protests

Civil War II

Fandango31 Comments

Starting this week and running through at least Inauguration Day, armed protests by Trump supporters are being planned at all 50 state capitals and at the U.S. Capitol, according to an internal FBI bulletin.

The FBI has received information that pro-Trump groups are planning to “storm” state, local, and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event Donald Trump is removed from office prior to Inauguration Day. The groups are also planning to “storm” government offices in every state the day President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated, regardless of whether the states certified electoral votes for Biden or Trump.

Thanks to Donald Trump and all of his GOP enablers, we can expect more bloodshed in the coming week after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol building. The United States is under siege and the second American Civil War is about to commence.

#WDYS — No Escape

Fandango9 Comments

He was exhausted. He was hot, tired, and oh so thirsty. He looked around, praying to find some cover from the hot desert sun.

He didn’t know if he’d be able to survive this ordeal. He thought back to how he got here and the state of flux in the society of the country he lived in and once loved.

He had been active in the protests against the government and its leader, who had become more and more autocratic since he assumed office. He thought that participating in peaceful demonstrations, something guaranteed, along with freedom of speech, by the First Amendment of the Constitution, would serve to protect him from persecution.

Some of his close friends warned him about being so persnickety and inflexible when it came to the state of our nation. But he was resolute in his efforts to right the wrongs. How could he have known that his actions would lead to his being arrested and thrown into prison with no due process.

It was almost a fluke that he was able to escape his cage-like jail cell, but there was nowhere for him to escape to. Just brown sand as far as his eyes could see.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See? prompt. Photo credit: Dan Grinwis – Unsplash. Also for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (exhausted), The Daily Spur (cover), Your Daily Word Prompt (flux), Word of the Day Challenge (persnickety), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (cage).

Drinking the Kool- Aid

Fandango11 Comments

“A protest about nothing?” Kay said. “Are you saying these protesters have no reason to protest?”

“Yes, Kay, that is my point.” Eric said. “These people have nothing to protest about. But there is a method to their madness, you see. They’re just a bunch of anarchist whose only objective is to make our president look bad.”

“Is that what your instinct tells you, Eric?” Kay asked. “Don’t you see that there are very serious, onerous injustices that are plaguing our nation? These protesters have very legitimate reasons for their protests. And what’s making your president look bad is not the protests themselves, but the fact that he’s doing nothing to address the root causes that are at the heart of the protests. Not only that, but the actions he’s taking by bringing in what are essentially mercenaries to allegedly stem the violence are only serving to exacerbate it.”

“Kay, you’re not seeing the big picture,” Eric said. “He’s just trying to preserve our history and protect our heritage.”

“And to appeal to his base of white supremacists,” Kay said. “There’s just no reasoning with you, Eric. “You’re totally drinking the Kool-Aid, aren’t you?”

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (protest), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (nothing), The Daily Spur (method), Ragtag Daily Prompt (instinct), Your Daily Word Prompt (onerous), and Jibber Jabber (picture).

He is a Deplorable Human Being

Fandango43 Comments

This is what my iPhone’s newsfeed looked like this morning.22C47E72-7CEB-4503-B644-0F85E94D6501We have a man in the Oval Office who doesn’t have an iota of empathy, cares only about how things affect him, and who only knows how to use force and intimidation to get his way.

Last night, from within a secure bunker deep inside the White House, Donald Trump threatened demonstrators outside the White House with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.” And he warned that the Secret Service was prepared to use them against the demonstrators.

Attorney General Bill Barr said he is sending federal “riot” teams to Washington, D.C. and Miami in an attempt to quell violent clashes between protesters and police. Federal riot teams? Really?

And, of course most Republican lawmakers are either standing squarely behind Trump, are echoing his calls to “dominate” the protesters, or are silently fiddling away while our country burns.

Is this what has become of my country? It breaks my heart.

Common Sense or a Lack Thereof

Fandango24 Comments

In a post from earlier this week, Di, over at Pensitivity101, wrote, “Common sense seems to have gone out of the window.” That, my friends, is an understatement.

Take, for example the case of a woman who was angry that the dining area at a McDonald’s was closed due to the restrictions in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. So what did she do to express her anger? She took out her gun and opened fire, wounding three McDonald’s employees. I mean talk about a lack of common sense. What was this woman thinking when she decided to eat at a McDonald’s? That food will kill you!

But seriously folks, what the hell is going on inside people’s heads?Virus Outbreak OhioHeavily armed protesters are crowded together, few wearing masks, at state houses all across the country wanting to open things up again, and carrying around stupid signs like these.DAD41AED-F69A-424C-8EDE-0D0863158C6DDo they want to get sick and possibly die in the name of “freedom” and “liberty” in order to mingle, go to tattoo parlors, and dine-in at restaurants?

I’m not a person of faith, at least not in the religious or spiritual sense. But I’ve always had faith in my country. I’ve always felt that, for the most part, America was a good country to live in and that most Americans, outside of the extremes on both the far right and far left, displayed at least a modicum of common sense and a shared sense of common interests. That’s not to say that I thought of the United States as perfect or its citizens as exemplary. To believe that would be naive and stupid.

But recent history has proved me wrong about the nature of my country and its people. My faith in America is now gone and I’m feeling a profound sense of loss. There seems to be an  inherent madness in Americans. A madness based on our willingness to believe in whatever fiction best comforts us — or enrages us. In the face of overwhelming uncertainty, we desperately seek some ground to stand on, even if that ground does not actually exist.

But I guess we Americans got what we deserved. We elected a reality show TV host as president, one who likes to pretend to be the country’s leader but has no idea how to actually lead a country.

So you’re right, Di, common sense seems to, indeed, have gone out of the window.