Hampered by Hubris

Posted on March 18, 2020 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I was pondering a post similar to this, but then Grump, aka Jerry over at On the Fence Voters, wrote this one. I’ve long followed that old saying, ‘Why re-invent the wheel’, and so I am sharing Jerry’s thoughts here, as they mirror my own. We cannot, must not become complacent … the future of this nation and the 330 million people in it depend on our actions November 3rd. Thanks Jerry!

On The Fence Voters

He had the almost-perfect con game going. But then his narcissism and ambition took him too far. I’m tempted to refer to it as “The Peter Principle” played out on the world’s most public stage—except that the moment Donald J. Trump stepped out from his wealthy father’s shadow, he already had reached his level of incompetence.

Donald Trump should have known he was not up to the monumental task of leading the world’s most-advanced nation. He should have known his shot at glory would go horribly awry, causing grave damage to his reputation and, worse by far, to the country he claims to love.

But, as is common among self-centered people, Donald Trump is ignorant of his ignorance. He knew more about the military than the military’s generals. He knew more about NATO than NATO’s leaders. He knew how to hire all the right people. He alone could fix the…

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It’s Not My Fault

Posted on March 17, 2020 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Our friend Jeff sums up the present situation with our lack of leadership and the ‘man’ from whom we can expect nothing. Thank you, Jeff … your thoughts on this mirror my own.

On The Fence Voters

When a nation is in a moment of crisis, we expect our leaders to have a bare minimum of two traits: honesty and credibility. Unfortunately, as we wade through the ongoing worldwide pandemic of Covid-19, the United States of America is left wanting of such virtues in the current president.

As we all know, Donald Trump has an aversion to the truth like no other. I’ve called it pathological in this space more than a few times, and he’s done nothing to counteract that assessment. But it’s not just honesty and credibility we should expect of our leaders. We should also expect him or her to have humility. When things go wrong, as they always do in any presidential administration, at times, there needs to be a comeuppance. An acknowledgment, however painful it might be, that maybe I could have done things better, quickly followed by an “I promise to…

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Diversity Strengthens; Xenophobia Weakens

Posted on March 15, 2020 by jilldennison under Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of people from other countries. In this nation, it has always been said that we welcome all, but do we really? Or, should I say, do we still? Take a minute to read and think about Jerry’s words here … I think our nation is richer for the diversity that we have, don’t you?

On The Fence Voters

The arrival of coronavirus has many on Americans edge, and rightfully so. While most focus on what they can do to protect themselves and their loved ones from the virus, others are pointing accusing fingers at whomever they believe to be responsible for the virus’s outbreak and spread. On Fox News shows one can listen to various Trump-inspired conservatives accuse the Chinese, North Koreans, and even liberal Americans.

Yes, we need careful screening of international travelers and, at times, even temporary travel bans. But the truth is that no one knows for sure where or how the coronavirus began its invasion. We may never know for certain. At this point, all we can know for certain is that on a planet dramatically contracted by modern travel methods, viruses hitch rides and quickly attack even remote locations. Localized virus outbreaks are a thing of the past.

But that won’t stop modern-day…

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Rules Rein in Our Worst Impulses

Posted on March 12, 2020 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Jerry over at On the Fence Voters provides us with an introspective summary of our government today … and why we must make some changes soon.

On The Fence Voters

Before the bizarre 2016 presidential election, Alt-Right hero Steve Bannon wrote, “The Tea Party in the United States’ biggest fight is with the Republican establishment, which is really a collection of crony capitalists that feel that they have a different set of rules of how they’re going to comport themselves and how they’re going to run things.”

Bannon and his Alt-Right compatriots were ready and willing, but not quite able, to crush conventions, to eliminate the establishment, and to relegate long-established rules to a bygone era. One must destroy the status quo in order to build Utopia.

They just needed a bellicose bull to obliterate the china shop. And along came Donald Trump.

Bannon portrayed the defenders of the status quo—particularly within “the Republican establishment”—as “a collection of crony capitalists that feel that they have a different set of rules.” So Bannon and millions of like-minded Americans set about to…

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The Media Drops The Ball-Again

Posted on March 10, 2020 by jilldennison under Free Press Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our friend Jeff introduces us to Eric Boehlert, a journalist who calls a spade a spade, unlike far too many today! Take a minute to read and ponder, if you will. Thanks Jeff!

On The Fence Voters

For over three years now, our national media continues to try and normalize this president. Nobody points this out better than media critic Eric Boehlert. You’ve maybe seen Eric on MSNBC, as he’s regularly on AM Joy on most weekends. For years he wrote for Media Matters, a progressive non-profit organization that specializes in monitoring and analyzing conservative media lies and misinformation. In addition, he has a regular segment on progressive talk-show host Stephanie Miller every Monday on SiriusXM Channel 127. Now, he has his new website: Press Run. I hope you enjoy Eric’s take. As usual, he’s spot on. There are links below if you’d like to subscribe to his site. It’s free.

How Ap, NPR, and NYT help whitewash Trump’s virus madness

Normalizing carries a high price

By Eric Boehlert

After three years we start to lose the words and the right language to describe Trump’s often demented…

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What’s It Going To Take?

Posted on March 7, 2020 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Jeff’s post this evening reflects my own feelings perfectly. When are Americans going to grow up and shed their bigotry, judge people by who they are rather than what gender, race or religion they are? My best guess is … never. Backward country this has become. Good post, Jeff — thanks!

On The Fence Voters

I’m a 58-year-old white male, and I think it’s time we had a woman president. There, I said it. On Thursday, amid Senator Elizabeth Warren suspending her campaign, I watched a panel on MSNBC discussing the Senator’s exit from the race. Democratic strategist Zerlina Maxwell was the lone woman at the table.

She said something to host Craig Melvin and AP Reporter Jonathan Lemire, the two males at the table, that resonated with me. “I think it’s way past time that we started to hear from men. We need to listen to them say, ‘It’s time for a woman president.’ Men need to step up to the plate and speak out.” I may be paraphrasing a bit here, but I heard her proclamation loud and clear.

What’s it going to take, folks? In 2016 we had one of the most qualified individuals, in Hillary Clinton, to have ever run for…

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Coronavirus Thoughts

Posted on March 3, 2020 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our friend Jeff over at On the Fence Voters has some thoughts to share today (actually, yesterday, but I’m behind) about the coronavirus that has now caused at least 7 fatalities here in the U.S. I saw a Twitter feed today about a lady who tried for a whole day to find out where she could be tested, but to no avail. I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration when the prez says he’s got it all under control. Thanks Jeff!

On The Fence Voters

Am I living at Ground Zero?

A few days ago, I attended an appreciation day dinner in the small town where my wife works. The event was at a popular local brewery, and our gathering was in the back room where the big vats of beer sit. There were several long tables, a nice bar with wine bottles and glasses, and a buffet table with various appetizers and pizza.

I’d say about 30-35 people were present. These were all employees of the local hospital and spouses, like me. Ironically, though, the event happened on the same day that the stock market was crashing, and our current president held a press conference telling us that he had everything under control (of course). Upon entering the location, I couldn’t help but think about how someone in that room might be a carrier of the coronavirus.

I know, sounds like paranoia. But here’s…

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How Versus Why–And Why It’s Important

Posted on March 1, 2020 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

The newest member of On the Fence Voters wrote a very thoughtful … and thought-provoking … post yesterday that I would like to share with you this afternoon. I hadn’t thought to categorize people in this way before, and I suspect that most people are some combination of these two, but what he says makes a lot of sense. Take a look …

On The Fence Voters

Keeping in mind the crucial caveat that there are exceptions to almost every rule, I will attempt to persuade those reading this missive that we can accurately place every human into one of two categories. Category one is made up of how people. Category two is made up of why people. How people tend to be doers; they accomplish beneficial tasks–or at least want to do so. Why people tend to be dreamers, thinkers. They might also accomplish beneficial tasks, but they are more likely to want to discover why those tasks the how people accomplish are beneficial.

How People

How people tend to be hard-working blue-collar folks. If they attended any college, it probably was a community college or a trade college. It’s likely that during their career-preparation years they had only marginal interest in subjects outside those that pertained to their chosen profession…

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The Bernie Movement

Posted on February 28, 2020 by jilldennison under education, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Yesterday, I posted an article by Robert Reich, giving us a different viewpoint of Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and positing that Bernie could very well be the one best-suited to beat Donald Trump. Interestingly, as sometimes happens, Jeff and I were thinking along the same lines and about the same time I posted my Reich piece, Jeff posted this one. Same conclusion, a bit different approach. Great minds think alike! Thanks, Jeff, for this really great post!

On The Fence Voters

“I’m not going to try and get into his mind because I don’t think there’s a whole lot of space there. I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.”

“You saw those images last night. We’re going backward here. This is a frightening, grotesque, and disturbing development in American politics.”

Were the above quotes from the Tuesday night Democratic freakout debate attacking Bernie Sanders? Well, they certainly could have been. But actually, the first one was from none other than lead Donald Trump sycophant Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) during the 2016 campaign. The second quote, also from the 2016 campaign, was from fellow Trump boot-licker Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). My, how time flies.

Back then, if you remember, Trump was the reality TV show host attempting to win the Republican nomination for president of the United States. It was a crowded field…

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Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Tag Archives: On The Fence Voters

It’s Not My Fault

Rules Rein in Our Worst Impulses