Did RFK Jr win the debate?

Before starting this blog, I read the one I wrote concerning the 2020 debates, specifically after the presidential debate in October and the Vice Presidential one that followed. Frankly, I didn't remember how visceral my reaction was, how utterly pissed off I was that those debate candidates reflected the best the American political system could off us, as voters. Here is a link to that post

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-debates.html

At that point, I decided to file this post under the label Election 2024, then thought it wise to review what I have already written on that subject. Here is a link to the post from March of this year, which contains a link to the one I posted in January, 2024.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-debates.html

If you have read my comments on the 2020 debates, you already have an inkling of what I thought about this one. To put it mildly, it was even worse. 

Now, to be fair, there was an attempt to eliminate one candidate talking over the other, and that worked relatively well. I believe there was only one time when I saw Trump speaking but couldn't hear him, which indicates that he can follow rules when compelled to do so.

Sadly though, regardless of who was speaking, there was very little worth hearing. 

Biden shuffled onto the stage, looking as old as his critics claim. And for all of the first half, and some of the second, he fell far short of explaining his accomplishments, his vision, and the contrast between his agenda and his competitor. While he did seem to gain some lucidity in the latter part of the second half, and in his final statement, (and actually looked pretty good in the after debate address), he woefully dropped the ball. To say he had a bad debate is a monumental understatement.

Trump on the other hand was confident in his constant barrage of half truths, exaggerations and lies. His newest one was that Nancy Pelosi admitted that she was responsible for the lack of national guard troops at the Capitol. Right, Pelosi was hoping to die that day so she didn't try to get help. And of course he trotted out all his top hits as well, that countries are emptying their prisons and mental hospitals and sending those people to America, that everything during his presidential term was the greatest ever, and that the Ukraine invasion and the Hamas-Israeli War wouldn't be happening if he were president and on and on. 

But at least Trump was consistent. He answered many questions with comments about how illegal immigrants are responsible for virtually everything, even the one about how he would fix Social Security and the one about helping young parents afford child care.

Biden, on the other hand, was all over the place, and, as I read in an opinion piece earlier today, unable to communicate his positions even when the facts were on his side.

For instance, Biden's job record is far superior to Trump's but Trump was able to deflect that fact by calling the 15 million jobs created since Biden took office as rebound jobs. Of course, there is some truth to that assertion, but the truth is because of all the jobs lost during the Trumps Administration. You can't say you handed off a great economy then take credit for the millions of jobs created after you were gone. But Biden was unable to counter with sufficient clarity, so many people may have left with the impression that Trump was right.

What bothers me most is that Trump played to his strength, his bombastic presentations, his avoidance of the questions, his ability to turn any fault or mistake of his own into that of his debate opponent, while Biden failed miserably to apply his strengths.

Did Biden's team really think Joe could cite numbers and stats to counter Trump's lies? 

I tell people that I would have had Biden look at Trump after he spoke, shake his head, and say something really simple like, "Wow, I almost ran out of fingers counting your lies and exaggerations", as he looked down at his fingers. Then look straight into the camera, and says, "Folks, I don't have enough time to counter all the falsehoods, but I will answer the question that was asked", and then present a simple to understand answer. Perhaps even connect that answer with his own upbringing. 

We needed Uncle Joe to demonstrate that America's problems are serious, that he understands that inflation sucks, but that he is the kind of leader who works with Congress, both sides, to find solutions, unlike Trump who told his Congressional allies not to pass the most conservative, restrictive immigration bill ever, a bill created with an extremely conservative Senator, because he only cares about winning in November and didn't want to give Biden a win. 

Kind of the exact opposite of America First. Perhaps Biden should have actually used that phrase to emphasize the contrast, as we all know Trump is about Trump first, above all.

Instead he went down the rabbit hole with Trump, engaging in talk about who was voted the best or worst president and who could hit a better golf tee shot. Yikes.

Trump was not there to debate Biden, he was there for another rally. And he succeeded in making it look like a Trump rally by bombarding us with his inflammatory rhetoric, and his amazing ability to tell us who we need to hate and who is to blame.

In trying to debate him, Biden played right into his hands because a true debate is about facts and proof, and Trump is unable to engage in such a thing. Biden's advisers should have known that, should have told him to counter Trump's invective language with a smile and a simple acknowledgement of Trump's avoidance of providing any kind of solution other than giving tax breaks to the rich and deporting millions of undocumented people.

Which brings me to the moderators. Were they so hesitant to appear biased towards Biden that they were unable to require Trump to answer their questions? They couldn't mute him, or Biden, when either candidate responded with something other than an answer to the question? 

As it was, what was the point of them being there? The questions could have been displayed on a screen and ignored just as well as being presented by a person and ignored. I don't know how many times the question presented on TV below Trump was not broached in the least by his responses. Often the moderator reminded him of the question, yet he still refused to answer.

Biden was horrible, Trump spewed nonsense, nobody won, lease of all the American electorate, although I must admit that Biden lost more so. We know Trump is full of doo-doo, but we at least thought that Biden could handle himself with some semblance of respectability.

Which brings me to the title of this post, did RFK Jr win, simply by not being there? 

Personally, I don't think he would have been much better, as the few times I have seen him interviewed, he hasn't impressed me in the least. But, it might have been interesting to see if he attacked Trump or Biden more, or agreed with one over the other. 

I guess that says everything, that the person not on the stage did better than the two that were actually there.

So, what do we do?

I am reminded of the movie, Brewster's Millions with Richard Pryor. If you are familiar with it, you will remember that he decides to run for mayor to help waste the millions of dollars he must spend to inherit the even more millions of dollars, but he runs as 'None of the Above'. 

If we can't convince the two parties to name new candidates, can we petition for None of the Above to be placed on the ticket?

I know, it isn't going to happen. 

So we are left to choose between a caring man who is far past his prime, or a felon who has been convicted of sexual abuse and business fraud, and indicted for spurring an attack on our nation's capitol, and keeping classified documents even when asked to return them.

Sounds like a no brainer, yet the fact is we should have better choices than this, something better than the lesser of two evils, so to speak. 

Perhaps, like in sports, Biden's bad day will be situational, and he will exhibit more strength and mental acuity in the following months, just as he did at the State of the Union. He will get back up after being knocked down, as he said at his rally yesterday.

At least there is that possibility, even if slim, compared to the chance of Trump ever being anything more than a self-centered, convicted felon and adulterer whose long time business CEO is spending time in Rykers for tax evasion, whose company faces hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, who only accepts elections that he wins, and whose favorite world leaders are all dictators and authoritarians. 

And yet who leads in the polls.

Is it any wonder why I am convinced that we have already lost our democracy?

The Ten Commandments

I mentioned in a previous post, one for which I have provided a link to at the end of this post, that the Texas GOP was pushing for a law which would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools. At it turned out, the GOP legislature in that state did not push it forward. 

Not to be outdone however, the Louisiana legislature, which also features a super majority for the GOP, did pass such a law, and with the governor now a Republican, this requirement is now the law of the land in that state.

(As a side note, the Texas Lt. Governor who was none too happy with the lack of progress on that front, is vowing to make Texas the second state to enact this directive.  And I imagine that states such Missouri and Alabama might follow suit as well.)

So, what is so bad about displaying obviously moral guidelines to help our young people navigate the world?

Well, let's refresh ourselves with those Commandments.

Where did they come from? 

Most Biblical scholars attribute the Commandments as given to Moses by Yahweh (God) at Mt Sinai. Verses in the Bible, specifically from Exodus and Deuteronomy, recount the event. And while there is some debate on the true origin of these directives, and some slight disagreements among various faiths as to the order, content, and even if ten was used more as a memory tool than the actual number, most people recognize the following list as the ten commandments.

                                                        1

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Exodus 20:3

God wants what is best for you. If you put something else before Him in your life, it’s harder for him to bless you.

2

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”

Exodus 20:4

Anything you worship more than God is a “graven image.” Cars, clothes, sports, even our jobs are dangerous things to worship because they can go away. But God will never go away, and that’s why it’s best for us to only worship Him.

3

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Exodus 20:7

This can mean using God’s name like a swear word, or it can mean saying you are a Christian but not living or acting like Jesus would want you to act.

4

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Exodus 20:8–10

Sunday, or the Sabbath day, is a day we can all go to church, worship God, and learn how to be better people and Christians. Keeping it holy means doing our best to remember Him throughout the day.

5

“Honour thy father and thy mother.”

Exodus 20:12

It’s important to show our parents respect. This might look different for everyone, but we should always try to love and care for those who cared for us first.

6

“Thou shalt not kill.”

Exodus 20:13

A simple but important rule for anyone.

7

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Exodus 20:14

Men and women make promises to each other when they are married. These promises are important, and breaking them causes deep sadness. Keeping those promises help men and women have happy marriages and happy lives.

8

“Thou shalt not steal.”

Exodus 20:15

It is important to God that His children are honest with each other. Taking anything that doesn’t belong to you is stealing, and is against His commandment.

9

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Exodus 20:16

This one is about honesty. If you lie to someone, you are “bearing false witness,” and may cause harm to yourself and to others.

10

“Thou shalt not covet.”

Exodus 20:17

To covet means to be so jealous of something someone else has that you want it desperately. Coveting makes a person miserable and keeps them from putting God first. This commandment helps keep you from falling into this bad habit.

Now, again, thinking of these as guidelines, it is hard to fault the logic of posting them, perhaps not just in classrooms, but in the board rooms of corporations, on the floors of Congress, during political speeches, on green screens behind every single political opinion pundit and news person. In this way, when business decisions are made, political speeches are given, laws are debated, opinions are offered, we can see how their words compare to these precepts.

Maybe even have a score card under each speaker, tallying the times a commandment is broken either through past actions or current words. 

Can you imagine, keeping track of the times someone has lied about a electoral candidate or a group of people, how many times a business person has made a decision based on greed, how many times someone stole from others through graft, or pay for play or any of the myriad ways that the rich influence our elected officials?

Many people advocating for this law, state that many of our current laws are based on the Ten Commandments, such as #6, Thou shalt not kill. Should we follow this example and make some other laws based on the commandments? 

How about #4, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Should we pass laws mandating church attendance on Sunday? Or just make it a general law that requires some kind of church attendance once a week, regardless of the day or building name? This wouldn't create a government sponsored religion, just a requirement for attendance at one's religion of choice. 

I personally might go to different ones, just to see which provide the most serious spiritual guidance, or just meet with a group of people who prefer no religion affiliations. Would meeting once a week to play volleyball in appreciation of the sun, exercise, and camaraderie count toward my requirement? 

Along those lines, I am old enough to remember when stores were closed on Sundays and when very few people worked that day for just such a reason. I imagine it was the business community that pushed us away from those "blue" laws. 

One might posit that eliminating those laws was a violation, not just of commandment #4, but also of #1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me, money being the god in this case, and even perhaps #2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, the graven image being the desire for business success and material gain. 

By the way, the term blue law may have been derived from an 18th century list of Sabbath regulations, which were printed on blue paper.

Another easy target to make illegal would be #7 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Now, when I say easy, I don't mean it will be easy to prosecute the tens of millions of Americans who have broken this commandment, but it is easy to determine that it has been broken. 

Perhaps when the commandment is broken, a fine can be levied which can then be used to provide money towards combating child poverty, or put towards reducing the federal deficit. The fines could be on a sliding scale, when admitted readily, $100 per occasion, but when turned in by a adultery bounty hunter, $500 per event.

A double win there, as this provides money and jobs!

You may be laughing at such a concept, but there is a real push among certain far right camps to rescind no fault divorce laws, and return to the days when a couple could only break up for cause. When we understand what was the reality for most of history, the cause was only when the husband decided there was a reason, women having very limited rights to begin a divorce proceeding. 

To be honest, I am all for more spirituality in America, and if having the ten commandments, or any of the plethora of guidelines that exist from the hundreds of other sacred texts which provide principles for a moral life per the various religions that claim to be the one true way to heaven/nirvana/enlightenment, etc, I am on board. 

But that requires us to remember that the founders specifically mandated in the Constitution, in the first amendment for that matter, that 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion

So, maybe we have a rotating set of instructions which reflect the different religions of our time, thereby reminding our children that god can be found in a plethora of religious books, that no specific set of rules is any better than the next, but that it is important to seek out one's own path to being a better person, and living a virtuous life, without judging someone else's choices.

Can you imagine?

Of course, we all know that becoming a better person or living a life as god wishes, is not the main point of these political stunts. It is to make clear which religion, which set of beliefs, which way of living is the best one, is the one blessed by the true god. And who is not loved by god, and who we need to purge from our country.

I have written under the label Separation of Church and State before, and as promised, here are links to two of those posts.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2024/02/another-step-towards-theocracy.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/one-step-forward-for-american-theocracy.html

To be honest, I am somewhat surprised that the Louisiana GOP legislature and governor are so eager to display the Ten Commandments considering that their candidate could be considered somewhat of a record holder, in terms of breaking the commandments.

I mean, it is well documented that the former president is twice divorced, having fathered five children with three different women, and who broke commandment #7 during all three marriages. And such unfaithfulness certainly equates to violation of #10 Thou shalt not covet.   

Additionally, he had been convicted of business fraud, specifically of lying to gain a monetary advantage in applying for loans, not to mention maintaining a separate set of books to as to cheat the state of  New York out of tax revenue, so there goes #10 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Speaking of commandment #10, Trump stomps on this one every time he demeans immigrants, or people from Muslim countries, or pretty much anyone who disagrees with his thoughts.

If you haven't been paying attention, he supported the candidate running in the Virginia Republican Primary against the incumbent Bob Good, because Good, who is the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, and has supported all of Trump's claims about the election being stolen, had the temerity of supporting Desantis in the beginning of the GOP Republican Presidential Primary. 

Of course, he has endorsed Trump since Desantis's departure from the race, but that is not good enough for the man who demands total loyalty. What is truly sad, is that Good is currently claiming election fraud as the ballots are being counted (he trails by a very slim margin), and is faulting RINOs for his deficit, not once mentioning that Trump was among those who supported the opposition candidate.

Which brings us back to commandment #1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  It is very clear that Trump demands that he be placed before anything or anyone else. So Bob Good, continues to prostate himself before the altar of Trump, just as do so many GOP elected representatives and wannabes. 

From wanting to name airports after him, to applauding him in the halls of Congress, forty one months after he sent his cult members to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election, they violate commandments #1 and #2.

Well, at least Trump hasn't killed anyone. Except that he has bragged about how he could violate commandment #6 Thou shalt not kill,  when he says he could shoot someone in Times Square and not lose any popularity, and when his lawyer, while addressing the Supreme Court of the United States of America, says he could have his political rival killed, and not be prosecuted unless he was impeached first. 

So yes, let's hang those commandments, let's provide moral lessons to our children, and let's illustrate how not to behave by using the example of someone who not only has a history of violating the commandments, not only requires his followers to violate commandment #1 by elevating him to the status of God, but actually boasts about being able to violate commandment #6 with impunity.

Maybe, along with the commandments, we can post a picture of Trumps' mug shot with a warning not to be like him.

SCOTUS, Tulsa and Newtown

I fully intended to pass along some praise to the Supreme Court Justices who voted 9-0 to allow mifepristone to continue to be used for reproductive care. While they didn't rule on the actual science behind the product, instead ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the lawsuit, at least, for now, women and their doctors all across America, and especially in the red states that have various abortion bans, will be allowed to make decisions about their bodies without interference from the government. 

Sadly, soon after they came out with the 6-3 decision to reverse the ban on bump stocks with Justice Thomas, who wrote the majority opinion, apparently deciding that a device which altered a weapon to fire more bullets faster did not equate with the definition of a machine gun, which was the justification in the first place for banning bump stocks. 

I imagine that all the victims of automatic weapons who were ripped apart by the combination, and their families, find little solace in knowing that officially, there loved ones weren't killed by a machine gun. 

I am not sure what is more appalling. 

That, at the time, an executive decision (signed by former president Trump, which proves again that even a blind squirrel finds a nut here and there), had to be signed based on a borderline interpretation of an existing law because Congress was too scared to pass legislation, or that the conservative justices of SCOTUS decided that the bump stock ban was wrong for a technical reason, so we must now allow for more American citizens to be slaughtered. 

While I try not to wish harm upon others, I wonder if Thomas or Alito or Roberts or Gorsuch or Barrett or Kavanaugh might feel differently if one of their loved ones were killed by such a weapon. Would that make a difference to them then? 

Why is it that we so often only change our minds on issues when they affect us in the negative, as opposed to employing empathy to direct our thoughts?

In addition to that ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by the last three survivors (although one has passed since the suit was initiated) of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.

If you are unfamiliar with that event, google it. While it will not make you feel any better as an American, it might provide you with a talking point when someone tells you that the manifestations of slavery and bigotry and hatred that were the law of the land for far too long weren't really that bad.

In the above case, the suit was brought under the guise of nuisance laws having been violated, that being the only thing that could legally be mustered in Oklahoma. Imagine that, hundreds of black folks were murdered, an entire section of their town was burned to the ground, and the only law they could come up with that was broken was in the area of nuisance laws. 

Unfortunately, while most rational people might conclude that what occurred in Tulsa 103 years ago was far worse than a nuisance, the OKlahoma Supreme Court dismissed the suit because, well, it just didn't fit into the definition of nuisance law as understood by those very astute justices. You think? 

I guess it is good that bump stocks and automatic rifles weren't available then, what a nuisance that would have been!

Finally, this past week the survivors of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, graduated high school. I guess it is ironic (maybe despicable is a better word) that SCOTUS chose this week to allow the possibilities for more Sandy Hooks in the future. 

In the meantime, that staunch defender of truth and justice, Alex Jones, who made himself famous by claiming that Sandy Hook was a hoax, and who lost a huge defamation lawsuit brought by the families of those children who were slaughtered that day, is still walking the streets, figuring out a way to find another falsehood to feed his conspiracy fed audience so he can make some money to pay the damages which were levied when he lost in court. 

There are a number of things that I just don't understand, a number of perspectives where I find myself flabbergasted that so many Americans believe. 

The idea that more guns in the hands of good people is one towards the top of that list. Even more stupefying, that Christians (can you say chino, Christian in name only), advocate for this abomination.

Almost eleven years ago, I wrote the story for which I have supplied a link at the end of this post. Sadly, it was far from prescient. 

I don't know if it will ever happen, not the conspiracy part, the part about the American electorate finally waking up and voting for common sense gun (violence) control laws by voting out those who curry favor from the gun lobby and manufacturers.  

Based on the SCOTUS and the Oklahoma Supreme Court decisions from this past week, and the obvious attraction for a strongman (can you say dictator) to lead our country, it is apparent that we have moved even farther away from such a day. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-conspiracy-that-changed-america.html

CEO pay

Another study just released indicating that CEO pay continues to grow in relation to the compensation paid to everyday workers. While the study that I initially read about emanated from a New York Times article, I though it best not to provide a link to that reference as I know many people feel the Times is a biased (left) news source. Instead I am providing a link to an article from the Christian Science Monitor about the topic.

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2024/0606/Ceo-salary-pay-gap-2023

CEO pay.

This is not the first post about that subject, nor will it be the last. While it may be hyperbolic to say that this is the biggest problem facing our county today, and the world for that matter, given the rise of authoritarianism across the globe, the continued wars that are funded by both sides of the ideological equation, and the simple facts that child poverty, lack of potable water and sanitation facilities and basic health care still exist in our lifetime, I often find my thoughts engaged in this What If. 

What if income was distributed more equitably, how would all of these problems be addressed.

In a post from 2017, I used the term bottom up economics (not my invention), to discuss the economic theory I embrace the most. It is fairly simple, and in direct contrast to the trickle down theory that began in the 1980's during Reagan's presidency. More money in the hands of everyday workers, produces a demand in goods and services, since it is known that consumers drive upwards of 2/3 of our economy, which then encourages companies to hire more workers to meet the demand, producing more employed people, etc.

Here is a link to that post.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2017/04/bottom-up-economics.html

 

In April of 2018, I posted two consecutive entries specifically titled income inequality. In those I refer to some historical data about this subject, and even defend instances when income inequality can be productive for everyone. If you read both posts, links below, you will find that I conclude that all money in few hands does not generally work, but that equitable consequences, where no one earns more than anyone else, is also equally not effective. That it is a balance that needs to be reached, but that even this balance may skew in one direction or the other depending on the situations of the times.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2018/04/income-inequality.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2018/04/more-on-income-inequality.html

Then in 2022, I took a slightly different tact with this subject. In The 90% Boat, link below, I bemoaned the media ads that were attacking the student loan forgiveness program that ultimately was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

In that post, I attempted to remind people that decrying a government program that assists other middle income Americans, simply because that money was not benefiting oneself directly, was selfish and shortsighted. Such thinking was generally encouraged, and the ads paid for, by rich people trying to drive a wedge among us commoners, or the 90% who are doing all the maintenance and rowing of the boat we share but receiving a pittance of its benefits, most of which are going to the 10%.

What was really shocking about some of those ads was the use of "union" workers who didn't want to pay the debts of those blue haired, gender studies college kids who couldn't find a job because they chose a meaningless or easy major. I say shocking, because it was union workers who were vilified in the 1980's and 1990's for demanding higher wages, forcing companies into bankruptcy or to send jobs overseas. 

Funny how they were now suddenly hard working Americans. 

Folks, the rich, if nothing else, have the resources to create all kinds of narratives to make us turn on each other, to fight for the scraps that they so magnanimously allow to fall from their tables. They are the masters of the wedge issues, and we seem to succumb to their propaganda far too easily. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-90-boat.html

At this point, I frankly don't know when, or if, Americans will wake up to the fact that most of our money problems are the result of reduced tax rates for the super rich, the acceptance that hundreds of billions of dollars are offshore in foreign bank accounts specifically to allow the avoidance of paying taxes, and the belief that redistributing money from the 10% to the 90% somehow leads to inflation and debt. While this may be true on occasion, it is always true that tax laws, lax IRS auditing of the rich, and media ads which tell you who in our boat is at fault, always leads to the rich getting richer.

And, it is not just the GOP and its business above all ideology.  The Dems are just as guilty, although at least they try to pass laws that increase minimum wage, provide assistance to the neediest among us, and tax the super rich at appropriate rates. 

Which brings us the concept of the universal basic income, or UBI. If you have not heard of it, or have only heard it mentioned by a conservative pundit in a derogatory manner, it is easy enough to research the concept on your own to see how many successful programs have been run in various cities across our country. 

UBI is coming, perhaps to a county near you, so do some investigation on your own. While I don't see Biden embracing it anytime soon, I hope that in the near future we will have a Democratic presidential candidate who explains it well enough to counter the onslaught of rich people driven ads that will inevitably be produced, ads which will appeal to our most selfish nature.

Perhaps they will even use blue haired, gender studies young people to bash the concept of giving money with no strings attached.   

Finally, here is a link to my story, The Change, written in 2010, and, to be honest, one of the reasons why I started this blog. It was that story that had been percolating in my head for a while, along with my thoughts on nuclear war, health care, guns, immigration, discrimination, etc, that inspired me to express my thoughts, publicly.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/08/change.html