gaetz and Boebert, so I am left to use an old-fashioned non-medical term to describe these folks.

They are "nuts"--- people not to be believed, trusted or dealt with in unsecured situations. I fully support their being treated humanely by mental health professionals, but I do not support the pretense that they are "normal" and can be treated as such.

They're nuts.

An oldie but goodie from my man, Ralph:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

Given Ms Taylor-Greene's recent statement that Satan is controlling the Catholic Church, how

long will it be before we're told that the Pope is a coke-snorting pedophile using the Vatican to traffic sex slaves and producing child porn?

So far, the MAGA party has trashed Muslims, Jews and Catholics. Can Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians and even Baptists be far behind?

Almost without exception, even the most rotten excuse for a human being has, at some time

in their life, smiled at a cute baby, petted a puppy or opened a door for an elderly person. Some may have provided jobs for many or made profitable investments that improved our way of life.

None of the above transforms them into "good people".

I guess I qualify as an optimist. I still buy green bananas. nt

Words I had to eat in 2016: "Trump will lose badly".

I just could not bring myself to believe that there were enough mean fools to put him in the White House.

Mrs. A was not fooled. She was picking up "vibes" that I was not. In hindsight, our trip down the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway should have opened my eyes.

For miles and miles we passed all sorts of residences---from mansions to shacks---that had one thing in common: every damned one had a Trump yard sign---or a larger professionally made Trump sign---prominently displayed. I don't recall seeing ANY Hillary signs. I did my best to pooh-pooh my wife's mounting fears, but she wasn't buying it. She did not flat out say that Trump was going to win---just that he COULD win and that was terrifying.

I relate this to perhaps break through the "America is better than that" comfort blankie that some appear to have again wrapped themself in. Like Mrs. A in '16, I am not saying Trump will win or even win the GOP primaries.

But, tne fact that such a disaster COULD happen again should be viewed as an existential threat that justifies an "all hands on deck" response. It can only happen if we allow it.

It is quite ironic that I had to reach the autumn of my life before I began to truly enjoy the

glory of spring.

In younger days, I was "very busy". I had a schedule to keep, deadlines to meet and people depended on me to do my job well. There were years when I "just couldn't find time" to get away on vacation.

It is not that I did not see northbound geese, budding trees, greening grass and a flush of blossoms nearly anywhere I looked. It is just that i did not appreciate the wonder of all that and the significance of the new season of fresh starts and possibilities. Foolishly, I assumed that there would be another spring and maybe then I'd be able to "waste time" looking at flowers and listening to birds.

I no longer assume I "will see another spring". When I noticed today that all the trout lily blossoms were gone already, I asked myself if I would see them again. I also realized that I should have started asking myself that decades ago.

This is trite, I know, but because it is trite we too often ignore it: none of us is guaranteed next spring---or next 4th of July---or Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or, even another wake up.

Maybe we should do our best to enjoy each one of these we get.

Serious question: can a person adjudicated mentally incompetent or certified by a psychiatrist to

be suffering from some form of mental illness cast a valid vote?

Are there any legal standards for determining---for want of a better general term---whether a person is "sane" enough to cast a vote?

Some types of ignorance are just inexcusable and into this category I place the assumption

by many of that if a person is rich they must be intelligent.

The obvious proof that this is bogus is, of course, Donald Trump's "performance" since 2015. But, millions apparently ignore that proof and become smiling bobbleheads whenever a wealthy person gives their "expert" opinion about ANY issue.

Some wealthy people ARE intelligent and Elon Musk appears to be an example of that, but that does not mean that he is qualified to debate history with historians, economics with an economist or military strategy with the Joint Chiefs. And, like many of the wealthy elite who start believing their own press releases, Musk appears to fit into the "not a nice person" category and that, in my opinion, means that anything he says should be taken with a grain of salt and his motivation should be questioned.

If I were to post my list of "The Five People I Most Admire", none of them would be billionaires.