Blog Archives

The Conversion Of Marjorie Taylor Greene

11/25/2025

Wow. Okay. I am seldom at a loss for (written) words. But, like much of the rest of the country on both sides of the political aisle, I've needed some time to puzzle out what to think, let alone what to say, about the apparent epiphany of Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
How and why did Greene change from a rude, crude, loud, cruel-tongued, violence-promoting, White Nationalist-supporting, nonsense-spouting hardcore Defensor Trumpi,

...to a champion of the Epstein victims, affordability, healthcare, civil discourse. and people being kind to one another?
From whence came her apology for her past toxic rhetoric, her admission of working on changing herself, her desire to lay down knives and adopt humility? Her transformation to critic of Donald Trump, whom she once adulated and emulated back in the not too distance past when the promotion of Trump's agenda was her primary purpose as a U.S. Representative?
And what led her to drop the most shocking bombshell of them all, her announcement several days ago that she is resigning from Congress rather than having to stay and, as a Republican, having to both defy and support Donald Trump, who has subsequently added her to his revenge list?

Was the conversion of Marjorie Taylor Greene a gradual process? Were the seeds sown when she followed her political party's line in demanding the release of the Epstein files? But then, did standing up for those victims of sex crimes open her eyes and heart to their plight? And, her eyes and heart being open to their plight, did she now begin to see and feel for others, those in need of affordable health care, those who depend on immigrants to work in their fields and factories, those hard-working immigrants who've been the victims of ICE raids, the Gazans whom she's proclaimed to be the victims of genocide ?
Or was Marjorie Taylor Greene's conversion a sudden flash of conscience more akin to the flash that knocked St. Paul off his horse and gave him a new moral clarity?

Some are denying that Marjorie Taylor Greene has had any kind of moral conversion. Some are saying that her change of heart is merely a change of strategy for winning power down the road.
As for me, I believe that people sometimes really do change. And if Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to reject and show contrition for her old ways, continues to stand up for kindness, civility, and the victimized, continues to stand against Donald Trump's wrongdoing and corruption, then I, for one, will give her grace.

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His Kind Of People

11/21/2025

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Even if Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince to the Saudi Throne and ruler of Saudi Arabia, weren't a murderer and a tyrant who has criminalized freedom of speech and the press,

...that is to say, even if he were a relatively decent human being as world leaders go, and even if he were - God forbid - our number one best ally on the planet, it still would have been just as nausea-inducing to watch Donald Trump lay the flattery on bin Salman with a trowel - and, in typical Trump fashion, not skimp on a heaping portion of self-flattery while he was at it - at a press conference several days ago during the Saudi leader's visit to the White House.

Trump praised bin Salman's abysmal human rights record. He berated ABC chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce for asking bin Salman about the kidnapping, murder, and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which American intelligence linked without question to the Saudi Crown Prince. Trump stood up for bin Salman, proclaimed his innocence in Khashoggi's murder, spoke disparagingly of Khashoggi, and snapped at Mary Bruce, “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that, a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question.”
And during Trump's hugely embarrassing tirade against the American journalist, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud sat there looking absolutely sinless.

But behind his benign countenance bin Salman was doubtless yucking it up at this vain old American President who had just publicly promised him the farm when he announced that the United States was selling Saudi Arabia - which has recently become more than a little chummy with China - five of our best, newest, most technically advanced fighter jets that no previous president would allow to be sold to the Saudis.
Along with the plane deal Trump also announced - bragged - that he'd persuaded bin Salman to invest a trillion dollars in the the United States. But exactly where the money will be invested was not made clear: will it be invested in the Trump family crypto business? The Trump family private equity ventures? The building of the Arc de Trump in Washington DC? The refurbishing of the luxury plane gifted from Qatar to Trump? Or might the money be invested in our housing, our infrastructure, our health sciences? And if it were invested in any of those public benefits, would we really want Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman owning $1 trillion of our country?
Trump apparently continued love-bombing bin Salman for the rest of his visit.

(And apparently not only Trump).

And who wants to bet that Trump was still on a Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud sugar high yesterday when he announced on his social media post that six members of the United States Congress should be put to death for a Facebook post in which they reminded members of the military that they can and must refuse to carry out illegal orders?

Here's the link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2558895077819811

But anyway, it was when I came across this particular picture in the New York Times of Trump and bin Salman together that Donald Trump's desire of satisfy, gratify, please and accommodate Mohammed bin Salman became clear.

It was how at ease the two looked together, Trump's hand on bin Salman's back in the casually affectionate way of friends. And I thought, this explains Trump's preferential treatment of bin Salman. It's not about building a strategic alliance or procuring a good deal for our nation; it's about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman being Donald Trump's kind of people. It's about bin Salman being someone Trump feels comfortable and good around, someone with whom he can relax and be himself. Someone who, though he comes from the other side of the world, none the less comes from Trump's world. A world of palatial wealth,

...gilded opulence,

...unlimited life long privilege and the belief - if not the reality - that one is entitled to anything one wishes for, including unchecked power.
People from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and a dozen or so more states may believe that they are Donald Trump's people. But they're not.
This is Donald Trump's people.

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Am I The Only Democrat Who's Not Mad At The Democrats?

11/15/2025

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Am I The Only Democrat Who's Not Mad At The Democrats?

When the news hit that the Democrats were incensed with the Senators and Representatives who voted along with Republicans to pass a funding bill that reopened the U.S. Government but ended the Affordable Healthcare subsidies, I assumed it was the Congressional Democrats up on Capitol Hill who were furious at their shutdown-ending colleagues.
I assumed that the rest of us Democrats here below were as relieved as the rest of the country that after six weeks of individual suffering and national anxiety, the longest government shutdown in history was over, with federal employees back to work, air traffic controllers and TSA agents being paid again, flights safely back on schedule, national parks reopened again, hungry folks receiving their food assistance.
The tragedy in the outcome, of course, is that our Democratic leaders, outnumbered by Congressional Republicans - who, for some reason I can't understand, appear to be against affordable healthcare for Americans - could not at this time save the government subsidies that made healthcare affordable to tens of millions of Americans,
But they fought, those Democratic Senators did, like the stout hearted, outnumbered Texicans of the Alamo who held out for 13 days under siege by Santa Ana's vast army.

The Democrats held out in their minority for 43 days in hopes of saving healthcare, but in the end seven Democrats and one independent relinquished the fight and voted with the Republicans to fund the government, thus ending a standoff that could have gone on until kingdom come,

...while Americans continued to suffer.
But, in holding out for healthcare for as long they did, the Congressional Democrats did their best for the well being of the American people.
Or so I thought.
I soon learned to my surprise that not only are Congressional Democrats mad at Congressional Democrats for giving in to the Republicans; Almost all Democrats are mad at Congressional Democrats for giving in to the Republicans. A number of my family members, most of my friends, most folks I know who are, like me, part of the Democratic base, are angry with the Democrats who laid down their arms to the Republicans. In fact they're angry with the Democratic leadership in general. They say things like:
"The Democrats had the Republicans over a barrel but then they gave in."
"If only the Dems had held out a little longer the Republicans would have caved."
"The Democrats wimped out."
"If the Democrats were going to give up and get nothing in return, why didn't they do it at the beginning instead of making Americans suffer for six weeks?"
To which I respond that what the Dems gained from their Republican colleagues was putting the issue of affordable healthcare front and center and making it clear which party is fighting for Americans' access to healthcare and which party is fighting to take it away.
The Democrats also exacted from Congressional Republicans a promise to bring to the floor next month another vote on extending the healthcare subsidies. And if the Republicans break their promise, or if they once again vote to let affordable healthcare die, then the suffering of Americans who can't afford healthcare for themselves and their families will be on those Republicans.
And it will also be a reminder that this majority of anti-healthcare Senators and Representatives was voted into office by the American people. In a democracy we find out, sometimes to our sorrow, that we get what we vote for.

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Immigrant City Football Club

11/9/2025

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Immigrant City Football Club

While 7 million of my fellow Americans took part in the October 18 No Kings protests, among them a number of my friends,

...I was with them only in spirit. But then, my guiding principle has always been that you do what you can when you can, and when you can't, well, you can't. And this time I couldn't.
From October 10 to October 23 I was in Manhattan Beach, California where I spent much of my time, as usual, tromping up and down the hilly terrain,

...and snapping pictures of the flora,

...the scenery,

...and the scenic views.

The South Bay area of Los Angeles has not yet ceased to captivate me.
On Sunday, October 19, my hosts took me to BMO Stadium in downtown Los Angeles,

...where the cost of parking was a whopping:

...to see a women's soccer match between the Los Angeles Angel City Football Club and the Portland, Oregon Thorns.
The BMO Stadium was a vast venue, crowded with people there to see the game.

I noticed among the crowd there were people wearing tee shirts that read "Immigrant City Football Club" on the front and "Los Angeles is for Everyone" in English and Spanish on the back.

I asked a man who was sitting near me and wearing his Immigrant City Football Club shirt if he happened to know where I could get a shirt like his. He told me to check the team's merch shop.
Later I looked up the provenance of the shirts and learn that Angel City Football Club has taken a stand in solidarity with immigrants who've been under assault by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. At the June 14 home game the shirts were handed out to fans at the entrance gate. Before the game team members walked onto the field wearing the shirts.

Prior to the game Angel City FC also handed out cards that read, “The fabric of this city is made of immigrants. Football does not exist without immigrants. This club does not exist without immigrants.”
I also found out that earlier that week the Women's National Basketball Player's Association and the National Women's Soccer League issued a joint statement saying, "We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate."

Anyway, after my fellow spectator suggested that I try the team shop for an Immigrant City Football Club shirt I wandered around the stadium, following the signs to the team shop.

It turned out that the shop had had shirts, but they were all sold out. However the sales clerk said that I could order a shirt from the Angel City FC online store.
I ordered a shirt for each of my children and their partners.

Everyone loved the shirts, and I was glad that was where my children's hearts were.

Reference:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6426555/2025/06/14/angel-city-immigration-raid-protests/

17 Comments

"Good Fortune"

11/5/2025

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"Good Fortune"

Last weekend my mate and I had a hankering to go out and see a movie. I chose for us "Good Fortune," a comedy starring Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogan that had received medium Rotten Tomato reviews and which looked to be some light bro humor and silliness injected into a fairly predictable plot, but fine for an hour and a half getaway.
I certainly had no expectations that this movie would be uplifting, inspiring, heart-touching, though-provoking, or a Kleenex grabber. And yet, much to my surprise, that's what "Good Fortune" turned out to be. I had no idea I was going to love this movie, but I did.
The plot line revolves around a guardian angel named Gabriel, sweetly played by Keanu Reeves, who yearns for a more meaningful mission than his low-rung job of watching over people who text while driving,

Enter Arj, an exhausted, down-on-his luck human played by Aziz Ansari who is struggling to survive in the work-two-or-three-jobs gig economy. Gabriel sees in Arj's despondency an opportunity to do something worthwhile by teaching Arj to appreciate that money won't solve all his problems.

To this end Gabriel uses his angelic powers to let Arj switch lives with Jeff, a billionaire Los Angeles tech bro played by Seth Rogan.

Needless to say, Gabriel's plan goes awry in ways that he doesn't see coming and, happily for the movie audience, neither do we.

Woven in between the laughs, of which there plenty,

...the movie paints a picture of life for working people upon whose backs are made the fortunes of corporate millionaires and billionaires who could well afford to pay a living wage and benefits to their workers but don't because coming up with ways to suck in the most possible money, more money than anyone could spend in half a dozen lifetimes, is the zeitgeisty American business model. And besides, there's no shortage of people who must work out of necessity for less money than they need to live on and for negligible or no benefits.

The film also makes the point that what most of us desire is to lead a productive life, not to have it all but to have enough, and to have human connection, people with whom we can share the simple pleasures and joys that life is actually full of.

And sometimes we need a guardian angel while other times we may be called to be someone else's guardian angel.

Go out and see "Good Fortune," or wait until it's on streaming, but do see it. You'll feel good afterwards, and just maybe you'll find yourself resolving to be a better tipper and a person who leaves gig workers nothing but five-star reviews.

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The Joy of Voting

11/3/2025

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Though election day is tomorrow, last week my mate and I travelled across town in the rain to the Franklin County Board of Elections to join our early voting fellow citizens.

Here in our town of Gahanna, Ohio, It's not even as if this time around there are any galactic issues on the ballot. We're supporting our incumbent good guy for city council,

...as well as a couple of folks we like for school board. I voted yes on the two county levies, one for the Columbus Zoo and the other to fund mental health. Most everyone else on the ballot is running unopposed.
In truth, I'm more excited about other big-ticket elections going on around the country: The races for governors of New Jersey,

...and Virginia;

...the Proposition 50 vote to redistrict California;

...and the the New York City Mayor's race, which at this point appears to be sewn up by the scintillating young Democratic Socialist with the captivating smile, Zohran Mamdani.

Still, whether the ballot issues be great or small in my little spot on the map, I always vote. And, amazingly, no matter the size of the issues, the same thing happens every time I vote: After I make my choices, print my ballot, insert my ballot into the ballot-counting machine,