JULY 2019 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1.  Montana GOP Representative Greg Gianforte.  Gianforte announced this month that he was giving up his seat in the House to run for governor of Montana against Democratic incumbent Steve Bullock (I’m going out on a limb in assuming Bullock won’t become President). Yes, this is the same Gianforte that back in 2015 in a speech to the Montana Bible College poo pooed the concept of retirement by invoking Noah—yea, the Noah. The Huffington Post captured a transcript:

"There's nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it's been an accepted concept in our culture today. Nowhere does it say, 'Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.' It doesn't say that anywhere…. "The example I think of is Noah. How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn't like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn't hanging out, he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical."

Just think, if Gianforte wins the governorship, he could rule for the next 550 years! Let’s hope, though, that Montana voters supersede the Bible and retire the moronic bible pumper before he sets foot in the governor mansion.  No disrespect for Noah intended.

TRUMP’S INHUMANITY AND IGNORANCE ON CLEAR DISPLAY

I know, I promised to refrain from posting anything about Donald Trump.  After all, what can be said that hasn't already about the lying, malignant narcissist?  Besides, the last thing he needs is more attention. The following commentary by NY Times columnist Roger Cohen, however, has moved me to make an exception.  In a few short, revealing words, Cohen paints a  spot-on picture  of Trump the man. It got my blood boiling.

Several less than perfect persons have occupied the White House.  Ours is an imperfect system; a few bad apples are inevitable.  But I will venture to say that the American presidency has never been so dishonored as it has been by Donald Trump.  It's not just that the self-absorbed dirtbag is an embarrassment to everything America is supposed to stand for, after all we've been led by a number of presidents who have strayed from our ideals, but it's hard to reach back in history and find a president whose deceit and downright evilness has caused so much damage to our values, our democracy, and to so much of humanity, at home and abroad. We've endured evildoer presidents in the past (Nixon comes to mind), and have managed to transcend the damage, but I'm sorry to say I'm not sure we will ever recover from the Trump presidency, especially if he wins  reelection, which is shockingly possible, if not likely.

I know Americans are a resilient people, we've overcome many hardships and adversities, and risen to  great challenges.  I'm encouraged by the empowerment of women, young people, and progressive energies alive at the grassroots, but I'm not sure this will be enough to overcome the Trump effect.  (Apologies for my cynicism; I hope you have not become similarly afflicted.)  Donald Trump is a product of a white nationalist, fact-adverse populism that has been brewing for decades.  It is now deeply entrenched in our political institutions and a large segment of our national culture.  This means progressive-thinking people need to overcome not just the man, but the roots that produced, and continue to sustain, his ignominious rule, a Herculean task, indeed.

If you value humanity, I trust the following Cohen commentary will summon raw emotions similar to mine.  If you're a Trump supporter, or one of his shameless Republican congressional lapdogs, I suspect you'll see nothing wrong with the president's frank indifference to Nadia Murad's story-- or, for that matter, to his general lack of empathy for human suffering.  Hell, you might even celebrate it.  Such is as it is in the Trump's world. 

I hope the Cohen post inspires a dialogue, and hopefully a personal response.

Ronald T. Fox

JUNE 2019 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Fellow Military Hawks. Senator Cruz joined the hawk bandwagon in calling for the creation of a Space Force, except Cruz one-upped them all in offering an ignominious line of reasoning. To get the full effect of the Cruz absurdity, you need to experience it with the full pomposity with which Republican he brought this dire warning to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Since the ancient Greeks first put to sea,” said Cruz, “nations have recognized the necessity of naval forces and maintaining a superior capability to protect waterborne travel and commerce from bad actors. Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same is possible in space.”

No. No, it is not possible. Poor Somalis, living in chaos and an economic system that runs on bullets, may board rubber dinghies to assault tankers off their coast. No one, no one, is or will be cobbling together a backyard rocket to buckle their swash in space.

Cruz went on: “In this same way,” he said, “I believe we too must now recognize the necessity of a Space Force to defend the nation and to protect space commerce and civil space exploration.”

At other points in Cruz’s complete speech, he discusses how a Space Force may be needed to protect America in “asteroid mining in which a small asteroid could contain rare materials such as platinum worth billions.” Which seems to overlook a few things.

First, we’re not doing any asteroid mining. We’re not going to be doing any asteroid mining for decades, at best. Second, anyone with the technology to be a pirate against asteroid miners could just mine their own asteroid. Third, the material from asteroids only has value if there is somewhere to sell it; you can’t, shockingly, smuggle an asteroid back to Earth for easy sale at the local bodega.

But hey, screw facts. Ted Cruz is on the floor of the Senate, demanding billions to fight space pirates. That is where we are.

Not only is a Space Force an unneeded boondoggle, it promises to bring consequences that will prove costly to our national and domestic security. It will add fuel to interservice rivalries, bloat the defense budget, impose mind-boggling bureaucratic hurdles, undermine the capacity of our military forces to operate with any sense of coordination, and compromise domestic spending priorities which will bear the burden of expanded defense spending. Been there done that. Think back when the Air Force split off from the Army Air Corp after World War II. How did that work out? Each service developed their own priorities, which don’t always square well with combat effectiveness. Think of the low priority the Air Force attaches to close ground support for our troops—not something they relish, as our troops, as well as advocates for the highly effective A-10 Warthog, have sadly learned.

But wait, another independent service will mean more defense spending, which should make the military-industrial complex salivate. Therein lies the crux.

Cruz points out that nations such as China have developed satellite-killing technology, but those are essentially missiles launched from the Earth. We have them as well. It’s not clear how any “space force” would help with this situation in any way. You can’t sneak up on someone in space. You can’t dash out from the nearest shoreline, make a quick hit, and return.

There are no space pirates. Unfortunately, there is a Ted Cruz.