Archive for the Politics Category

Charlie Kirk:  Assassination As A Public Policy Tool (September 15, 2025)

Posted in Culture, Politics, Society on September 15, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “When you distill the chatter, he was either the messiah or the monster.  A legend or a loser.  That is the choice in America today.”

J          “A monster and a loser.  This is America today.” 

. . .

K          “Reminds me of the obstreperous shouting match between those who pilloried Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Ed Snowden as ‘traitors’ and those who praised them as ‘patriots’ some disputes ago.”

J          “Traitors.  However, some of the information should have been made public.”

. . .

K          “A lot of Democrats openly cheered and smirked.”

J          “Everyone is on edge.  Everyone is edgy.”

. . .

K          “The clear and central message of the profoundly public statement that is an assassination is that no one is above the Owners.  Amid the dross and dregs he spouted, Kirk was challenging some powerful interests who are not amused.”

J          “I would not completely deny that Kirk was pushing some issues that brought him up on radar and placed him in the cross hairs.  Yet his overall messaging was repellant and repugnant.”

. . .

K          “Those in power are keen to get the folks with the pitch forks to turn on the folks with the burning torches.  That clever strategy is frighteningly effective.”

J          “We are strategically cleaved by the big players.”

. . .

J          “The chasm is unbridgeable.”

K          “The chasm is a gorge, but it is not gorgeous.”

. . .

J          “Stay tuned.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Assassination As A Public Policy Tool.  Oh, And Hope You Had A Happy Bastille Day! (July 15, 2024), November 23, 1963; Three Score Years Later (November 27, 2023), ?There Is No Peaceful Resolution?  Oh, And Happy Bastille Day! (July 10, 2023), The Shot Heard Round The U.S. Of A.  Oh, And Happy Saint Nicholas Day! (December 9, 2024) and Hero or Traitor? (June 10, 2013).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“The tragedy of modern war is that the young men [and women] die fighting each other – instead of their real enemies back home in their capitals.”  Edward Abbey

Noise Over Signal (August 25, 2025)

Posted in Politics, Society on August 25, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “We are all being fooled.  Again.  Everything is deliberate noise and distorted signal.  Nothing is real.”

J          “The Three-Card Monte show has metastasized into Twenty-Three-Card Monte shows.  No one is playing 5D chess.  Everyone is playing 5D distortion and deception.”

. . .

K          “We are not 5 by 5.  We are 5 by 0.  We are Loud.  We are Unclear.”

J          “We are under duress and in distress.  We need to raise 2-flags to signal our plight.”

. . .

J          “But no one cares.”

K          “No one is capable of caring.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary on noise and signal at Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  Rioters / Protestors:  Too Much Noise / Too Little Signal (June 8, 2020) and The Donny And Elon Show.  Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (June 9, 2025) and on who we have become at On Friendship Today:  Flat, Fried, Frayed, Frazzled, Frozen, Fractured, Fissured, Fatigued, Finished?  Oh, And Happy Thanksgiving! (November 20, 2023), Edward Hopper:  The Mirror For Our Age (January 22, 2024) and “Everything Is A Fight Today.” Please répondez s’il vous plaît. Oh, And Happy Solstice! (June 17, 2024) and many, many, many other pieces.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Soldier on?

Who cares?

The Donny And Elon Show.  Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (June 9, 2025)

Posted in Politics, Trump on June 9, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Think it is staged.”

J          “Somewhat.  But neither of them are capable of staying on script.”

. . .

K          “Trump dons a red Make America Great Again hat while Musk sports a black Occupy Mars t-shirt.”

J          “King Trump’s crown is an ordinary baseball hat and Minstrel Muskrat’s regal attire is a t-shirt.  They call it ‘cosplay’ because they are play acting their roles in their costumes.”

. . .

J          “All the world is a stage that is now dominated by two stooges.  One is the world’s most powerful man.  The other is the world’s richest man.  America is all about power and money.”

K          “Keep in mind the fundamental truth.  The Problem for decades was overlooked or disregarded.  There is no democracy.  Trump is not an assault on something that does not exist.  Trump is the Symptom of the staggering Problem who has metastasized into another competing Problem.  The last election was between Systemic Problem versus Trump Problem.  Both candidates were stooges in his and her own way.” 

. . .

K          “The show must go on.”

J          “It must not necessarily go on, but it is going to go on.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

“You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.”  Robert A. Heinlein

“For what else is the life of man but a kind of play in which men in various costumes perform until the director motions them off the stage.”  Erasmus, The Praise of Folly (1511).

No Kings

Assassination As A Public Policy Tool.  Oh, And Hope You Had A Happy Bastille Day! (July 15, 2024)

Posted in Culture, Politics, Presidency, Society on July 15, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Once again, something is not right about the whole shooting match.”

J          “Assassinations are as American as processed GMO apple pie.”

. . .

K          “Negligent or intentional.  There is not a third explanation, unless you consider gross negligence a third category. Do the math.”

. . .

K          “Someone I trust who is in a position to know said that neither Trump nor Kennedy will be allowed to cross the threshold of the White House as a tenant in an official capacity.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at November 23, 1963; Three Score Years Later (November 27, 2023).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

What happened to America?

M. Gravel Versus D. Rumsfeld (July 5, 2021)

Posted in Courage, Politics, Pushitzer Prize In Commentary, Vietnam on July 5, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Peace versus war.”

J          “Honesty versus dishonesty.”

K          “Vision versus venality.”

J          “Public purpose versus private profit.”

K          “Virtue versus vice.”

J          “Courage versus cowardice.”

. . .

[See “The System Isn’t There To Protect Us From Criminals, It’s To Protect Criminals From Us” in “CaitlinJohnstone.com” dated July 1, 2021 by the award-winning investigative journalist and commentator Caitlin Johnstone.]

[See the e-commentary on M. Gravel at “Seeing 2020:  Profiles In Cowardice; Profiles In Courage.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 10, 2020)” versus the e-commentary on D. Rumsfeld at “Iraq: AGFPT. Iran: AGFPT II? (January 2, 2012)”, “Iraq: Shock and Awe; Shocking and Awful (September 6, 2010)*”, “Balls and Strikes and Perjury: America’s Pastimes (August 23, 2010)”, “The Double Ought (00) “Decadent Decade” (January 4, 2010)”, “McNamara (July 13, 2009)”, “Invest or Invade? (December 15, 2008)” and “The Kennedy Court Reigns In the King (July 3, 2006)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Great versus not so good

The “Great American Race (‘GAR’)” Is Off.  Political Gerrymandering:  Courting The Problem (January 7, 2019)

Posted in Elections, Gerrymandering, Politics, Supreme Court, Voting, War and Wall Street Party on January 7, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The Great American Race (‘GAR’) begins in earnest this month.  America consigns two years to select its Great Kahuna whereas Australia only devotes a more reasonable two months.”

J          “And the race is rigged at every turn and twist on the track.  Some candidates such as Bernie in 2016 find that the ‘D’ division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ itself operates a rigged preliminary heat.  Many citizens are forced to drive a long distance to get to the betting window and/or are required to stand in a long line.  Some citizens do not even get to bet on a horse at all.  The Great Voting Gauntlet (‘GVG’) dissuades and discourages many citizens.”

K          “The Great American Race (‘GAR’) is also the Great American Crime (‘GAC’).”  

J          “Do the GAR and the GAC add up to the GAG (‘Great American Game’)?”   

. . . 

J          “The Supreme Court agreed last Friday to take up some of the unresolved questions regarding partisan gerrymandering.  The two cases consider rulings involving maps in North Carolina and Maryland drawn by Republicans and Democrats, respectively, so extreme that the lower courts say they violated the rights of voters.”

K          “Perhaps we are off and running.”

J          “Or on and stopping.”

. . .

K          “The way I see it, the courts are the people’s second to the last resort before the people resort to the streets.  If the Court abdicates its duty to address the matter with ballots, the people will at some time address the matter with bullets.  The Executive branch is effete and enervated yet admittedly still too powerful.  The Legislative branch is a product and a by-product of the problem.  The answers are not easy or elegant.  Failure to address the problem and provide a partial answer is a complete failure and capitulation.  The suite or the street, that is the question.”

J          The way I see it, the courts are the people’s second to the last resort before the people resort to the streets.  If the Court abdicates its duty to address the matter with ballots, the people will at some time address the matter with bullets.  The Executive branch is effete and enervated yet admittedly still too powerful.  The Legislative branch is a product and a by-product of the problem.  The answers are not easy or elegant.  Failure to address the problem and provide a partial answer is a complete failure and capitulation.  The suite or the street, that is the question.”

. . .   

K          “The Court of last resort may be the court of second to the last resort.”

J          “Unless the populace just does not care or does not understand.” 

. . .  

[See the e-commentary at “Partisan Gerrymandering:  From Ballots To Bullets?  Oh, And Happy National Voter Registration Day! (September 24, 2018)” and “Five Red Rich Republican ‘Catholic’ Corporatist ‘White’ Boys . . . Versus . . .  Four Blue Comfortable Democratic ‘Jewish’ Individualist White ‘Girls’ . . . And All By-Products Of The S.I.C. (October 2, 2017)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Election Day should be a national holiday

The suite or the street, that is the question.

GAR + GAC = GAG

Darkness . . . And Light.  Oh, And Happy Winter Solstice! (December 17, 2018)

Posted in Economics, Education, Energy, Environment, Politics, Society on December 17, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “There is far too much darkness.  I know what needs to be known and I know what needs to be done.  And I know what needs to be known because I rejected so much of what I was told I needed to know.  And yet what needs to be done cannot be done.  The whole system is laced with so many checks and balances that keep a concerned citizen in check and everything out of balance.”

K          “And there is far too little light.  I understand so much, yet I do not understand why I do not have the good sense and the maturity to quit caring.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The Power Of Small Thinking (March 12, 2018)” and “On Standards & Quality (July 20, 2015)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Think big!

I think big, therefore I am

Happy Winter Solstice!

Partisan Gerrymandering:  From Ballots To Bullets?  Oh, And Happy National Voter Registration Day! (September 24, 2018) 

Posted in Partisan Gerrymandering, Politics, Supreme Court, Voting on September 24, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “‘Don’t bother me,’ opined the Chief (Justice) to the Indians.  ‘I closed the doors to the Supreme Court.  If you want to change polity, you must resort to bullets not ballots.  My Supreme Court is in business to help big business, it is not in business to help little people,’ proclaimed the Chief.  ‘The game is gamed.  The franchise is foreclosed.  The ballot box is buttoned up.  Go away.  Go home.’”

J          “He does not get it.  ‘In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience,’ observed Stokely Carmichael.  We have a problem.  And he gets it.”

K          “A (Supreme) Court without a conscience.”

J          “In a Country without a conscience.”

. . .

K          “If Roberts and gang do not want to protect the public against partisan gerrymandering, they should resign and let someone else do the job.”

J          “They like the money.  They like the power.  They like to impose their will.”

. . .

K          “I vote for the ballot.”

J          “I second the vote.”

K          “Now we need to get the Chief to focus on protecting the ballot rather than promoting the bullet as the means to bring about peaceful change.”

J          “He just does not get it.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Sweet Senate Alabama (December 18, 2017)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week: 

Vote

“Those who make peaceful revolution [resolution] impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”  John F. Kennedy (Ted could have polished/improved/cadenced the statement by saying “peaceful resolution” rather than “peaceful revolution”.)

NFL Protests:  Celebrating And Revering A Grand American Tradition (September 25, 2017)

Posted in Politics, Race, Society, Sports, Trump on September 25, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Makes you proud to be an American.”

J          “Makes me proud to be an American.”

. . .

K          “Makes me proud to be an American.”

. . .

K          “In 1967, Muhammed Ali refused to be drafted into the Army and kill folks who never threatened him or America.  In 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos responded to winning gold and bronze medals at the 1968 Mexico City Games with a silent and stirring protest on the victory stand with raised fists each sporting a single black glove.” 

J          “Never forget that Australian Peter Norman who won the silver medal that day joined Smith and Carlos in brandishing the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badge and then joined them in a banishing when each returned to the country he represented with dignity and grace.  A year later in 1969, Curt Flood challenged a different type of draft in Major League Baseball by refusing to be treated and traded like chattel.  In 1970, Oscar Robertson pursued a class-action lawsuit against the N.B.A. that led to the free agency rules applied today.”

. . .

J          “Yesterday, many players and teams responded individually, creatively, uniquely and privately.  Standing and putting one’s hand on one’s heart is the custom and practice and the customary practice.  Sitting on the bench is too easy, casual and non-committal and akin to sitting on one’s hands.”

K          “And no one in sports wants to ride the bench and sit out the game.  What about the team collectively taking a knee which is often a sign of deference and respect and then during the last few stanzas of the Anthem standing in unison, locking arms and slipping hands across the hearts?”

J          “And what about also locking arms with the owners or the police or a few fans?”

. . .

K          “The sinuous route towards ‘a more perfect union’ is not straight and not clear.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Ali (June 6, 2016)”, “The Ali Gedenkschrift/Festschrift (June 13, 2016)”, “Columbus And The Redskins (October 14, 2013)” and “The Confederate Flag:  What Does It Mean To You? (July 6, 2015)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Stand up for those taking a knee

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  Howard Zinn

King Seale Newton X Day (January 16, 2017)

Posted in Politics, Race on January 16, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Changes in civil and voting rights laws emerged from an unwitting and uncoordinated two-prong strategy.  Some Blacks and a very few Whites presented a militant option and opportunity.  Most Blacks and almost all Whites pursued a non-violent option and opportunity.  Those in power preferred the non-violent option, yet the threat of force was a compelling undercurrent.”

. . .

J          “Celebrating a day around King’s birthday should be expanded to celebrate all of those who campaigned for civil and voting rights.”

. . .

K          “King Seale Newton X Day.”

J          “All day.  As they say in the Midwest.”

. . .

K          “In the next few weeks, we can add the names of women.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “King Daze (January 20, 2014)” and “King (January 16, 2006).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

King Seale Newton X Davis Day

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”  John F. Kennedy

“Power concedes nothing without a demand.  It never did.  It never will.”  Frederick Douglass