Queen Can't Be Racist-- 'Cuz so many of her subjects are Black or Asian.

Presenting Evidence Is A Good Thing. . . Except When It's Not?

Many Republicans continue to make noise about the need to present evidence regarding widespread election fraud. (They had a chance to present such evidence in several dozen court cases and failed to provide any that met legal standards.)

Some of these same Republicans are dead set against the presentation of any evidence in the coming impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

So, according to them, we need to make a big show of examining their claims of voter fraud in a public venue. But we must not subject the man making the claims of voter fraud to a public examination of his actions.

Consistency is not a Republican value, apparently. Law and Order and respect for the police are their stated values, however. Except for when they are very upset about something and the police stand between them and the people they want to murder for making them upset.

I understand now. . . sure I do. . . ?

I Think That T***p Is Going To End Up Hating Biden More Than He Hates Obama

T***p tried to make "Biden" a humorous by-word for lack of initiative just as he tried to make Obama a by-word for incompetency.

T***p, like other aggrieved white people, could comfort himself with the delusion that Obama got where he did due to special treatment in the service of political correctness or whatever. But Biden is not only white, he comes from the same background that T***p would like to claim in service to his own personal mythology. Biden's story and rise though life are the ones that he desperately wants to claim for himself.

But Biden is real. T***p is a fragile delusion that has cracked through and through. I don't know when the funhouse mirror is going to collapse into shards, but it will.

45 Was The Star Trek V Of American Presidents

You Trekkies out there know what I'm saying.

Any other analogies come to mind for the non-geeks out there?

What Would You Swear Upon?

The talk of Harris being sworn into office on Marshall's Bible made me think.

I am not a Christian. I have read the Bible closely and while I do believe there is beauty and inspiration to be found in its pages, I no longer ascribe any sacred significance to it.

If I needed to swear an oath to my country, I would rather place my hand on my grandmother's naturalization certificate. It is the formal acknowledgement of her journey to become an American. Even though it uses the phrase, "in the Year of Our Lord", it also uses the words, " in the [insert number here] Year of Our Independence" and that gives me chills.

Maybe I am thinking about it right now because I have lost a lot of pride in my country under Trump's regime. Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in particular has knocked a lot of the pride and faith right out of me.

Anyway, putting aside my own feelings, if you were to be sworn into office, what object--if any--would you choose to be the visual symbol of your oath?

Oh, by the way, Jefferson's Bible does come to mind. And didn't he also own a Koran that a Muslim congressperson used for his oath?

Everyone is talking about pardons.

Will Trump try to pardon this person, can he pardon himself?

I am not a lawyer. If there is anyone here with real training and credentials please correct me.

As far as I understand the concept, you cannot pardon someone unless they have been convicted.

Right now, some of the terrorist/insurgents have been charged. No trials have been convened. Therefore, until the accused are given their verdicts in court, no one can possibly pardon them.

Now, I know that political clout and other means have been used in the past to get charges dropped in all kinds of situations. But, as far as I understand, no one can issue a pardon for a crime that has not yet been proved. I wish people would consider this point in these discussions about Trump pardoning his family, his cronies and his supporters.

Again, I am open to correction if I am wrong. But I would rather such correction come from someone with real information, not just people speculating. I understand the need to speculate. We're all worried, upset and scared. Speculation is a way of trying to prepare ourselves and feel more in control. It also makes us feel important and less like insignificant background players in this intense drama unfolding around us.

Name a Time When the Death of a Fictional Character Really Threw You [Assume Spoilers Ahead]

For me, the death of Wash in Joss Whedon's 2005 movie, Serenity was pretty upsetting.

This does not mean that I was unmoved by Shepherd Book's demise earlier in the film. But Book was no longer living with the group by the time of the movie's events, so I had an inkling of what might happen. His character was older, as well, but most significantly, I had watched enough of Whedon's work to come to expect that there would be some sort of sacrifice.

Whedon had a habit of killing off beloved characters and I accepted that as part of his story-telling repertoire. For the story to have impact, a price must be paid by the heroes. (I was totally expecting Pepper Potts to be killed off in the first Avengers movie.)*

When Wash was killed, the moment felt real and disturbing and traumatic. I had one work-friend who had only just discovered Whedon's Firefly " 'Verse" and he declared that he would never forgive Whedon for killing off Wash that way.

What about you guys? Any fictional character deaths that you did not see coming, or just couldn't accept?

* I may not dislike Gywnneth Paltrow as much as others do, but it sure wouldn't have broken my heart to see the last of her in that particular movie franchise.

Nomination to play Jon Ossoff when the movie is made.

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John Francis Daley!

Trump is the Anti-Mr. Rogers

This is my contribution to the memes and tropes and tags.

A friend and I were discussing the current state of things and I said something that amounted to wishing serious, significant ill upon Trump supporters. I lamented my own comment because it is out of character for me.

I am a person who has watched others lose themselves to anger, bitterness, and resentment and I have resolved to guard the purity of my heart and strive towards compassion and higher values.

But the Trump effect has worn me down and the ideal of the nobility of the human spirit seems out of reach for me.

But when I expressed regret for my nasty comment, it was my friend who stressed, "Trump brings out the worst in everybody."

That's when the thought formed. Yes, it isn't just his supporters who are made bolder and coarser by his example, even people opposed to him become soiled by association.

After the 2016 election, a friend told me that people in her church were seriously discussing whether Trump is the Anti-Christ. (Hers is not a White Evangelical church, by the way.)

But since I don't hold to the supernatural claims or prophecies of the Bible, I will stop short of calling him the Anti-Christ. He's the Anti-Mr. Rogers. And I don't know if I have the wherewithal to reclaim the expansive nature of my understanding of others and their complicated needs and motivations.

Forget the guy in the red cape. I need the guy in the red sweater back here in the world.

Just saw a clip with Trump claiming "America is a laughingstock" because of [somebody else]

My first thought was that we have gone long past being a laughingstock to the world. We are now an object of pity. . . . And it is solely due to Trump.