Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

The Disjointed Disgrace of America

The United States of America.  Ahhhhh, how that once meant something.  Something proud, patriotic, world leading, temperate.  Not without myriad baggage and strife and conflict, mind you, but a work in progress so many of us were proud to be part of.

Now?  We are a disgrace.  Shameful.  Falling apart.  We are a laughingstock, a skit, a reality TV show for the rest of the world.

That is not hyperbole.

The sadder fact is that our fall from any level of grace did not just happen January 20.  That was a culmination to be sure, but we have been allowing this slide into fascism, hate, bigotry, religious zealotry, and oligarchy for decades.  

On my bookcase sit some of the various works of Frank Schaeffer.  Crazy For God (2008) is still a standout and one he and I discussed via email many, many years ago.  His parents were famous evangelists and he was brought up as the same.  Rubbing shoulders with the Billy Grahams and Pat Robertsons of that world, he was part of the infection of religion into government, a bacteria that began being injected back in the 80s.  Something he deeply regrets to this day.

As anyone with eyes wide open can see, religion's creep into the body politic metastasized into something deadly.  It has grown tumors and moved into every organ of our governance.  Not because there are so many true believers in our leadership, but because our leadership realized how easy it was to use religion to sway the masses; how quickly the mere utterance of 'Jesus' could gain one access to the pews and pocketbooks of the faithful; how their main angsty drumbeat, that of abortion, could be galvanized as a massive social wedge issue.

Look at Sarah Palin.  If you can stomach it.  She came on the scene banging the abortion drum, exploiting her child with Down's as some sacred symbol proving she passed their purity test, and quickly made stupidity a fashionable brain mullet.  John McCain, a decent but flawed man to be sure, regretted having her foisted upon him and then him foisting her upon the country.  But there was no turning back from the damage both wrought and the push forward they gave to political religion.

Fast forward to where we are today - a man in the Oval whose only use for God and Jesus are as words to be casually thrown around when needed.  His back pocket Hail Mary pass, as it were.  Things get a little dicey, stroke that Trump bible and mutter something, something, Jesus, abortion, transgender - and POOF!  All is forgiven.

The Speaker of the House believes himself to be some 21st century reincarnation of Moses, and if he can speed us towards the end days, bonus points!

The truth is their ranks are rank.  The halls of Congress and the White House are filled, and have been for so very long, with adulterers, thieves, drug users, hypocrites, pedophiles and pederasts.  Their main addiction is power - getting it and keeping it by any means necessary.  And now?  The main requirement to keep your cushy spot is complete obsequiousness to Trump.  Take the knee, or knees, and kiss that ass full speed ahead.  Abdicate all decency, your constituents, the Constitution.  One nation, under Trump...

The problem is, there are tens of millions of us out here who do not see sucking orange phallus as a virtue.  We don't lick tangerine taint to pad our pocketbooks.  And we don't abandon our fellow citizens to curry favor.

So much that has been transpiring in the past several weeks has wrought damage that cannot be easily undone, fences torn down that will probably never be mended.  And actions taken that reek of power grabs, blatant hate, open racism, and a hunger to mete out punishment.  Where is their "god" in any of this?

While a judge has put a temporary halt to eradicating USAID and throwing out thousands of its decent, global minded employees, so much damage has been done.  Musk calling USAID "a criminal organization" is so hypocritical and wrong, it's hard to know where to begin.  USAID reaches out around the world to help, to elevate, to protect, to provide clean water, food, mosquito nets.  The latest impacts, from an MSNBC article:

The impact around the world has been immediate and catastrophic.

No country on earth is more affected by malaria then Uganda. Every single day, the mosquito-borne disease kills 14 children under the age of 5. Because of Trump and Musk’s actions, Uganda’s Malaria Council has suspended insecticide spraying and shipments of bed nets, one of the most effective tools in limiting the spread of the disease, have ended.

Medical supplies to help pregnant women and save babies from dying of diarrhea are no longer reaching villagers in Zambia.

Efforts to eradicate polio and stop an outbreak of the Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola and has a death rate of up to 90%, have stopped. 

Tell me, MAGAts, where is your 'god" in casting pregnant women and babies to the winds of malaria, polio, Marburg?

Yet there you sit, clapping like seals as Musk and his band of racist lost boys infiltrate and shut down the very systems that help so many.  (And a tiny inconvenient fact for you:  Both Queen Melania and Princess Ivanka partnered with, and championed, USAID to the tune of millions of dollars once upon a time.)

And this from NYT reporting:

The New York Times reports that after USAID withdrew funding and “issued a stop-work order to all organizations” that receive its funding worldwide, “dozens” of research studies “have been abruptly frozen, leaving people around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them, and generating waves of suspicion and fear.” The Times says, “In interviews, scientists – who are forbidden by the terms of the stop-work order to speak with the news media – described agonizing choices: violate the stop-work orders and continue to care for trial volunteers, or leave them alone to face potential side effects and harm.”

Matthew 25:40 ring a bell?  “The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

You know what your 'god" is doing while you cheer this shit on?  Building a bigger hell.  For you.

Well, truth be told, considering you have completely remade god in your image, in your soft heads your god is probably building you a spiritual amusement park - note, I did not say Disney World as we know you believe Mickey and Friends are all pedophiles or some such garbage.

And what about this oh-so-godly move made by your diaperclad Don?  He has instructed the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children to immediately remove any reference to LGBTQIA from its website.  But wait!  In a venal gift with purchase, all missing transgender children are to be immediately deadnamed!  That's right!  Making it even harder to search, find, or even identify in a worst case scenario because the name they go by is not the name anyone is looking for. 

But let's be honest here, you don't care.  Because the truth is you don't give two shits in a whirlwind about any children in this world, but especially any on the wide and beautiful spectrum.  Children, even yours, are as much a prop as that Trump bible you caress at night.  And God forbid your child is gay or bi or trans.  If they don't run away before you cast them out, well, Trump has pretty much insured no one will be looking for them, which is exactly what you want.  Can't be embarrassed in front of the congregation, right?

And how about when Bigballs (yes, that's one of Musk's little boys who has your social security info) accesses the Medicare and Medicaid system bringing a halt to the desperately needed assistance so many people rely on to simply stay alive?  You good with that?  Ready to explain to your god in your afterlife chit chat how denying medical care and shelter and food to children was a good thing, a righteous act?  

And here's a little reminder for you - another inconvenient fact - red states suckle at the government teat far harder and wider than blue states.  So, happy screwing your own kind, idiots.

NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - is now under attack by the little DOGE monsters.  NOAA actually predicts, informs, and keeps people safe as major storms are taking shape.  You know, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis?  They use science, not a fucking Sharpie.  You ok with being in the dark when another Cat 5 takes aim at your Louisiana homestead?  When flood waters sweep away entire families, schools filled with innocent children, hospitals filled with babies, mothers, cancer patients - because there was no early warning system to help them move to higher ground, evacuate?

So godly, aren't you?  Hot tip:  God can't hear you when you're underwater in a storm drain.  Neither can Trump.  Who cares even less about you.

How about the next pandemic?  The CDC?  Not allowed to tell you.  Hell, tuberculosis is ravaging Kansas right now.  Are you aware?  Bird flu has resulted in the culling of millions of chickens and it has now made the jump to cows.  Enjoy that Big Mac.  

I have spent the past week reading online comments from MAGAland.  They are heinous and vindictive and above all, woefully ignorant about what is happening.  What little they do know, they are cheering.  And like parrots, repeating the propaganda over and over.  Their "news sources" do not provide news, they provide spin, slants, lies.

George Carlin was so prescient.  Of the media, he said, "Keep in mind, the news media are not independent; they are a sort of bulletin board and public relations firm for the ruling class-the people who run things. Those who decide what news you will or will not hear are paid by, and tolerated purely at the whim of, those who hold economic power. If the parent corporation doesn't want you to know something, it won't be on the news. Period. Or, at the very least, it will be slanted to suit them, and then rarely followed up."

And so here we are.  A ruling class enriching themselves right in front of our faces.  The robes of Jesus the only thing they consistently hide behind to justify their actions to a woefully ignorant cult.  And a nation that is as disjointed as we have seen in our lifetimes.  

I find solace (read: how I sleep at night) that my children and granddaughter all live in Blue states.  That my trans son is an adult and his documents are in order.  And as soon as my husband pulls the retirement rip cord, we are out of this penis shaped red state and away from the stench of Mar-a-Lago just down the road.

My friend Frank had his eyes opened long ago, and his books are a mea culpa of sorts for his part in where we are, but sadly, the MAGAt cult is a lost cause.  Their self righteousness is blinding and their leaders are wolves in cheap, ill fitting clothing.  Their awakening, if there is one, will be far too late.

Welcome to the Disjointed Disgrace of America.

Watching DEI DIE

While boarding both my Delta flights home yesterday, I was happy to see the now familiar signs to the right of the door still there.  As I tapped my dad pennies (don't ask) against the fuselage on my way in (again, don't ask), the bottom of the sign still declared that Delta is a strong proponent for DEI initiatives.

Now, for those who have rabid-dog latched onto those three letters the way you did CRT, without any real understanding of what the program stands for, let alone the three words themselves, let me help you out.

Diversity.  Equity.  Inclusion.

That's it, that's all.  Nothing sinister, deep state, or satanic, or deep statanic.  Just indicators that a company supports leveling the playing field in their hiring and workplace practices.

OK, ok, sit down.  I know you have been Pavlov conditioned to start barking right about now.  You people already have bad-telephone-gamed that the air traffic controller in the fatal crash between the Black Hawk and the airplane was a DEI hire with zero experience.  Facts be damned, DEI!!!!!!!  Bark, bark, bark!!!!

In truth - you know, that stuff that hurts your head - experienced controllers and supervisors were on duty, but the other truth is that our ATC body of employees has been woefully understaffed for quite a while.  Yes, yes, yes, I know your Nectarine Napoleon was out there blathering right after the crash that it was all down to DEI hiring.  No evidence.  Hell, the recovery efforts had barely begun when he was reading off the ticker tape in his head.

The reply from the ATC union was swift:

“Air traffic controllers earn the prestigious and elite status of being a fully certified professional controller after successfully completing a series of rigorous training milestones. The standards to achieve certifications are not based on race or gender,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), said in a statement.

“The proud men and women that comprise the national aviation safety professionals bear the immense responsibility of ensuring the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system, while working short-staffed, often 6 days a week, and in facilities long overdue for modernization.”

That did not stop stubby fingers from taking to Truth Social to regale you with more bullshit stating that a push happened during the Obama administration to get more black people in there (because, of course, OBAMA, and the insinuation that black people are not bright enough?) and that the FAA pushed to hire individuals with “severe intellectual” and “psychiatric” disabilities.

Bull and shit.  Full stop.

I grew up in this industry.  I grew up around all the pieces and parts from the administration of the actual airlines to the operations of the facilities to being able to go up into ATC towers with my father as an adult.  The people at those consoles are highly skilled, incredibly focused individuals who excel at multi tasking.  No one with a "severe mental disability" would get past the hiring door.  These people know they are responsible for the safe passage of 2.9 million people daily in the United States.

Can people in wheelchairs do the job?  Of course, and they do.  As do people of all cultures, colors, religions, genders.  This notion of his (and yours) that only white cis het men are capable of anything is so fucking laughable.  Sorry, but the stock in white men is at an all time low.  What your favorite flavor seems to excel at are mass shootings, child rape, and whining.

Poor you.  DEI makes it possible for women who are just as qualified as you, if not more, to be taken seriously in the hiring / workplace space.  The same for people of color, people with disabilities, people who may be transgender.

A great explanation from a hiring site states: Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a concept and practice used by organizations to recognize and value differences among people, ensure fair opportunities for everyone and foster a work environment where all feel welcomed and respected.

It is shameful that the words diversity, equity and inclusion set your hair on fire.

What is wrong with diversity in the workplace?  Aside from your inbred racism.

How about equity?  This is about employers recognizing that there are disadvantages and barriers at play.  Take women. That woman working next to you has had to fight harder, longer, and prove herself repeatedly to get where she is at.  And she still doesn't make equal pay.  And do boobs really distract you that much?  Get a grip.  In fact, here's some lotion in case it gets too much for you to take.  

Inclusion?  I know, it gives you the ickies that someone might be somewhere else on the human spectrum or not look like you.  Child.  Inclusion means when they enter the workplace each day they do not feel the need to code switch or hide part of their identity.  They should not have to shoulder your ignorance while trying to do their job.

DEI threatens you for two reasons:

1.  It helps level the playing field which in turns risks YOU being found to be lacking.

2.  Your latest marching orders are to hate it without truly understanding it.

Translation:  You continue to be so easy to manipulate.  Rube.

But with the renewed advent of the man-who-should-have-been-a-mattress-stain, DEI programs are beginning to DIE.  Company after company, fearful of his rheumy eyed gaze, are erasing them.  And now, with the latest introduction of yet another yes-woman into his administration, Pam Bondi - aka Powerwhore Barbie - as Attorney General, DEI is headed for extinction.

 

In a series of memos she has instructed the Department of Justice to begin criminal investigations into companies that maintain their adherence to DEI practices.  There could be resulting criminal penalties to private companies for being - let's be honest here - DECENT.  And decent is completely anathema to anything in this dumpster fire of a sadministration.

From allowing Sissy SpaceX and his band of nerdy incels to infiltrate all government systems and download all of our personal and private information, to trying to erase transgender people, to announcing that we will own Gaza?  There is not a shred of hope or light or redemption anywhere to be seen.

Honest question for every person, young and old, who were out in full force protesting during the campaign, demanding some purity test of Harris in regards to Israel and Palestine - happy now?  WE. WARNED. YOU.  We warned you to stop with your petulant insistence that you completely get your way in any of this.  We pleaded with you to educate yourselves somewhere other than Tik Tok.  To see what was so clearly at risk by allowing him back into power.  But no.  You completely personified why "Perfect is the enemy of good."  And now you have a leader whose plan is to take all those people you championed and relocate them elsewhere - ethnic cleansing, anyone? -  and turn the Gaza strip into a series of Trump Towers on the new "Riviera of the Middle East".

Seems finally having some diversity - aka a woman of color - in the Oval may have been the right move, huh?  I wish you luck with your protest vote keeping you warm at night, food in your fridge, or gas in your tank as the months move on.  And when granny receives her social security in the form of DOGE coins?  I hope your couch is supportive enough for her bad back.  Or when bird flu makes the big jump to humans and we have no idea because the CDC is mute and a brain worm ravaged nutjob is in charge.

While there is still much investigation to be done into what subterfuge took place in regards to our votes, I refuse to let off the hook the people who did not vote, who voted third party, or who voted for that orange sack of hubris and hamburger grease.  In two weeks, everything we warned of, and worse, has come to pass.  And your regret won't fix a damned thing.

But back to DEI.  Trump is going after it because he and his cadre of little white men are threatened by it.  Threatened by anything that levels the playing field and makes their (in their mind) biggest advantage - that of being white - moot.  Or at least mootish. And they can't have that.

Because as the saying goes, "When you're accustomed to privilege, any form of equality feels like oppression."      

RIP, DEI.