Quick Thought: The Covington School Incident

The political, economic, and social temper of this country is so volatile that it appears more potent than the eruption of any of the Earth's super volcanoes. Case in point, the incident that took place last weekend in Washington DC. A series of marches and rallies were taking place, including the "Pro-Life" march and the "Indigenous People's" march. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (only a few days from Martin Luther King day, of all days) an incident involving hate from both a religious and racial focus took place.

The most sought after culprit in this incident were the students of "Covington Catholic High School" who, in most videos of the incident, seemingly went after a Native American Elder. While the Elder plays his drum and chants trying to defuse the the situation, and one of the students, wearing a MAGA cap, stands silently before him (according to the student, he was doing to this in the same vein as the elder (BBC)), while his classmates chant behind him. These chants included such phrases as "build the wall", and other school related items.

What is overlooked in this incident is how did it actually start? Considering that many of the kids were wearing MAGA hats, apparel seen by many as a symbol of hate, many put the blame on them. As I have found with many of the these incidents, much still lies beneath the surface, and as a student of history, context is important to understand why an event happened. This level of depth is beyond what many reactionaries want as a quick clip or sound bite does more to prove their ideological beliefs.

The students are completely blameless in this, as so wonderfully said by Alec Guinness in the first Star Wars, "Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?" An extremist religious group known as the "Black Israelites" were seen in the footage just prior to the aforementioned incident provoking both the Native American group and the Students, shouting inflammatory comments (Washington Post). Their comments may have stirred bad blood and heated it to the boiling point.

In closing, it's confrontations like this that create my ambiguous opinion on the political and social culture created under the Trump administration. While first simmers of this can be felt all the way back to the Bush administration, the whole nation now seems to be exploding. While on one hand, a shake of the status quo in politics is a good thing, shaking of stagnation and getting people to think; on the other hand, it seems like we're spiraling down a deep chasm that no one seems bothered to want to get out off.

Links:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/01/22/who-are-black-israelites-center-viral-standoff-lincoln-memorial/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46943364

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hebrew_Israelites

A Profile in Courage or Hate?

The political landscape of the United States in 2018 is equivalent to a dark and perverted Monty Python sketch that has gone off the deep end. The nomination and subsequent hearing of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is an image of this absurdity in real time. It is filled with off the scale partisan politics, self-righteous speeches, and pure hatred and contempt. The review of allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh, which have been privately reviewed, has become a trial by emotion and public opinion. It is a media circus that has potentially destroyed the lives of two people, and brought their families in the light of public scrutiny and death threats.

With the election of Donald Trump, a person who could be viewed as the definition of the "Ugly American" incarnate, in 2016, it is as if the grotesque side of American society and politics rose up from the depths. People screaming on both sides of the political spectrum threw tolerance and decorum into the dumpster, while actual racists seemed to be popping out of the woodwork and running for elected office, anyone who remotely agreed with the current administration was branded a fascist. It seemed like even your own opinion, regardless of how mild it was, would garner resentment and anger; even being part of the administration seems political suicide.

Regardless of who President Trumped nominated to the Supreme court, they would have faced a hearing equivalent to a group of angry kindergarteners fighting over a toy. President Obama's last appointment, just before the election was basically shunned by Republicans who pushed any hearings until after the election. One way or another, this was going to be an "eye for an eye", the Democrats were were most likely not going stand idly by and let the Republicans get what they wanted. The allegations against Kavanaugh were revealed in a letter to Senator Feinstein in July and seemingly held on to like a proverbial trump card, until it was leaked after hearings.

In no way am I writing to this to attack Dr. Ford and her allegations, if someone's character is unfit to hold the position of of Justice of the Supreme Court then they should not serve. I look at issues like this with an eye of skepticism, the political climate and the timeline of events that have transpired, and the fact that there has already been an FBI investigation into the candidates back ground, lends a hand to that skepticism. Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford may be unwilling pawns in a political game by two political parties to "one up" each other. The fact that a senate hearing spent timing examining jokes in a high school yearbook is only part of absurdity.

Regardless of what the FBI investigation finds, this event will remain a blackspot on the history of American politics, and an examination of the stupidity of partisan politics. Politicians make themselves look as if they are pillars of our society, do gooders who who are the moral compass of our society; Judge Kavanaugh could possibly be counted among these people due to his time served in the political arena. However when we put people on pedestals we overlook the flaws, the ugly side. Ultimately, the issue with Kavanaugh is not whether we believe women, but whether we're going damn someone without considering their side. It's hard not to look at social media with disgust at how our society treats someone, how we are so willing destroy someone so totally and so brutally, it is as if the age of reason never happened and that we are going to back to the age of public stoning.

I want to end this with the description of an image I saw on Facebook; we treat politics as a game and seem to care little how it effects others as long as it fits with our own personal beliefs. The image was a drawing of a WWI soldier with his hands clasped over his face and the caption read "There is no Politics in the Mud".

A Reintroduction for 2019

I know last year my posting was spotty, on and off, and for the last few months, nothing at all. Now I can't promise that this year will be an upswing in posts, but I will do my best to stay on top of it. Last year was rough at times, issues with a YouTube channel I was working on, changes at work, and some computer issues (such as my old ThinkPad cooking it's own power board). Also I was doing quite a bit of writing on a science fiction series I've been working on for quite some time, hopefully I'll be able to release a bit of it in the coming months (if I can get what I was going to post off the aforementioned ThinkPad).

This year I hope bring you more of the same content I've posted for the last years I've run this blog, reviews, politics, history, and other social topics. As I've said in the past, everything I post here is my opinion, so take that with a grain of salt; I post sources to where I get my information and attempt explain my opinions the most eloquent manner possible. I know that doesn't get as many views as the more controversial blogs and opinion pieces, but I have standards I adhere to.

On the Facebook page and Blog, feel free to comment, however please keep it civil and in good taste. Discussion is good, but name calling and insults get us no where and I will not tolerate it; all post that violate this will be deleted, and possibly reported depending upon the vulgarity, bots and trolls will have their posts deleted outright. I have always felt that polite civil discourse help can solve many problems, so lets change the culture of the internet from the vulgar place it has become.

Also, thank you to those who read my blog, seeing people view what I have to hare gives me the motivation to continue this.

Thank you, and have Happy 2019!