There is a slow burn starting somewhere in my gut tonight, and I think it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a full-blown rage.  Thus, this morning’s post is a rant, complete with, in all likelihood, a few words not fit for the children’s ears.  Why is Filosofa angry?  Because, there are more than 16 months until election day 2020, and already the bullshit, the ugliness, the utter nastiness has started.  I. Am. Sick. Of. It.  Already … and there are still 492 days (that’s 11,808 hours) to have to listen to the trash talk.  So far, it’s all on the republican side, but soon enough it will be on both, no doubt.  Two episodes in yesterday’s news stand out and set my hair on edge.

The Trumps are really nasty people, y’know?  When I was a child, the grown-ups always cautioned, “If you can’t say anything nice about somebody, then say nothing at all”.  Apparently, nobody bothered to say that to any of the Trump clan, for they are the filthiest people I know.  So, it started yesterday morning with Junior, who is a chip off the block of ugly, when he re-tweeted a tweet by a right-wing commentator …

“Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period.”

Who the Sam Hell died and left Junior in charge of authenticating the ethnicity of anybody, let alone a woman who is far more intelligent and honest than he???

It is heartening, though, to see fellow-democrats, those against whom she is competing, come to the defense of one of their own …

“Donald Trump Jr. is a racist too. Shocker.” – Senator Bernie Sanders

“The presidential competitive field is stronger because Kamala Harris has been powerfully voicing her Black American experience. Her first-generation story embodies the American dream. It’s long past time to end these racist, birther-style attacks.” – South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg

“The attacks against @KamalaHarris are racist and ugly. We all have an obligation to speak out and say so. And it’s within the power and obligation of tech companies to stop these vile lies dead in their tracks.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren

“@KamalaHarris doesn’t have shit to prove” – Senator Cory Booker

“The coordinated smear campaign on Senator @KamalaHarris is racist and vile. The Trump family is peddling birtherism again and it’s incumbent on all of us to speak out against it.” – Washington Governor Jay Inslee

“These troll-fueled racist attacks on Senator @KamalaHarris are unacceptable. We are better than this (Russia is not) and stand united against this type of vile behavior.” – Senator Amy Klobuchar

Perhaps Junior unwittingly did the Democratic Party a favour, for this pulling together, this unity, is what we must have in order to effect change in 2020.  It doesn’t, however, make me inclined to forgive him for being every bit as much of a scumbag as his father and the rest of his family.  Frankly, I would ask him which side of his family was related to Adolph Hitler.

Patrick Mauldin … remember that name.  He and his brother Ryan are techno-geeks working on Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.  I don’t know what rubbish heap Trump found them in, but they fit perfectly with the rest of his cadre of deplorables.Mr. Mauldin makes videos and other digital content for President Trump’s re-election campaign, and along with his brother, they run a Republican political consulting firm in Austin whose website opens with the line “We Kick” followed by the image of a donkey — the Democratic Party symbol often called an ass.Mauldin created a fake Joe Biden website that looks at a glance like the real deal, but is, in fact, laden with disinformation and outright lies.  In addition to some doctored photos and videos, the site proclaims Biden to be …

• Against same-sex marriage
• For mass incarceration
• Against abortion rights
• Against school busing
• For the Iraq war
• For the death penalty and harsh drug sentences

At the very bottom, barely noticeable, in grey-on-grey lettering, is the disclaimer …

This site is political commentary and parody of Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign website. This is not Joe Biden’s actual website.

It is intended for entertainment and political commentary only and is therefore protected under fair use.

It is not paid for by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC. It is a project BY AN American citizen FOR American citizens. Self-Funded.

Trouble is, see, it is set up in such a way as to look like a legitimate site for Joe Biden, and the address, joebiden.info, would sound legit to those who may not be tech-savvy.  And, despite the disclaimer, despite the obvious bullshit, there are those who aren’t going to question, who will blindly believe whatever they read, regardless of source.  This is the danger.  This was the same sort of tactics used by the Trump campaign in collusion with the Russians to trash Hillary Clinton in 2016.  It is the ONLY damn reason we have a loony bird in the Oval Office today!  I will not take another 4 years of Bozo the Maniacal Clown!!!

More than 16 months of this, and I am already tired … exhausted, actually.  If wishes could only come true, I would ask for …

• A shortened election season … no more than four months prior to the election. Until that time, no advertisements, no debates, no campaign rallies … NOTHING!
• Platform-based campaigns. No, “Build that wall” and “Lock her up” do not constitute a political platform.  Proposals for feeding the poor, health care, foreign policy, social issues such as discrimination in housing and employment, etc. are what comprise a political platform.  I want to hear what the candidates believe, how they think, how they view We the People.
• No mention of “the other side” in any advertisements … save it for the rallies. I refuse to view any political ads for that very reason.  The candidates waste a golden opportunity to promote themselves, but instead they spend their time and money slamming their opponents with lies and rhetoric.

We the People includes every man, woman and child in this nation, citizen and non-citizen, white and black, Latino, Muslim, Christian, gay and straight, male and female, republican or democrat or neither.  We the People deserve much better than we are getting from either side.  The democratic debates this past week were, in my book, garbage.  Make them worthwhile, or don’t have them at all.  And yes, I have better ideas for how to conduct meaningful, enlightening debates, but that is a subject for another day.

Every adult in this nation should sit down tonight and write their will.  And in that document, they should write that if they die of any stress-related illness between now and 03 November 2020, their estate may and will file suit in federal court against either or both political parties for wrongful and untimely death, to the tune of $5 million.  I think most of us with an ounce of intelligence, thinkers who understand what is happening to the political process in this nation, can feel the heart attack, stroke, or bleeding ulcers just waiting to strike.  It isn’t fun anymore, folks … it’s dirty, it’s disgusting, and it is literally sickening.  Bah Humbug.  End of rant.