FEMA Follies

 My friend Susan posted:   "News broke yesterday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had advised federal emergency workers to evacuate Rutherford County, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, because of concerns about their safety after Trump and MAGA Republicans spread the false rumor that federal agents are forcing people off their land to start lithium mining projects. The alert came after the U.S. Forest Service sent an email to federal responders saying that National Guard troops had encountered armed militia saying they were “hunting FEMA.” FEMA officials will no longer go door-to-door with disaster assistance, but instead will stay in fixed locations." Heather Cox Richardson

I commented:   In a recent call to a radio program, a caller revealed that he and his wife were deeply worried about his father-in-law. They did not live in Florida and so could not help him. His home had been severely damaged by the hurricane, he had no power, and he was going hungry. When they told him to get aid from FEMA, he informed them that FEMA was trying to give him money, but he refused  to take it because he had heard on right wing media that if you take aid from FEMA they will steal your home

The caller concluded that this is a cult in action.

The Great Wall Of Trump

 The logic of Trumpsters.

Being largely computer illiterate, I don’t know how to post the meme here, so I’ll just quote it. Imagine a rather unsavory character looking smug and this is printed on the photo:

Let me get this straight… A guy builds a wall to keep up keep everyone out…

Then another guy comes along and takes it down, then blames the first guy because everybody is coming in.

This meme  is circulating among Trump lovers. I have to admit they’re totally correct in this case. Trump is not responsible for anything he did while Biden is responsible for everything Trump did. How could anyone deny that? Obama was responsible for everything done by Bush, so it just naturally follows that personal responsibility for things Republicans do always falls on their Democratic successor.

It’s common sense.

And here are a few facts to prove the evil, wicked things Biden has done to destroy the great legacy of trumps wall:

>...only 80 miles of new barriers have been built where there were none before...< BBC Reality Check

The border is 1,954 miles long.

Thus, incredibly brilliant Trump secured our borders by building exactly 0.040941658137155th of the promised beautiful wall.

Also, Mexico has paid an amazing some of zero dollars in order to build this lengthy wall just as Trump promised.

And now that he’s president, Joe Biden has ripped down exactly 0.00000% of that amazingly effective wall, thus causing the current tsunami of immigrants.

And how great is that tsunami compared to Trump’s stunningly effective job of reducing the number of immigrants? Well, as ABC News reports at the same time last year Trump saw a mere 31% surge in apprehensions.

Under Biden this has swollen to an absolutely terrifying 28%.

Yes! That’s how horrible the surge is! It’s 3% smaller than the surge under Trump at the same time last year. What an increase!

No, I didn’t tell the poster this. There’s no point. When you speak to a fanatic true believer they’ll tell you that those are your opinions and  your opinions are no better than mine, so what does it matter? If you actually do some research and present the facts they tell you, wow you sure are desperate to prove your case, aren’t you? As if working hard to prove your case proves your case must be wrong. Oh! That’s right. Everything proves you wrong when you’re talking to a true believer.

{>There was a 28 percent surge in apprehensions at the southern border from January to February of this year, the most recent and complete data point from Customs and Border Protection (CBP)available right now. The Trump administration saw a 31 percent surge in migrant apprehensions from January to February 2019.< NBC News}

Someone Is Blind With Something.

 

From the Washington Post, a headline (Capitals removed)

Postal Service warns 42 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail in ballots

The resultant dialogue with D, the poster:

D:  This alone should say at all.

Me:  Yes, it says the Trump administration is working to sabotage the election in a move to destroy democracy in America.

D: Rreally?  You're smarter than that

Me:  Confiscated mail sorting machines, confiscated mailboxes, slashing the budget, forbidding overtime, for bidding extra deliveries, the post office run by a man who has over $100 million invested in companies which compete with the post office. Sounds perfectly normal to me.😏

D: the USPS just put out information about the "confiscated" machines that indicate why they were removed.  Has absolutely nothing to do with this administration.   Geesh

Me :  For over 100 years mail in ballot and was completely successful and no one doubt it. Suddenly this year and this year alone it is happened. Reality is real.

D:  we have mail in ballots here in Washington and there are still races that are not settled.  Plus...we got two EXTRA ballots sent to us for this Primary.   It's just a bit Lucy goosy for my taste

Me: It has worked since Lincoln was reelected during the Civil War. It is strange that it suddenly doesn’t work in the year when Donald Trump fears it might cost him reelection. Of course it could just be an amazing coincidence. But I doubt it

D: I shared with you my personal experience with mail in voting, and you are so blinded by hate that you're telling me my multiple ballots and waiting for results  are Trumps fault?   Or are you just calling me a liar?

Me:   Why are you so bitterly angry? I’m not upset at all by our conversation. You think I’m calling you a liar? What?

What exactly is it that you think I hate?

Calm down. Just because we disagree is no reason to be rude or insulting.

D: I'm not angry at all.  Just questioning your responses.   You said you doubted that it was problematic...after I told you the problems.  Simple

Bty, do you choose your retirement check be mailed to you or direct deposit?  Kind of the same reasoning, yes?

Me:  You as one single individual had problems and therefor you conclude that the entire system is totally failing? That’s like your car not working, therefore assuming the cars are not valuable and should be abandoned.

And suggesting I’m calling you a liar and telling me I’m blinded by hate do not sound like you’re just having a calm discussion.

Again, USPS has done an admirable job. If a check is mailed me I have it go to the bank. Of course I do direct deposit. It’s easier. But the USPS has been the most popular and most successful branch of government (It’s also a private business, since it’s hard to serve two masters, this messes things up) until Republicans begin interfering with its operations back in the Bush era by requiring them to fully fund their retirement system for 75 years ahead. Meaning they had to set aside funds for the retirement of postman who hadn’t even been born yet. The Trump administration has savagely attacked the post office service. Of course it’s not functioning right now. It’s like someone saying that your car isn’t working after I took a sledgehammer to the engine. That doesn’t mean the car is unreliable.

D:  Or...as one single individual that has experienced problems, can you imagine it on a larger scale?  Perception is everything, wouldn't you agree?  Gotta take grandkids for haircuts

Me:  be careful out there. The world isn’t a safe as it used to be.

The Butler And The Book

I have been thinking about how to effectively explain the difference between the way that professional creationists approach reality and the way that the same is approached by a rationalist. Having a certain taste for BBC murder mysteries, I think the best way would be to look at the careers of two chief inspectors.

Let us begin with Chief Inspector Creationist.  On his first day in his new position, the sergeant assigned to assist him enters and declares, “Here’s our first case, sir. A man has been found murdered.  Forensics has just arrived at the scene. We can be there in a few minutes to gather evidence.”

Chief  Inspector Creationist: No need. It’s obvious who committed the crime.

Sergeant: Excuse me me sir?  You don’t even know the victim’s name. How could you possibly solve the crime?

Chief  Inspector Creationist: There is only one possible answer, Sergeant. The butler did it.

Sergeant: But we don’t even know if there is a butler, sir!

Chief  Inspector Creationist: Of course there is. The butler always commits the murder.

Sergeant:  How could you know that sir?

Chief  Inspector Creationist: The Book, Sergeant. Haven’t you ever read the Book? It has all the answers to everything.

Sergeant:  Don’t you think we should at least go take a look at the scene?

Chief  Inspector Creationist: (Exasperated) If you must, do so. But I shall not waste my time, for the crime has been solved...by the Book.

Later that day the sergeant returns. The conversation resumes.

Sergeant:  Well, sir, it’s quite an interesting case. We do know however, that the butler could not possibly have committed the crime because there was no butler.

Chief  Inspector Creationist:  Don’t be foolish, man!  If there was no butler, he cannot have committed the crime.

Sergeant: Well, yes. That’s exactly my point. The family was on the dole. They were quite poor. They live in a very small flat. They could not possibly afford a part time cleaning lady, much less a butler! 

Chief  Inspector Creationist: Sergeant, I really wonder how you possibly could have attained your rank. Simply ignoring the facts is no way to conduct an investigation!

Sergeant: But these are the facts, sir.

Chief  Inspector Creationist: Is it really necessary for me to repeat myself? The Book says the butler did it. Therefore the butler did it. The Book is infallible, inerrant, and literal. 

The only possible conclusion is that there was a butler and that he is the guilty party.

Which leads to another question. How could a poor family afford a butler? Obviously, they couldn’t. Therefore they were somehow forcing the man to be their servant. And now we have a motive!

Sergeant:  Sir?

Chief  Inspector Creationist: Don’t you see it, man? The only way they could force a butler to serve them without pay is blackmail. They were blackmailing the butler to be their servant.  Finally fed up with it, he turned to murder in order to gain his freedom and revenge.

Sergeant: However, sir, the wife has already admitted that she couldn’t stand the victim’s snoring and smothered him to death in his sleep.

Chief  Inspector Creationist: So she’s covering for the butler. Perhaps he’s blackmailing her. Unless she is his lover...

As the investigation proceeds, Chief  Inspector Creationist closes all ports of entry and sets officers watching every bus station, train station, and other method of transportation searching for the butler.  When the murdering manservant is still not captured, he issues an international alert to Interpol. The butler must be found!

Years later, at his retirement party,  Chief  Inspector Creationist bemoans the fact that he spent his entire career hunting for that wicked man and never found him. In fact, he never took another case, having devoted all his efforts to solving the first and only crime ever presented for his investigation.  But he does not feel that he has failed in his duty, after all, he did defend the Book.

As for Chief Inspector Rationalist; on his first case, he went to the crime scene. He examined the forensic reports. He checked out the alibis and motives of every suspect.  He developed numerous hypotheses as to who was in fact guilty, discarding them when the evidence contradicted his conclusions.. In the end, a suspect confessed in the face of overwhelming evidence. Chief Inspector Rationalist and his sergeant moved on to solve many cases.

(A few of them even involved a butler.)

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

A conversation with my daughter.
It starts the cartoon showing a nurse In scrubs holding up a sign saying “science” as he blocks a car containing a woman holding up a sign saying “stuff I read on Facebook”.

Me:  Excellent

J:  🙂

Me:  Been saying it for decades. Like it or not reality is real. And it doesn’t care whether we like it or not. It’s just remains real.

J: I did read that 81% of Americans don’t support these protests.  Not sure where I read it.

Me:  Are you aware that the entire “grassroots movement” has been organized by three gun nut brothers?

Fox News is pushing it hard.

It is real fake news, deliberately orchestrated in order to undermine the democracy of the United States. Note how many of its supporters are “militia” members. That means a great many are “sovereign citizens” identified by the FBI as an anti-government terrorist movement.

J:  Yes, they are doomsday preppers.   

274 days until Inauguration Day. We better have a new president. Not that I ever liked Biden. But the alternative is unthinkable.

Me:  I’m no fan of Biden either. Obama was elected as an anti-establishment candidate. Obviously, he really was establishment, but he was regarded as a radical change. Trump was elected as an anti-establishment candidate who was regarded as exemplifying radical change. Which turned out to be correct. Biden is being presented as an establishment candidate — safe, secure, and bringing things back to the normal that we all hated and despised so much. Still, as you point out, he’s a lot better than the orange faced clown in his  yellow fright wig.

J:  A photo of a “Liberate” mob, well armed and angry. Captioned as follows:

I mean you have to admit that it’s hilarious that the people who have spent their entire lives stockpiling beans and ammo and publishing newsletters about preparing to shelter in place during  a global crisis are the ones having meltdowns because they can’t go to the cheesecake factory.

Our Feast Of Fools

Thoughts on Mr. Trump.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming election. Will enough people will finally face the truth about Mr. Trump to bring his Feast of Fools to an end (obviously not his most ardent supporters; no amount of reality will ever change their minds)?

Will a sufficient number of Americans finally see that Mr. Trump simply does not care about the existence, welfare, or even the survival of his fellow human beings? Will they finally see that a very low intelligence, narcissistic, utterly incompetent dolt is not a good choice for president? We will see.

Win or lose one election, possibly the more important question is whether this lifelong criminal will ever be held accountable. I have made sarcastic references to “lock him up”, but they are of course, sarcastic.

I upset liberals because of this position as they want to see him held accountable. Well, so do I. I just don’t think he can be held accountable.  This is not because of the precedent set by President Ford when he pardoned Nixon for his atrocious crimes. I believed Ford was wrong at the time and I continue to believe he was wrong now. The idea that holding a president accountable would somehow harm the nation reminds me of De Gaulle declaring that no marshal of France could ever be tried as  traitor even though Petain had in fact utterly betrayed his country and assisted in the mass murder of French Jews. It was a bad decision and it set a horrible precedent.

Of course conservatives are even more angry at me for declaring why I feel Trump cannot be held accountable.

The reason is because I sincerely believe the man to legally insane. Remember that insane is not a clinical or medical term. It is a legal term. It refers to a person who cannot be held accountable for the actions which they undertake because they do not understand that there is anything wrong with those actions.  It does not refer to any particular type of psychiatric disorder, instead it refers only to the capacity of the individual to understand the difference between right and wrong and therefore to make a morally responsible decision. 

I simply do not believe that Donald Trump is capable of making such a decision. He does not know the difference between right and wrong. He does not know the difference between moral and immoral. I do not believe that he even understands that anyone in this world is an actual, real, sentient human being except for himself.

Yes, he is a monster. He has caused possibly irreparable damage to America and to decent people all over the world. His mishandling of this pandemic has caused people to die. He has systematized and legalized massive child abuse by our governmental officials through the abuse of immigrant families. He has committed many more crimes. But does he understand that they are crimes? Does he realize that these are not moral actions? I do not believe that he does. I do not believe he is capable of knowing this. Yes, he is a monster. However, I find him to be a monster to be pitied and be placed into the care of mental health professionals so as to protect himself and all those around him from his emotional disability.

Notes:

From Law.com. insanity n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury.

From Britannica.   Feast of Fools. Feast of Fools, popular festival during the Middle Ages, held on or about January 1, particularly in France,

Republican Lemmings?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/05/trump-is-killing-his-own-supporters-coronavirus-covid-19?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

We don’t know what’s going to happen of course, but Republicans (especially those are fanatically dedicated to Trump) are refusing to take reasonable precautions and are even going out of their way to expose themselves. The consequences could be horrifically bad for them.

While it would be ironically just If they were to suffer the consequences of their callous indifference to others and their arrogant smugness; they are our fellow Americans. They are our fellow human beings. 

Not to mention all the innocents that they would dragged down with themselves.

> In the words of one administration insider, to the Guardian: “The Trump organism is simply collapsing. He’s killing his own supporters.”

There is nothing like populism marinated in wholesale contempt for the populace.

When Dr Anthony Fauci says there is no evidence to back up Trump’s claims surrounding hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, pay attention. <

Biblical Dissonance

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/hobby-lobby-keeps-disobeying-state-stay-at-home-orders-arts-and-crafts.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8176501/amp/Pennsylvania-evangelist-announces-hold-Woodstock-like-Easter-event.html

What is it about  fundamentalist extremist Christian sects that makes them so defiant of medical orders and common sense?

It isn’t biblical.  Although these groups invariably say the Bible is the word of God that must be obeyed somehow they never seem to actually do that.  Romans 13:1-2 says: "Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow."

Yet they always insist that they do these things for religious purposes based on the Bible, which they ignore.

I see why radical fundamentalist evangelical atheists think all religion must be bad when faced with these extremists, but then again that particular group should look in the mirror and realize that they are just as mindless.

Emotionalism, a dependence upon reactions based upon your feelings rather than facts and the application of the higher functions of your brain, has had a devastating negative impact on humanity for as long as there have been humans.

Which makes me feel very depressed, emotionally.

Out Foxed

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/30/fox-news-concerned-about-potential-legal-action-over-its-misleading-coronavirus-coverage-report/

> “The Murdochs, of course, own Fox News. So, they were taken personal steps to protect themselves, while anchors like Trish Regan and Sean Hannity were telling viewers that it's a hoax and putting themselves in potentially mortal danger. So I think this is a case where Fox's coverage, if it actually winds up being proved that people died because of it, this is a new terrain in terms of Fox being possibly held liable for their actions."<

The personnel and the management actually working at Fox News also knew they were maliciously lying.  Managers actually instructed employees on how to protect themselves from the virus which they were busy telling viewers was a hoax.

> “Discovery will undoubtedly show that its personnel were putting out falsely comforting information it knew to be false and misleading in order to sync up with [White House] messaging.”<

But don’t get excited that Fox News deliberately spreading news that the pandemic was a hoax resulting in the deaths some of their trusting viewers will have real consequences for the notorious propaganda mill.  Cases probably won’t actually reach the courts. Most legal experts think they’ll get away with it.

What about Fox News viewers? Well, the dead ones are dead so they won’t be watching anyway. And their families will probably find excuses to keep watching and believing Fox News anyway.

As the king James version of the Scriptures ought to say, “None are so dumb as those who will not think.” Or, as the New Jerusalem version ought to translate it, “None are so gullible as those who watch Fox News.”

Mother Nature, Begone!

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdzwb/sophie-lewis-feminist-abolishing-the-family-full-surrogacy-now

Makes one wonder just how radical radical feminists feel the need to be in order to keep their movement alive and well. I don’t regard “well” as the correct term now that I think about it. Alive and…Virulent?

As for me, I’m a humanist. I think all human beings male and female, should be allowed to reach their full potential. Yes, humanism was a term that was once applied almost exclusively to men. That was then.  This is now. 

Let’s re-define the term as it should have been understood in the first place.  Enough with this war between the sexes garbage. I didn’t like it when it was code for male dominance and I don’t like it now when whatever this bizarre extremism is on the most fringe outlying elements of the feminist movement is abusing the concept.  

As is the inevitable case with all utopians, this proposal suggests that magic will happen if we just blindly obey and follow the dictates of this individual. All women will automatically care for every child as if the child with her own and feel no special concern for her own offspring.  Billions of years of evolution will vanish!  Also, somehow everyone will have time to take care of every single child in the world.

Makes me think that Sophie Lewis graduated from Hogwarts with honors. She just waves her wand and says, “Mater majicus!  Familius eliminatus!”

This instantly makes the world perfect.

🤪

Who’s Who?

https://quillette.com/2020/02/02/i-may-have-gender-dysphoria-but-i-still-prefer-to-base-my-life-on-biology-not-fantasy/

An opinion piece made all the more powerful by the fact that the individual who wrote it states within that she feels more threatened by social justice warrior “defenders” on the left than by the bigots in the right.

I find it remarkably ironic, quite bitterly humorous, to note that while the left wing extremists and the right wing extremists each declare each other to be the very epitome of evil, threatening the very foundations of society, both agree on their most elemental position.  That is, there are only two sexes. The polarity is absolute.  

The only difference between the two positions is that the ultra conservatives insist that sexual identity is a state of biology which can be determined at birth, while the ultra liberals proclaim that it is a decision that can be made by an individual  at any point in their lifeline.

Weirdly, that means that both sides agree that there is no such thing as a transgender man or a transgender woman. There are only men. There are only women. There is nothing else.  An absolutism which makes some sense for the conservatives, but none at all for the liberals.

Anyone who cares to face the facts can see that biology is a real thing.  Anyone can also see that not everyone fits a strict biological separation into two rigid categories. There are male children who become male adults who identify emotionally and intellectually as women. There are female children will become female adults who identify emotionally and intellectually as men.  Is also clear that this is not an invariable absolute. There is wide variation and individuality along this line.

Why is it so impossible for either of the extremists to see this?  The answer is obvious.  They are true believers. Reality means nothing when it comes up against doctrine.

To make my position perfectly clear, let me state that Dr. Hayton is Doctor Hayton. I do not care what it said on the doctor’s birth certificate.  She identifies herself as a transgender male. This is what feels right to her. I have no problem with that.

It’s no one else’s business to tell her that she must be absolutely and completely either male or female; end of statement.  

Yet both sides make this declaration. According to the ultraconservatives there can be no such thing as a transgender man or woman because you are a man or woman at birth and that’s what you are forever and ever, amen.  According to the ultra liberals you are whatever you feel is right for you at any given moment in your life span but that choice is only between the two invariant states of man or woman. 

To repeat, both sides agree on this one critical point. There’s no such thing as a transgender man or a transgender woman.

Yet there are transgender men. Yet there are transgender women. What a sad state for these individuals. Despised and hated by Western society for decades, now they are finally beginning to find acceptance only have their “allies” telling them they don’t even exist!

Is reality so hateful, so distasteful, that we must continually deny it? The answer is that for the extremists, yes, it is.

We don’t need rigid absolutes in a flexible world full of subtleties and variation.  We need understanding. If we can’t have understanding, then we at least need tolerance.

The concepts I have stated here will profoundly offend both extremes, but from where I stand, there’s very little difference between the two of them. A sense of smug superiority, a conviction of absolute righteousness, topped with a true believer’s conviction that they cannot be wrong and so we don't need no stinking facts apply to both.

As for me, transgender men and transgender women…you exist. I have no problem with that. I have no problem with you.

We're All Mad Here.

Did it again! Copied all these quotes from an article a few days ago, got ready to post it, and then forgot to do so. I also forgot to save the link to the article. There are so many articles about crazy Q anon followers, I couldn’t relocate it.  If anyone can figure it out, please let me know so I can add the link. I did in my search for the original find one other quote which I have included as the last quote here. It does come from a separate article (https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/09/us/politics/ap-us-trump-qanon.html)

My intended post, sans original link:

Q anon is growing more and more dangerous. Here are a few of the “noble” and “patriotic” actions taken by these “saviors of our nation”.  Let me adapt a well-known phrase and declare that democracy dies in shrieks of insanity.

> “I do believe there is a group in Brussels, Belgium, that do eat aborted babies.” 

“It’s more of a cult than other conspiracy theories,” said Joseph Uscinski, a political-science professor at the University of Miami who studies fringe beliefs. 

“My friends think I’m crazy,” Mr. Formanek said. “I mean, the proofs are just undeniable.”*

..was suspended from the platform in November after suggesting that the Democratic incumbent, Ilhan Omar, be hanged for treason. ... “The decision to side with Twitter regarding my suspension for advocating for the enforcement of federal code proves that The New York Times and Twitter will always side with and fight to protect terrorists, traitors, pedophiles and rapists.”

... Matthew Wright, armed himself with an AR-15-style rifle, a handgun and extra ammunition, and drove an armored truck onto a bridge near the Hoover Dam in June 2018. There, he engaged in a 90-minute standoff with police officers while demanding the release of an inspector general’s report on the government investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email practices.

... , Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, 39, was arrested in July 2018 after occupying a tower at a cement plant that he insisted was sheltering a child-sex-trafficking ring. 

Timothy Larson, 41, was accused in September of taking a crowbar to the altar inside the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, while yelling about the Catholic Church and sex trafficking. 

... Cynthia Abcug, 50, with conspiring with fellow QAnon believers to kidnap one of her children, who had been removed from her custody. Ms. Abcug believed her child was being held by Satan worshipers and pedophiles...

Anthony Comello, 25, said in a New York City court in December that his belief in QAnon had led him to murder a mob boss.

“All these people believe me! I'm not crazy here!” Chrisy shouted.”<

 The last statement was made upon entering a Trump rally.  Sorry Chrisy, but just because you’re in an insane asylum surrounded by other mentally ill patients, doesn’t mean you are no longer crazy.

*Yes, Mr. Formanek , the proofs that you are crazy are undeniable.

Friendship In The Time Of Trump

A very short post, but I think worth moving from Facebook to my blog. It may not be long and verbiage, but it is very profound in it’s implications.

A Facebook friend posted:

C: This message is also for anyone who want to send me a Friends request. As for those friends I currently have, if I see any post in support of Trump, I will Unfriend you, my Page will not be used for a propaganda platform to promote the dismantling of our democracy.
To be fore warned, is to be fore told.

I responded:
While I understand your position, I’ve never unfriended anyone, certainly not over politics. Those friends who have turned to Trump and been radicalized give me a window into the strange world they now inhabit. I find it useful in helping me to understand.

One friend in particular has completely drowned herself in the world of Q anon. Reading about this bizarre delusional world simply does not give the same insight as actually watching someone you have known for decades “function” in that insanity.

C: Initially I was all right with some of my friends supporting trump. But, yesterday Impeachment Hearing where they attacked a decorated U.S. Army solider at the request of Donald Trump, was a bridge to far. I knew I could no longer tolerate those who believe trump is fit for the office of President of the United States. They behave as if they are a part of a cult and their leader is Jim Jones. Why would I want to communicate with someone who is so brain washed.

Me: Can’t argue. Your reaction is reasonable. Not criticizing your stance, just saying I have a different one. As crazy as these people are, as repugnant as their behavior becomes,I find it both necessary and disturbingly compelling to try to understand them. Lately I’ve been dipping into the whole “sovereign citizen” movement. I’m not exactly sure why I find it so fascinating, but I do. The self delusion of true believers is remarkable.
I remember reading Eric Hoffers’s book The True Believer decades ago. Very insightful. The capacity of the human mind to utterly delude itself and divorce itself from reality still bears a certain fascination for me. I suppose I am intellectually a gwaker, staring at the horrible accident out the car window and backing up traffic for miles as I slowly drive by.
Call it a character flaw.😏


A: Jim Naranjo I will give you fascinating. But ultimately maddening, depressing and just a waste of our precious time.

M: Jim Naranjo you’re curious and intelligent, just don’t get carried away😊

Me: Don’t worry. Just because I like to study dinosaurs doesn’t mean I intend to turn into one.

MG: Jim Naranjo, you mention the "sovereign citizen" movement...I had one of the weirdest (funniest?) experiences with one of them when I was working fora local city. Among my duties was answering people's questions about City planning permits etc at the public counter. One day, a guy came in with a citation notice that he'd received for a serious electrical code violation. He demanded to know what gave the City the authority to cite him, and we went round and round about that for about 15 -20 minutes. Every time I gave him and an answer, he'd take it one step further...who gave the city that authority? Answer" the state of CA. Who gave the state the authority to tell him what he had to do? etc etc. Finally, he declared himself to be a "sovereign citizen" who no government had authority over. At first, I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. I offered to call the City Attorney for him if he wanted to take the question up with them, but he declined. Still he persisted that he did not have to make his electrical service meet Code if he didn't want to and he wanted all fines cancelled. So, I suggested he speak with the Code Enforcement Officer who wrote the citation. Where are they located, he asked? Answer: In the Police Department . He left then. Guess he didn't want make his pitch to law enforcement. It was really lunatic!! And a chuckle at the same time...

Me: I’m fond of saying they are really funny, until they turn deadly. Thanks for sharing!