Donald Trump
I watched the Parler videos so you don’t have to. The findings left me speechless.
ProPublica has gone through thousands of videos from Parler (before it was torn down) that were shot on January 6, 2021, the day that Trump-loving insurrectionists stormed the Capitol of the United States. ProPublica pulled several hundred of the most relevant videos and helpfully compiled them into a timeline of events.
The on-camera action captured by Trump’s actual supporters is… Well, it’s something. Something that defies explanation — and any and all expectations.
I’ve screencapped what I consider to be the most interesting highlights.
Health
There’s hope, but get ready for a fight.
I have Depression. The illness, not the mood. I was officially diagnosed over two decades ago. It sucks.
It sucks because of the uncontrollable mind job it does to you (no pun intended), and because most of the people around you have no idea what you’re going through, or how they can help.
COVID-19 is causing Depression diagnoses to surge, leading to a much higher patient:doctor ratio. End of the day, that means existing patients have greater difficulty getting the ongoing help they need, while new patients may not find help at all. …
Donald Trump | Joe Biden
He’s a real, normal human being who’s not a narcissist
With Donald Trump’s four-year reign of self-centered governing coming to an ignoble end, let’s take a quick look at the shameful, mortifying things Trump did. Because these are all things that Joe Biden most certainly will not do. (Since he’s a human with a conscience and honor and integrity.)
Understand: I don’t know Joe Biden. I can’t say with certainty what he will or won’t do as President of the United States. …
Government
Why do these outdated institutions still exist?
I was talking with a friend recently about the purpose of the Electoral College. She was in favor of the College; I am not.
I argued that no other free country in the world elects its leaders using an Elector system. It’s a popular vote across the board; one person, one vote. Equal ground for every voter, and every vote counts.
My friend argued that without the Electoral College, the votes and voices of the states with smaller populations, in the heartlands of America, would never be heard. “Look at the map,” she said. “Where do you see the majority of American residents?” I replied, “Where the biggest cities are, the metro areas.” (Incidentally, a remarkable amount of these — by far the majority — are located along our two coastlines.) …
Donald Trump
Join the Dark Side. You know you want to.
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President on June 16, 2015, he tapped into a side of America that many citizens had no idea existed. A fear-based underbelly where there’s no such thing as compromise, where tribalism is the status quo, and where one’s every action is based on the tenet of Us vs. Them.
What started as a fervent fan club of a Presidential candidate has evolved into an entire belief system. It’s the stylish new religion that everybody who’s anybody is talking about!
Trump was elected in 2016 on promises of “draining the swamp,” vowing that he wasn’t like other political candidates, that he was in fact not even a politician. Conservatives loved it — including, amazingly, Christians. Finally there was a candidate who would stand up for them, cut their taxes, repeal-and-replace that godawful Obamacare, restore capitalism in all its glory, prevent a person’s race or sexual preference from giving them an advantage in life, and keep out the boogeyman from south of the border. Republicans may have craved this stuff, but the Religious Right wanted it even more. …
Donald Trump
If they were to control every branch of American government… What then?
“State, you may kiss the bride.”
As the political divide has grown infinitely wider and deeper in America, I’m not sure Conservative Christians, aka the “Religious Right,” have thought through just how hard they’re fighting for what they want. They seem to want control of the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. But to what end? Have they really thought it through?
If Christians, and Evangelicals in particular, are becoming obsessed with controlling American government — and from my observations and experience as one of them, they are — then their investment in human governmental affairs has gone way off the reservation. They don’t merely want Christian representation. …
Donald Trump
My Conservative Christian family & friends think I’ve lost my way. I’m not the one that changed.
I come from a very traditional family. I don’t know much about my family on my dad’s side; he was adopted. But my mom has a huge family that keeps growing all the time. And we love our traditions. We get together for Christmas for a big family potluck feast. We usually do the same at Easter.
We hug. Someone different is asked to pray over the meal each year (I’ve had my turn). When we finally eat, the kids go first in line; they have zero patience. We sit by an roaring fireplace. We tell stories. We laugh hysterically. …
Donald Trump
Here’s what Trump did
“This proves I was right in what I’ve been saying for months,” said President Trump, stopping to speak to reporters on his way to Marine One. “Sleepy Joe is too weak to be President.”
“Sir, do you have a message for him and his family?” asked a reporter, shouting to be heard over the helicopter’s noise. She was plainly offering him an opportunity to be presidential, by sending prayers and/or well-wishes to the Biden family.
“Well, we’ll have to see,” replied the unmasked President, oblivious to the cue he’d been handed. “At his age — look, I’m pretty strong. I haven’t caught the China Virus, he has. I don’t know that Joe’s weak necessarily, but people are saying that. That giant mask he wears all the time didn’t do him any good, or so I’ve read. I hardly ever wear a mask, and look at me — doctors say I’m in perfect health! …
Donald Trump
“Gimme gimme gimme NOW!”
It’s the classic Deal With the Devil.
Maddeningly, those who’ve made the deal fail — or perhaps refuse — to see it. Conservatives have traded their souls, the foundations of the “family values” their party supposedly stands for— in a Faustian deal that gets them what they want right now. A gift from the hands of Republican patron saint Donald Trump.
We’re all programmed for instant gratification. It’s not a sin; we live in the age of digital downloads and streaming content. …
Health
There’s a lot more to it than you see on TV.
I’m 44 years old, and I’ve had three surgeries in my life. At the time of this writing, I’m scheduled for a fourth in less than 24 hours.
The first thing you should know is that every surgery is different. I can’t give you precise details on what to expect from a facelift, or what happens when you have an appendectomy. Maybe you’re having a rod put in your leg. Maybe you’re having a tumor taken out. I can only give you what I know, but there are plenty of commonalities in most modern procedures.
My two most recent surgeries were spinal fusions, to fix a fractured spine. A fusion is where one vertebrae is “fused” to another. A few pieces of metal hardware are inserted, including screws, to force the two bones to hold together. It was supposed to be just the one fusion surgery, but there were complications. Hardware they put inside came loose, and somehow I contracted a severe infection that was in my blood and spread to the muscle tissue of my lower back. It had to be cleaned out by hand. This was done during the second, unplanned surgery, which also required a new fusion with bigger screws. …
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