Day: December 9, 2020

Denial or Willful Ignorance?

Fandango21 Comments

According to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll of 1,065 U.S. adults conducted between December 1st and December 6th, only 24% of Republicans believe that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in last month’s presidential election. Of Democrats and Independents, 95% and 67%, respectively, accept that the election result showing that Biden won is accurate.

What is it with these Republicans? Is this a case of denial by Trump’s horde of rapscallion-like supporters who have become almost dependent upon his daily lies, unfounded election fraud and conspiracy theories, and the biased reporting coming from right-wing outlets like Fox News? Or is it an act of desperation by the delusional, about-to-be former president whose election loss has led to a rapid deterioration of his mental faculties?

Denial is the action of declaring something to be untrue, and it most definitely is untrue that Trump did not lose the election. Willful ignorance is when people refuse to become informed so that, in this case, they don’t have to face the reality of Donald Trump’s defeat.

As we slowly progress toward the eve of his eviction from the White House, are more than three-quarters of Republicans in denial? Or are they the victims of an evil yet ingenious plan to pull victory from the jaws of defeat by spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to those who choose to remain willfully ignorant about the actual and irrefutable outcome of the election?

Or is there some other explanation besides denial and/or willful ignorance?

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (rapscallion), The Daily Spur (dependent), Word of the Day Challenge (desperation), Your Daily Word Prompt (rapid), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (ingenious), and MMA Storytime (Eve).

Isn’t It Ironic?

Fandango12 Comments

When I saw this article on the front page of this morning’s paper and read the sub-headline saying that “Skeptical GOP senators question health expertise,” I thought to myself, “Seriously? How hypocritical can these assholes be?”

Joe Biden has selected California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his nominee for the cabinet-level position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Becerra, a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017 before he was appointed California’s Attorney General to replace Kamala Harris after her successful run for the U.S. Senate four years ago.

And yet some Senate Republicans seem to have reservations about Becerra’s nomination as HHS secretary, indicating that Biden’s pick may encounter resistance during the confirmation process.

I find this quite ironic. Over the past four years, the Republican majority in the Senate has confirmed a whole host of unqualified, inexperienced judges to the federal courts, including three of Donald Trump’s nominees to the Supreme Court. They also confirmed his nominees to various cabinet-level positions even though their primary qualifications for the job were that they were large donors to Trump’s campaign and/or were unabashed Trump butt-lickers who would do Trump’s bidding without pushback.

After four years of gross incompetence and corruption within the the Trump administration, it’s refreshing that Biden is seeking to fill key positions in his administration with qualified, competent, experienced, and diverse individuals.

I can’t quite fathom the gall of Republicans in the Senate to question the caliber of Biden’s nominees and threaten to withhold confirmation when their skepticism was suspended for every single one Trump’s judicial and cabinet nominees over the past four years.

One-Liner Wednesday — Old Age

Fandango8 Comments
Writer Jan Morris

“Old age is the right to be absolutely ourselves.”

Jan Morris, Welsh historian, author, and travel writer.

I couldn’t agree more. And that is, far and away, the best thing about being old.

Jan Morris was born in 1926 as James Humphrey Morris. In 1972, at the age of 46, she had gender reassignment surgery after transitioning from male to female. She passed away three weeks ago at the age of 94.

Written for the One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #99

Fandango29 Comments

FPQWelcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

This week’s provocative question was suggested by Pete over at Mr. Bump, and it’s a goodie. Pete wants to know…

What do you think are the three most pressing issues facing us today?

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Ingenious

Fandango21 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 9, 2020 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “ingenious.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.