America: 2022-2024

January2

This will be my last post on the subject of America until 2024 (unless something crazy happens).

I am tired of thinking about it and it is all out of my hands at this point. I am doing what I can by voting and calling. And, I am working on some larger ways to make an impact but at the end of the day I am a mere peasant.

What is coming?

2022

The USA heads deeper into fascism and a slow-moving coup. 2022 will end with elections that will likely see the Democrats lose both houses. It will be a small miracle if they don’t and even if they win you will see a lot of crazy Republicans in key positions on the state level (which control key voting infrastructure). The people on the state level are the ones who are preparing to overthrow the 2024 election.

I am a very optimistic person. I still hope that this chaos could lead to a better system that starts to fix an utterly broken America (maybe we shouldn’t fuck over the bottom 80% of the country in every way possible???). If they would get rid of the filibuster and pass laws to protect voting rights that would be a good start in keeping the country a “kinda” democracy. Even better would be to make people’s votes count equally instead of 1 vote ranging from .78 to 2.97 in weight depending on the state. And, ultimately the social contract with Americans needs to be fixed.

2024

By the end of 2024, the USA could be an autocracy ruled by the Republican party and Trump (or Desantis or any similar idiot who does anything for power). It weirdly looks a lot like Hitler’s rise to power. A bungled attempt at a coup… only to come back years later planned and ready for action. Only time will tell… 

My biggest fear is with world security and the current economic system. The current system has some problems but it is war-free and stable. I don’t want big regional or world wars. I don’t want a massive change in reserve currencies or a global depression because some orange idiot doesn’t understand economics (see Turkey if you want to see what happens when a dictator tries to run a central bank).

Things I am thinking about:

  • Effective government is so important, if you have a democracy but it isn’t effective it is not working even if people can vote (I think this is a big reason why we are seeing so much frustration with democracy globally). The Republicans and Democrats have failed to effectively govern at local and national levels in so many key ways around health care, home pricing, and safety net.
  • What happens to the world economy if the USA has a real coup? Can businesses and governments just pretend it is still a democracy? And, will Americans even care if they live in a faux democracy?
  • What happens to the US dollar as a reserve currency if that happens?
  • What happens to world security if an autocratic USA led by Republicans removes themselves from NATO and goes full isolationist. Does Europe step up? Does China get more aggressive and annex Tawain or maybe Korea?
  • Should I remove political posts from my blog now? What will the Wayback machine and Facebook do to protect people if the autocratic USA starts targeting people using that data?

Fun times :)

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on America: 2022-2024

2022, 2024, and will America be a “democracy” in 3 years?

October12

I am not sure American democracy will be around in 2024/2025.

You might scoff, laugh, or think I am crazy, but I urge you to take a close look at what is going on and where that might lead over the next 2 election cycles. I used to think this was a very small possibility and now it looks like a very large possibility.

What is happening right now:

  • The Republican party has fully embraced the lie that the 2020 election was somehow stolen or had high levels of fraud. Despite losing every lawsuit, despite having zero evidence… their entire party is embracing this lie and the cult of Trump. Many know this is an utter lie as they are not in the Trump cult, but they know that in order to stay in power they need the Trump cult so they do and say nothing. And, publicly they embrace it in fundraising and rallies.
  • Republican-led states have passed a myriad of voter restrictions designed to reduce votes from people who vote Democrat. A lot of lawsuits are pending, but we are fast approaching deadlines that lock in current laws so elections can be run.
  • Far-right extreme Republicans who believe this big lie are running for local political offices that control local and state elections and voting certifications on a local level. Nobody pays attention to local elections like these, they are usually boring, but we are seeing Qanon and other crazy right-wing conspiracists replacing “moderate” Republicans because those Republicans certified the 2020 election.
  • More and more far-right extreme Republicans are running against so-called “moderate” Republicans in Congressional races (with more expected). These are true believers who see Trump as a savior who are replacing Republicans they deem not ideologically pure. Many so-called “moderate” Republicans are retiring because they know they have no chance.
  • We are uncovering more and more information on how the Trump administration tried to commit a coup in a myriad of ways from using the DOJ to pressure the election, putting pressure on Pence to not certify the election, to putting pressure on state election officials to do something illegal and finding him votes. It didn’t work but the next election cycles are putting people in state and local power who will do these things.

Some members of the Republican party know they are riding a tiger and they don’t know how to get off.  They have spent the last 50 years crafting a Republican voter base using fear over substance, and Trump is the result. They can’t stand up to the lies they created because they would lose their base, lose their job, and lose power. And, now they are being replaced by true believers who believe all the lies they have been told for the last 50 years.

Let’s just imagine where this goes… 

2022…

In the 2022 midterms, the Republicans take control of the House (likely). Politicians who echo the lie that the 2020 election was stolen win offices to oversee state and local elections (inevitable as they don’t have anyone to run against in high Gerrymandered distracts). This sets them up to do what Trump tried to do in 2020 by having them certify the election for him in spite of the votes.

2024…

Trump runs in 2024 and loses both the popular and electoral votes.

But, on the local and state level, Republicans in charge of elections overturn actual election results and declare him the winner (this is what he tried to do in 2020 but was rebuffed at the state/local level and who he is replacing with his cult members). The Republican-controlled House certifies his win despite the clear fraud at the local and state level. Then Kamela Harris as VP rightly refuses to certify the election given the fraud. Republicans decry a communist dictatorship takeover and a stolen election and hundreds of thousands of cultists march on D.C. in a bigger and better-planned coup. January 6th was just a warmup. We watch on TV as our country dissolves into violence and chaos, at worst case a civil war, at best case our system is shaken to the care while the global economy goes into a recession/depression as a result.

Here is a good breakdown by Bill Maher that paints a similar picture…


 

The Democratic party meanwhile is blind to all of this.

I get tired of saying this year after year but the Democrat party does not understand the Republicans stopped governing decades ago. They aren’t even playing the same game. They still think it is politics as normal and can’t even get a basic voting rights bill passed because a single member is worried about losing his next election. Fuck your next election, if you don’t do more to safeguard democracy the USA won’t be a democracy in 3 years. If that means losing your stupid election so be it.

But Ben, this could never happen in the USA… here are some fun survey results of Republicans:

And, here are recent results from Iowa showing a really disturbing result given this traitor tried to become an American dictator:

  • Trump has a 53% favorability rating among all Iowans.
  • Trump has a 91% favorability rating among Iowa Republicans.
  • Among Iowa independents, Trump has a 48% favorability rating (to 49% unfavorability rating).

“Interesting” times.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on 2022, 2024, and will America be a “democracy” in 3 years?

Watch as the Republican Party destroys the USA or themselves… or both.

May9

If you think January 6th was scary just wait… the Republican party is fully swallowing the lie that the election was stolen and that there was election fraud despite every piece of evidence (aka reality – which they are not familiar with given the last twenty years of delusion). Trump is massing control of the party and forcing everyone to back this HUGE lie. Normal American Republicans believe this lie and this is not going to end well. And, Republicans are using this lie to justify laws designed to reduce voting and American’s participation in Democracy. These are the same laws they have been trying for years but amped up considerably. You have Republicans like John Kavanagh saying things like “Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes as well.” What does quality mean? It means Republican voters and winning at any cost… it makes you ask, does the Republican party want to live in a Democracy?

Best case?

It destroys the Republican party. My irrational hope is that there are enough rational people in the Republican party that they lose 3% to 4% of voters who are turned off by this insanity. I think that is pretty unlikely given the echo chamber of Fox News, the cowardice of their “leadership”, and experience. The other hope is that 5% to 10% of their voter base gives up because they think the entire thing is rigged by the communist lizard people who are stealing children. The flip side of this is it requires the Democratic party to finally recognize the Republican party is not a governing partner (and hasn’t been trying to govern in 20 years. Then they have to get rid of the filibuster and make real changes (as currently, Biden has done NOTHING except optics).

Worst case?

The Republicans win the midterm election based on restrictive voting laws upheld by the SC and their normal propaganda… and stop the government from doing anything (not much past the current situation where they refuse to govern). Then in the next presidential election, a Republican wins and moves to disband large aspects of our Democracy. And as a country we slide into a fascist dictatorship… something like McCarthyism with a constant Communist/Socialist boogyman as everything is rewritten around the insane conspiracy theories that define the Republican party.

Regardless, large swaths of Republicans have been radicalized and violence is going to follow regardless of the path…

And, if you think the Republican party believes in maintaining Democracy as a core attribute of this country you need to wake up. The number of editorials and “think” pieces from Republicans challenging the idea that Democracy is tied to freedom is increasing… you are starting to see the idea emerge that freedom isn’t tied to Democracy and that what needs to be protected are the rights of the “few” against socialism. If you think it can’t happen in the USA you were not awake during the Cold War. The Republican party is heading toward a path of trying to overthrow the United States government, January 6th was the idiot’s version of that, and now we wait to see if the Democrats will do anything about this looming threat.

posted under Politics | Comments Off on Watch as the Republican Party destroys the USA or themselves… or both.

I got to interview Tommy Chong!!!

March18

What a very cool day, I got to interview the man, the myth, the legend, Tommy Chong.

We got to talk for an hour and what a super cool human being. I love talking to people who have really lived their lives, through everything, mistakes, success, insanity, fun, grief, love, etc. Tommy is truly someone who made me think of the famous Hunter S. Thompson’s quote:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

I got to talk with him for an hour (as he agreed to do a book recommendation for Shepherd). I got so many great stories about the authors/books that really connected with him along with his life through now. The focus was on his spiritual side of things and a really powerful conversation. I made him laugh really hard which is always fun (let me have my moment). Cool day and going to pick up a book he recommended shortly.

 

posted under Business | Comments Off on I got to interview Tommy Chong!!!

Where is America going?

February11

AEI did a big survey (full breakdown with graphs in the link) and found the following:

  • 66% of Republicans say that Biden’s election win was not legitimate. Among Republicans without a college education that is 75%.
  • 29% of Republicans say that it is completely or mostly true that Donald Trump is fighting a global child sex trafficking ring (QAnon idiocy).
  • 55% of Republicans “support the use of force as a way to arrest the decline of the traditional American way of life“.
  • 39% of Republicans “support Americans taking violent actions if elected leaders fail to act“. 13% of Republicans completely agree in the necessity of taking violent actions if political leaders fail.

Not a good sign… this is the war over America’s direction coming to a head IMO. As well as the 30-year shift of the Republican party to extremism and fear-mongering.

Do Republicans support Democracy? What if the majority of people in that Democratic system want something different than them? How will they react? Hint… they are showing us, violence.

Do they believe in the rule of law and our justice system? If our criminal system investigates something and finds no evidence will they believe it if it contradicts their fake reality? If our justice system does not rule in their favor will they recognize it as a valid ruling? Hint… they have shown us, they will not.

Interesting times. It is going to be a fun 10 to 20 years.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on Where is America going?

Now the work starts. Biden/Harris.

January20

Is the end of a failed experiment? Or, 1923 before 1933? Weeee…. “interesting” times.

I am very fucking happy to see Trump out of the White House. He is the worst President in history and an absolute failure by every measure. Just an absolute scum bag with racist unamerican values. I feel calmer now that he is off Twitter and not spreading extremism and racism in our country.

I am disheartened by the total lack of action by Republicans, but not surprised. They have utterly failed to respond to an armed coup trying to subvert democracy and they continue to spread absolute lies that are encouraging right-wing terrorism. The Republican party has become the party of treason, racism, right-wing extremist, and power at all costs.

Imagine if Bin Laden and his supporters stormed our capital, broke through doors and windows, planted two bombs, killed 2 cops, injured loads of cops, tried to kill/take our vice president and other members of government, and pooped all over the building among other damage. What does the Republican party say? I am looking forward to seeing all these traitors go to jail.

posted under Politics | Comments Off on Now the work starts. Biden/Harris.

What comes next?

January9

Was the January 6th attack on the capital the start or the end?

It is hard for me to believe it is the end. Why?

1. You have millions and millions of radicalized right-wing extremists. They are not going to magically disappear overnight. Nobody has deprogrammed them and they are utterly divorced from reality. And, they continue to be further radicalized by right-wing propaganda sources such as Breitbart, Newsmax, and a long list of websites you have never heard of.

2. Their coup/ethos/violence is supported by 50% of the Republican party. Think about that. That is a huge chunk of the American population proclaiming support for a violent overthrow of our Democratic government. That radicalized population believes there was election fraud despite zero evidence (why? because their leaders are saying it, Trump, Republican leadership, Republican congress, local Republican leaders, etc).

3. Trump has not been punished for his attack against this country and Democracy. He continues to be a figurehead as he denies a free and fair election.

4. The Republican party continues to do nothing because they “need” these voters. They would sell their soul, violet their oath of office, and sacrifice American Democracy in order to maintain power. We might get some nice speeches from a few of them, but where is the action?

In 1923 Hitler attempted a coup against a Democratic government. He was arrested for treason but the judge gave him an incredibly light sentence. By 1933 Hitler is in power. Looking at Spain and Japan’s history with coups is also worrying.

Nobody knows what is going to come next.

That should scare you.

We like to think that the FBI and the American Military would resist a coup and do their duty to this country. That is a pretty big assumption given that half of Republicans support this coup. And, after last week’s police response to this insurrection, you might wonder how deep the rot goes. Especially if it turns out that members of the police let violent extremists in the building.

Let’s imagine that a small group of active duty military members attempt a coup. Imagine fifty fully armed active-duty soldiers attacking a state capital or federal building. Or, imagine 3 pilots bombing an American capital. Do you really think that is unlikely given 50% of the Republican party think this coup is “justified”?

If/when this happens it will shatter Americans’ notion of our country (not to mention the power structure of the world). Normal Americans have no clue how many police are associated with white power and extreme right-wing movements. What happens when they find out the military is as badly infiltrated?

What happens next?

Overall my bet is on more violence over the next decade. Expect political assassinations, politically-motivated shootings, and bombings. I think American is in for a rude awakening as they feel the effects of the monster the Right Wing party has created over the last 30 years.

Republicans have ridden the Tiger for 30 years. Now they have to figure out how to get off before it destroys our country. And sadly… I think you will find plenty of Republicans who want to ride the Tiger straight through to a dictatorship. Josh Hawley or Ted Cruz or any number of people who pursue absolute power rather than service to our country.

What would surprise me?

  • A Republican party that puts country before party. If they voted to impeach Donald Trump in the Senate that is a bare minimum to start a path to forgiveness.
  • The country improving in any substantial way. I.E. health care made affordable, free or subsidized daycare rolled out nationwide, real unemployment insurance to help our unemployed get back on their feet, free or low-cost university to train our citizens in professions for the future, minimum wage increases that give the blue-collar and service industries the respect they deserve, whatever it takes so that cops stop shooting black people, changing what the police handle inside our community, improving our justice system so the poor get competent legal representation, paid vacation for everyone, maternity/paternity for everyone, massive education campaign to understand and discuss the racism in this country, lower military spending to improve our budget over the long term, restoring rules around media that we lifted that created this mess, getting rid of the electoral college, expanding the House to actually represent American, statehood for Puerto Rico, improve immigration and let in a ton more people to grow our economy/power, get our country on green energy for world/national security, smart gun restrictions, and  more in a longer post from 2016.

What do I *hope* for?

  • A Republican party that puts country before party.
  • I’d like to see Republican voters vote out all the traitors who created this insurrection: Ted Cruz, Hawley, and the massive list of traitors.
  • A massive campaign by the FBI to crack down on right-wing terrorism and violence. And, a massive push to remove right-wing extremists and white power nationalist from our police forces and military.
  • A massive re-alignment of the Republican party to pull it out of a 30-year descent into madness. There is online talk of Trump and his right-wing extremists forming the “Patriot Party”. I’d like to see that happen and what the result would be for our country.
  • I’d really like America to still be a Democracy in 20 years and for it to improve substantially (list above).

Good luck America. Personally, I think you are fucked. If an attempted coup on our nation’s capital and 4,000 people a day dying from a virus do not wake up the Republican voter what will? 

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on What comes next?

Republicans attempt COUP. Traitors.

January6

Is anyone really surprised?

Trump attempts a coup with the backing of the Republican party. The Republican party has spent decades spreading conspiracies and lies. This is Fox News, this is Breitbart, this is the last 30 years of propaganda aimed at growing cult followers. They have succeeded wildly.

As Americans we need to ask ourselves, can someone be an American and a Republican? Because from my current vantage point the answer is no. Republicans do not support democracy and are not intent on defending the country.

If you are a Republican you need to ask yourself some hard questions. Are you an American or are you going to continue to be a Republican? Do you support democratic elections and freedom, or are you a fascist who wants a coup?

As a Republican, you are going to have to EARN your way back into American society and citizenship. You have failed on every score as an American citizen. You elected a racist fascist vapid human being in 2016 and you continued to cheer him despite every piece of evidence of his true colors. In 2020 more people voted for this fascist. If you voted for him you are complicit. If you voted for him you are a traitor and a coward. Never forget what Republicans have done.

I want to see REAL action from Republican leadership. Else they are complicit and traitors. Sure Romney and Moscow Mitch and Pence can make a good speech, can they act, can they do anything meaningful? If they don’t we know what they are, traitors to this country.

Impeach him NOW and REMOVE him from this office.

Execute the 25th Amendment NOW.

Further, the Senate and House need to clean house. Members who support a coup should be stripped of their position per the constitution and at the very least censured and tried in a court of law.

Read this account of the coup.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on Republicans attempt COUP. Traitors.

Traitors = Trump, Ted Cruz, and the Republican Party.

January5

[Update] – A day later insanity strikes. An attempted coup in the USA, at least one shot and dead, insane.

The GOP is full of absolute traitors to this country.

The Republican party is actively trying to destroy democracy.

This is just the most apparent and blatant in a long line of anti-democratic activities. Be afraid when the next candidate arrives who is not as stupid and ineffective as Trump and starts leading this country into a dictatorship and fascism.

Try them for sedition.

Once again, there is not a SHRED of proof of voter fraud. American democracy is not going to survive if this keeps ups. The Republican party stands for nothing, has zero ideas on how to help Americans, and merely exists to oppose. Even when they proclaim to believe something they fail to do anything about it, look at health care and their inability to provide any working platform, look at the growth of military spending and their inability to do anything about it, look at the deficit and their ability to do anything about it, look at the license economy and their inability to do anything about it, look at Russian interference into our economy and politics and their inability to do anything about it.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on Traitors = Trump, Ted Cruz, and the Republican Party.

Van Jones Rocks.

November7

This sums it up, it is hard to be cynical when you hear this and feel this. It made me cry. So well said Van Jones.

posted under Politics | Comments Off on Van Jones Rocks.

Biden Wins. Yay.

November6

Congrats to Biden, now you get to govern a country where ~70 million people live in a different reality created by Fox “news”, right-wing propaganda, and conspiracy theories. A group of people who would vote for Hitler if he promised to ban abortion, believe the left wants communism despite any evidence, and do not believe in science.

On the left, you have a party that doesn’t know how to play the game, fails to lead the national conversations, fails to accomplish any economic policy that would help people in the bottom 70% of the economic spectrum, and continues to try to fight an idiotic culture war.

This sums up a lot of how I feel about the failure of Democrats.

Democrats = forgot how to talk to normal people. Warren and Buttigieg are better than most.

posted under Politics | Comments Off on Biden Wins. Yay.

Election Day 1 of ?…

November4

Well, this is fun :)

About what I expected… this is going to take weeks to finish counting as it has come down to a few key states.

Biden will most likely still squeak out a win (Trumps odds are up though). The chance of a Democratic Senate is probably finished, meaning nothing is going to change. The Republicans will be Republicans and oppose everything. Meanwhile, on TV tonight an attempted coup by President Drumpf who doesn’t want to count all the votes. We shall see how that goes and if we still have a Democracy by Thanksgiving.

I was really hoping there would be a mandate/repudiation of Trump. I am not seeing that currently. We shall see how counts come in if anything changes. But in completed districts, you can see that he actually gained votes in a lot of key areas.

Just look at the above so far… those people looked at the last 4 years and said I want more of that and I support what is going on. Just think about that. We shall see how the final numbers land.

3 Conclusions (in my mind)…

1. The same conclusion as 2016. The America I thought I knew is over and dead.

2. Propaganda and your ability to spread that virally is what wins elections. Both for blue/red… but especially red. This should not be surprising given the history, but I like to believe people try to educate themselves on key issues. But from conversations with friends on both sides, it is clear ~90% is just the messaging and antidotes. Nobody wants complexity, they just want stories that back up their way of thinking. And, fear/hate work really well.

This seems especially evident when you look at how many “liberal” ballot measures pass and responses from the exit polls. Just look at how Florida passes a minimum wage increase, legalized weed, stricter gun laws, spending on green energy, immigration, etc…

3. As a species I am wary of our ability to overcome climate change. Some good trends showing up, but we are cutting this dangerously close to limits that would protect our future economy and modern survival. I still have a lot of hope, but it is fading fast. I figure in 10 years or so we will know if my son needs to learn to grow gills.

Oh, and some fun posts so far :)

posted under Dangers To World, Politics | Comments Off on Election Day 1 of ?…

Election Day 2020.

November3

So here we are… weeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

It is like a roller coaster you are not allowed to get off :)

What do I expect for election day? Nothing… most likely nothing will be decided on election day. It will probably take a few weeks, if not Thanksgiving, for all the counting, recounts, legal challenges, and so on.

What do I not want to see? Violence. I am particularly worried about violence by the right to scare off voters. And, I am very concerned about what Trump supporters will do when he loses (especially with his false claims of voter fraud). I also don’t want to see the Courts pick the win for Trump and further subvert the election process. I would also like the USA to remain a democracy.

If I get a magical unicorn wish what do I want to see? An overwhelming win by Biden by 20+ points nationally. That would partially restore my faith in America as a country and ethos. Is that going to happen? No. And, even if it did I think America has broken me. These last 4 years have been long, but I think they are just a more blunt version of the last 20 years. America is just a country, like any other. There is nothing special about it anymore. It is good at a few things, it is really bad at a lot of other things. When you are raised to think a place is special you feel very betrayed when it fails to live up to 90% of those values. And, I am disgusted by the selfish and materialistic culture it has created. Even if Biden wins that is nothing, I don’t expect much out of the Democrats even if they control all 3 houses (including white house). They fail to see how the game has changed and fail to adjust how they play the game.

Some gifs for election day.

There is a good chance Trump will be reelected. A small part of me wants to see that world. I do not think people change without real and persistent pain, and there are a lot of Americans who need 4 more years of Republican pain in order to change their beliefs. Part of me wants them to get their wish.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on Election Day 2020.

My vote is in for 2020!!!

October14

My vote is in for 2020! Lindsey and I are doing a news fast until November 1st. I do not expect us to know who the next President is until Thanksgiving due to the time it takes to count mail-in votes… although I am hoping for a blow out so Trump can’t launch a coup. I am worried about the violence we are going to see over the next 10 years from the Trump cult. Interesting time to be alive.

I am very glad to not be in the USA during this period.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on My vote is in for 2020!!!

News Fasting.

September28

Lindsey and I have been on a news fast since early September. It has been really good. I think I am going to stick with it and only do news every 2 to 4 weeks on a Sunday. We are just tired of it and powerless to do anything about the direction of the USA. We bribe politicians, we vote, we call, etc.

I wish I could click my heels and it was Nov 10th and the election was over just to get through this period.

posted under My Thoughts | Comments Off on News Fasting.
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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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