”There is no darkness but ignorance.”William Shakespeare

Just like you, I read the news every day and wonder how could all this be happening? The same people, who blindly support the unhinged being in the White House are going to be the ones most hurt by him. Of the millions and millions of people instrumental in his election a second time, so many rely on the government for all sorts of things. Their asses are parked on an ice berg that is going to melt right out from under them.

Fear has a voracious appetite, feeding off itself, an emotional virus, infecting those vulnerable to it. Thought is devoured by feeling. It has a logic all its own, digging a deeper and deeper hole. It does not have to fester very long until anger becomes the actionable motivator. To them, the deck they’ve been dealt is marked and destruction is the only way to win. Their family becomes a mob, like the blatant insurrection of January 6, 2021.

I think we can at least agree that we have a mess on our hands. This country had a contentious beginning, started by exiles from a monarchy and the fear of too much power in the hands of too few. At the same time, there was a mistrust of the people, hence the Electoral College and even the Senate, our version of the House of Lords. 

The exercise of power has swung like a pendulum throughout our history. The rule of law was the only protection against chaos and it has pretty much worked, until now. Back then, the biggest fear was having a King and they instituted safeguards. There will be an inevitable confrontation with Congress and don’t rule out the Supreme Court either, or all of us for that matter.

Everything that occurs today has a precedent in yesterday. Fear of communism has morphed into a beast with an insidious reach into all aspects of our society today. It is about the perception and fear of too much government. Communism has been replaced by fear of the Left, stealing our tax dollars for their corrupt ends, like USAID and NIH. Compassion for those suffering under the most inhumane conditions imaginable has been castrated by the richest man in the world. I think the Statue of Liberty should turn off her beacon and lower her arm. 

I don’t think people like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite were on any mission to distort the news in favor of a liberal agenda, whatever the fuck that is. I understand it was a different time and commentary was identified as such. In the late 50’s, the John Birth Society was born. I remember it. I thought they were some fringe lunatics, wrong again! Communism was the fear and the Deep State was a real threat to them. Several years before this, the Army-McCarthy Hearings planted the seeds for this conspiratorial view, a precursor to where we find ourselves today.

Back in the late 1800’s, there was something called Yellow Journalism. Newspapers began sensationalizing news to get more readers and advertisers, truth be damned. Today, MZ, now morphed into a mushroom, has just removed all fact checking. Watch how that plays out! So, well over a hundred years ago, media began pandering to its audience. Today, fake news is anything you disagree with. All news is stroking its audience, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum.

In some ways, our primitive communication has been a mixed blessing. In the early days, prior to the start of the Revolutionary War, there were quite a number of newspapers, instrumental in promoting the split from England. They pretty much had a single, editorial and news profile. Today, technology has birthed a plethora of both the means of communication and their editorial stance.  

The manipulation of our ideas, opinions and choices has been around long before Mad Men. However, the birth of real advertising showed how easy it is. Preying on people’s feelings is ancient, but the tools have become incredibly sophisticated. This kind of  purposeful manipulation now has countries impacting the politics of its adversaries, true fake news. At the same time, it helps to feed the US AGAINST THEM mindset. 

Look no further than the so called press conferences in today’s Palace of Perniciousness. There are actually some decent news services that have survived in the midst of the multi-media swamp we now live in. The Associated Press and Reuters come to mind. First, neither one is advertiser supported, so facts outweigh the fiction of the factions. Lo and behold! AP is banished from the palace. Hitler’s successor understands that controlling the media controls the message, the Big Lie.

In the midst of all this, how do you find the light? Those who are fixated on striking out can’t see it, a bona fide symptom of a knee jerk response, fodder for the foolers. Subtlety and sensitivity are missing from their tool box. They are far too near sighted to see what is coming at them. The impact of these insane policies is color blind, especially when it comes to red and blue. Loyalty is very selfish and impatient, until a price is exacted for it. The Red have outlandish expectations, because they believe the reckless lies perpetrated by the new, atonal Glimmer Twins.

I have a confession to make and now is as good a time as any, certainly in this part of the story. Over the course of the past few days, I have been coming back to this piece, shuffling paragraphs around and eliminating some. I am not even remotely comfortable trying to be some kind of pundit, using history to help make my point. Like many of you, I am in utter disbelief at what is going on and how it seems to be happening without any serious push back. 

Don’t bother looking for the light outside yourself, because it doesn’t exit, until we become the flame. I have already written about the American Spring, an organic energy, borne by the light that shines in each of us, like kindling waiting for a match. Our country has been hijacked by soulless bandits, who only know how to take and they will bankrupt themselves, our time to strike back.

I want to quote my close, personal friend, Bruce Lee. “In the middle of chaos lies opportunity.” I know it is coming.

Breathe

PS: Already finished this story and recorded it. Both are updated, because I can’t help it.

Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office. This is the FIRST TIME anyone, a head of State, or any of our elected officials, have stood up to this son of a bitch. 

I am not sure how many people know what Stalin did in Ukraine in the early 30’s. He starved and killed millions, far surpassing Hitler in his brutality. 

You know, when you do what that bastard did to a people, don’t you think it is indelibly tattooed into their souls for all time?

By early 2019, 16 countries, including the Vatican had recognized Stalin’s brutality as genocide. Our United States Congress passed resolutions that said “Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932–1933.”

Hopefully, this proud Ukrainian has lit the fuse that will grow into the American Spring. As flawed as this country has always been, it has stood for the dream of possibility. It is being shredded in our own house by one of our own. Have we fallen this far?

GOD BLESS Volodymyr Zelenskyy

LISTEN TO IT HERE:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1292459/episodes/16711882-bllinded-by-the-darkness-revision