We Are in Hell

I try not to make my posts negative, but try to offer some hope. And I usually do within the post. However, I need a good hook to get people to read. Oddly, I didn't start out with a particular theme in mind today but found this image on my free stock photo site, so felt it was worth building a blog around and it fits.

If you watch the news for more than five minutes, you'll agree with this headline. One theory I heard is that we all actually died during the COVID shutdowns and have been in Hell ever since. This makes a weird amount of sense to me. And I don't even believe in Hell.

I did a post yesterday talking about Taylor Swift and the unfairness going around about her lately. One last thing I'll say about her today is she truly brings joy and happiness at a time when we need it most. I can dance to her music and still be worried for our society at the same time. I'm capable of more than one thing. That said, while people are hating on her for being a billionaire, there is this.

This happened under the Trump presidency just this month. Also I know it seems like 10 years ago, but Elon led the DOGE dipshits in gutting much of the foreign aid we send to other countries as well as cuts to our own government services so he could get more tax breaks and government subsidies. If you want to go after a rich person, HE should be the one with the biggest target.

In the meantime, on the news this morning, a 52 yr old Latina woman who has been in the US for 35 years was arrested by ICE on her way to the store to get food for her family. A presbyterian minister was shot in the head with chemical pellets while praying during a protest, also by ICE. And Trump is now calling for the arrest of the Illinois Governor and Mayor of Chicago for not cooperating with ICE.

Oh and human Vienna Sausage Stephen Miller said on Fox New that Trump has "Plenary Authority" which sounds like a weird word. He then tried to correct himself and stammered along. I had to look it up, I remember the word from Civics class, but that was 150 years ago.

What is Plenary Authority?

Plenary authority refers to a single government official having absolute power on a particular matter.

According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, in the U.S., it is recognised as “complete power over a particular area with no limitations”.

Well that sounds ominous. If anyone remembers anything at all from our Social Studies classes in school, its that there are not one, but THREE equal branches of government. The Executive Branch (The President), the Legislative Branch (The house and Senate) and the Judicial Branch (The Supreme Court). Now, under this current Hellscape, the legislative and judicial branches seem to be gleefully ceding their power to the president for reasons I can't quite comprehend.

Regardless, the President does NOT have absolute authority, that is per a fancy little document call the Constitution. No matter how much he tweets or posts on Truth Social or how much Stephen Miller screams and yells or how much they try to will it to be, we do not have a king or dictator. And I for one refuse to recognize such authority.

That said, Trump is going to try and consolidate as much power as he can. What scares me is the speed and volume of companies and other government agencies and branches have immediately capitulated to him without any kind of a fight. The only explanation is they stand to profit off of fascism somehow or they think they will by being in his favor.

If we look at Nazi Germany during the Hitler years, one doesn't have to look too far to see the government eventually turned on most if not all of the oligarchs who supported them at one point. You see, its like dealing with a bully.

If a bully comes and says "give me your 5.00 lunch money right now." and you hand it over and try to pal around with the bully. Eventually he'll come back and want 10.00, then 20 then more. It drives me nuts I ever even have to explain this. We fought a whole war over this in the 40s. It was the same things, and other governments and companies tried to capitulate only to be bitten in the ass later then were like "Wait, how did this happen?"

Once again, I've talked to people my own age and younger who don't know any of this from history. They either didn't pay attention in class or some schools didn't even teach it. Now, here we are.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much more of this can go on. Every single day we wake up to some kind of horrible chaos in the news. Someone being killed or almost killed, arrested, scandals, more stuff on the Epstein mess. Trump sending more National Guard or U.S. Troops into American cities. What is really morifying is how many people I see actually cheering for this madness.

I will say I do feel hope when I see videos coming out of Portland and Chicago, Trump's two biggest targets at the moment. I see tons of protestors, businesses not allowing ICE agents to eat their, sit down or use the bathroom. People singing protest songs at marches. The longer this stuff draws out and people show that resistance is possible, that will embolden more people to resist.

I struggle with what I can do. I'm 51, over weight, I have no cardio and bad knees. I really can't march or do much physical. I work from home and I don't think just yelling on social media does any good. Most of the time it ends in crazy arguments or you're just shouting to people who agree with you anyway.

So, I created this blog. my idea or goal is that this blog, unlike Facebook isn't limited to the one platform but can break containment through Google searches and algorithms. Building community is really important right now. We are trying to do that as much as we can here. Being in Texas is kind of crazy as its a red state, but in San Antonio which is a blue city.

We are safe at the moment, but likely a matter of time before state and federal government come after blue cities in red states. My step son is half Mexican and he is away at college. We got him a copy of his birth certificate for him to keep on his person just to be safe. So far, there hasn't been any weird activity around his school, but we are trying to think ahead.

I've covered a lot but haven't even touched on rising grocery and gas prices, tariffs and how many of our foreign trading partners won't even deal with us anymore. Farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy. There are whole books we could write about those topics. The government is currently shut down and millions of Americans, myself included are at risk of losing our healthcare because the Republicans want to pull the ACA Subsidies. People will lose medicaid or marketplace plans will become completely unaffordable. Being self employed, I'm on a marketplace plan.

Is there an end in sight? Well, I will say this level of chaos is unsustainable. I'm not sure what will happen. I want to be hopeful and optimistic. We have to hang on some kind of hope. I've seen some liberals and leftists being totally cynical and just post "Well we're fucked" over and over and I'm really not sure what this is supposed to accomplish. Beyond being another form of capitulation there isn't anything useful behind such sentiments.

Among Republicans, I am seeing some cracks in the armor. Ted Cruz of all people is speaking out against government censorship, not just the Jimmy Kimmel fiasco, but he's now wanting to present a bill protecting Americans from being censored by the Government. I never thought I'd see him as a voice for free speech, but he seems to be thinking further ahead than this administration.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is wanting healthcare subsidies to be protected, and I've seen a few other breaks in ranks. These are small steps but this is how it starts. I know these folks are a bit crazy and have done awful things, but if they are willing to turn on this President, then we need to encourage and allow for that. This isn't the time to be tribal and draw lines. We need everyone we can get on every front. We'll see if more of them break ranks.

One thing I take comfort in, is how stupid and incompetent all of these people are. None of them have any experience in government or their departments they are in charge of. They have no idea how shit works, which is why they have been having confusion and disorganization in implementing their own policies.

They fired everyone who know how shit works, and now its a bunch of clowns trying to complete this crazy agenda, but they have no idea how. I think that will save us in the end. Eventually they will all turn on each other, because they are all power hungry narcissists.

We just have to resist in any little way we can, even if its just calling our lawmakers as often as possible or voicing dissent. You never know where your words will land or the impact they'll have. In the meantime, we need to take care of ourselves, and each other.

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