This past February and finally on March 1st, 2022, Texas, like many states across the nation, had its 2022 Primaries. Several key offices were on the ballots, including Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and district-based Congressional and Legislative seats. In my mind, these primaries are just as critical as the following general elections. Why? Because if you are a voter of only one political party, a staunch party-liner as it is sometimes labelled, then naturally you should want the absolute best candidate to run against your opposing party (or enemy?). Simple, right?
But I am not a strictly party-line voter who has no serious opinion or does no research into each individual candidate, their campaign platform, or their background and government experience. Though millions of Americans forfeit their votes and voices with no regret (unless their demi-god candidate or incumbent loses?), I can’t do that. I know many of my family members and a few friends who enjoy being a strict party-line voter because it’s easy, brainless, and they don’t waste any of their own precious time or personal priorities during primary or election years. And tragically they are not alone, as you’ll soon read about most Texas registered or unregistered voters.
My conscience nor my civil virtue, duty, and privilege to be an active part of my democracy, my state’s and country’s future, will not allow me, and refuses to let me be so lazy or irresponsible. So, I have been an Independent voter for near 30-years, for many reasons I won’t go into detail today. However, I’ve never been a fan of strict party-line voting—it enables and nurtures bad democratic, civil habits, naivete, and closed-mindedness.
Ahh… but “Que Será, Será.”
Texas turnout this past February and March 1st for Primaries
The prevailing attitude among many Texans, in the happy pleasing song of Doris Day and Frank De Vol is that everything always works out best and beautifully in the end for everyone. Timeout! I am raining on that parade. No, that’s Hollywood fiction, a la la dreamland manufactured in the movies and like sugar-candy fed into people’s own heads. It won’t reflect reality around them, at least not for the decent, rational, typically kind people when it comes to how they’re governed and their following descendants are governed or protected. Nevertheless, this is remarkably a very prevalent attitude and mindset among too many Texans for far too long, as The Texas Tribune has (below) shown yet again.
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“Historically, voter participation in midterm primary elections is dismal in Texas, with less than a quarter of registered voters casting ballots most years. This means that a majority of registered voters don’t participate. These figures also do not account for the eligible voters in the state that have not registered.”
Many new voting restrictions on non-white Texans and constant “redistricting” or redrawing of district maps by GOP lawmakers for both Congressional state chambers, delegations, and our State Board of Education—to rewrite Texas history, among many other curriculum subjects—will impact voter turnout in Texas, making what was already historically dismal even worse for at least the next decade.
As you might imagine, this cycle of repetition I’ve seen and witnessed in Texas-voting, lawmaking, and quite literally segregating of citizens, of voters and would-be voters over the last 30-years has nauseated my stomach so much that I’ve probably developed ulcers and/or Crohn’s Disease. It is so very depressing and frustrating how a shrinking political demographic the last two decades, a near minority if not already one, is still maintaining (legally? Constitutionally?) its stranglehold and power over the entire state! How? How is this possible in a supposedly freely elected democracy?
It seems Ross Ramsey, also of The Texas Tribune, has a prescription of relief for me and other progressive, open-minded, diversity-advocate Freethinkers and typically non- or anti-Conservatives of Texas. He calls it The Fred Rogers Test. It is intended for Texas public officials who by principle and by vow, are elected and sworn into office to SERVE us Texans. Give a listen, please. It’s worth the 4.5-minutes of your time.
Here is one paragraph I found particularly profound, poignant, and accurate by Mr. Ramsey:
“Candidates are good at describing problems. They’re great at sweeping phrases, too, like “if elected, I’ll fix that.” But they speak in generalities, and what happens when they’re elected — or more to the point, what doesn’t happen — somehow slips past voters when it’s time to put people in office.”
Mr. Ramsey goes on to list many key, critical problems Texas is facing and has been facing for at least two-decades, probably more like four-decades. One I liked and which resonated with me:
“Teachers in Texas are overworked, underpaid, micromanaged and asked to do a lot more than teach children. Everybody says that, everybody knows that, and the lawmakers who are now talking about it on the campaign trail are often the same people who didn’t do much to fix it in the last legislative session, or the one before that.”
In an October 2013 blog-post, then Texas Governor candidate Wendy Davis, who I supported fully, asked me personally, one-on-one as a Special Ed teacher for Wards (kids) of the State in Leakey, TX: “Tell me your story? What challenges do you and your family face? What issues should be addressed to strengthen our families?” I was honestly shocked by this personal touch. Never had I received any type of correspondence like that from any Texas politician since I became a legal voter in 1981, not ever! You can read “My Story” blog-post here.
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Perhaps this Fred Rogers Test can be a very simple guideline for lazy Texas voters and unregistered voters. I really do hope so. It’s a start. If not an embraced, motivating voter’s guide for lazy Texans, then the alternatives WILL be disturbing, possibly irreparable if they keep their residence here continuing their personal bubbles of denial. Problems, especially chronic problems, will not simply vanish in time or go away or be ignored as Doris Day and Frank De Vol sing you into a dreamy trance. Progressive, evolving democracy is not a toy soldier or monkey you wind-up, let it go, and expect it to run indefinitely. Democracy was never designed to be a type of nuclear power-plant that runs in and of its self, indefinitely with no input or maintenance. It is so much more, much to precious and fragile. It can die if one ignores its lifeblood or turns one’s back on her at the polls, PTA meetings, and town forums to name just three civil virtues and privileges we Texans and Americans are gifted and honorably endowed.
Consider this in light of what you are now seeing in Ukraine and to peaceful, non-violent protestors inside Russia being arrested and hauled away to prisons and jails for an indefinite period. That might be you and your own country some day.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Listen Closer – Learn Always
About three weeks ago in Clockwork, I asked my blog Followers and any visitors to select one of four statements that best represents yourself, life around you, and within our Universe. Those four choices again were:
I am a cog in a Clock.
I am a Clock among Clocks.
I am my clock Winder & Minder.
I am the Time Guardian.
I also asked that you explain why you chose the statement, and then explain why not the other three statements as your choice. There were several good answers and elaborations, a few were comical and lighthearted, and others very intriguing and that I would not have expected.
It is probably wise for me to say “there isn’t a correct or wrong selection.” That might disappoint one or two of you, and others not at all. Think of it this way: Do we witness any of the four statements and their implied meanings in other humans we know? I know I do, regularly. In fact, I’m bewildered to the point of chuckling when I hear or read (essentially) #4 by someone!
I don’t care how wealthy or famous—or evil, or megalomaniacal(?)—or intelligent they might be or they think they are, but “no man is an island, entire of itself” as John Donne famously coined. And furthermore, we did not enter this life from the womb completely independent of anyone or anything, did we? And at some point late in our life—hopefully a very fulfilling, whole life at that—we will return to an existence of dependence. Perhaps complete dependence on family and/or friends. In this, none of us has a choice; embrace it we must! Therefore, I personally think #3 is quite audacious to claim and not entirely true, at least not at birth nor in our final weeks alive. And with that said, I personally might even say #2 is pretty bold to assert, but not as much as #3 or near as omnipotent and omniscient as #4.
As I mentioned in one or two of my replies to comments, this came about when a dear friend of mine told me, pompous and quite full of herself, that “You create your own happy successful world, life, and experiences.” We had known each other intimately for over five years. During that time both of our lives were effected in large ways by not only each other, but also by several others in our spheres including immediate and extended family members. Some of those events and family were effects on us in massive ways which changed the course of life/lives, personally and in extended external ways! However, none of these events I allude to include severe weather phenomena that wreaked havoc on us, some of it permanent, nor do they include how COVID-19 effected our lives, obviously. None of us can choose our biological parents or the zip code(s) they’re born into; maybe all throughout their life. Many humans, through various forces, are propelled into painful, unbearable situations in life, impossible to avoid.
These many varying life conditions I mention still must abide in every way by Laws of biology, physics and Quantum Mechanics within our entire Universe, which certainly effect this “tiny Pale blue-dot of a planet,” to borrow Carl Sagan’s iconic prose, that we much tinier beings must coexist with, but not as commander or Time Lord, and maybe only as a clock Winder & Minder, temporarily as it will be.
From COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Hence, for me personally, I’m not completely comfortable asserting number two. I have some reservations with it. If I’m perfectly honest, today March 2, 2022, I am much more comfortable simply with #1, and I am very fine with that. In Somewhere I Have Never Travelled,Gladly Beyond, the fourth stanza, E.E. Cummings speaks of a lady or lover, but what about life, our individual lives (clocks, cogs?) as the Lady or ourselves?
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing.
-- e.e. cummings
For those of you who participated previously in Clockwork, any final thoughts? Any final questions? I won’t promise I have the answers, but I promise to wonder, contemplate, and be a travel companion with you. 😊
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Listen Close – Learn Always
I am curious and would be grateful for you indulging my curiosity.
Choose one of the four statements below that best represents yourself, life, and the Universe. In your comment at the bottom explain why you chose it, and then please explain why not the other three statements as your choice.
I am a cog in a Clock.
I am a Clock among Clocks.
I am my clock Winder & Minder.
I am the Time Guardian.
Brain activity on an EEG monitor before physiological & muscular action.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Listen Close – Learn Always
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Yes, the title is correct: wordfare instead of warfare. It is intended to describe a commander’s art of non-warfare against a lethal, attacking enemy while diverting your country’s cannon-fodder by way of lies and deception to preserve your own self-interests and life. This was the true objective revealed by February 2020.
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The magnitude of Tzu’s wisdom regarding war cannot be overestimated. Nor should it be underestimated. Prior knowledge of your enemy is so advantageous, so monumental for survival, and so utterly imperative really if one can better prepare for a war you could lose, and yet cannot avoid. As a Commander, being acutely naïve, unprepared, and refusing private counsel while acting in or portraying arrogance to your people, the timeless Sun Tzu says “you will succumb in every battle.” You will cost your country dearly in lives, resources, and hasten your defeat, or at least leave your nation dangerously exposed or irreparably weak.
Imagine for a moment you are the Supreme Commander of your nation’s advanced forces. They are formidable and at your disposal. They include not only traditional, highly-trained army, naval, and aerial units equipped with the most sophisticated weaponry available, but are also supported by an equally formidable intelligence, counter-intelligence and communication groups. All of these forces are made possible by your very advanced, domestic manufacturers in science technology, materials, research and development, and their various expert staffs. A cumulative force to be reckoned with, no doubt.
Would these exceptional resources offer you a level of security, confidence, and a fighting chance? They should, especially if you already know war is coming.
“It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry [and preparation] which can on no account be neglected.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Throughout history there have been many well-known, successful strategies and proven concepts for waging war. Though Sun Tzu’s work, known as The Art of War, is over 2,500 years old, it is referenced and often utilized in today’s conflicts by the shrewdest military leaders and their cunning foreign diplomats alike. One might say The Art of War, or The Art of Avoiding War, is common knowledge within the halls of command centers and their governments.
The causes and events leading up to war can and usually do present a defendant a critical window of time to prepare. In this initial window one can mobilize domestic resources and inventories as well as organize a preliminary defense, provided no surprise attack(s) wipes out all means of your opposition. A few widely known examples of emergency readiness strategies include:
DIME(FIL) – The elements of national power diplomacy, information, military, and economics, often included are financial, intelligence, and law enforcement (see MIDLIF).
OODA loop – Decision-making occurs in a recurring cycle of observe-orient-decide-act. An entity (whether an individual or an organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby “get inside” the opponent’s decision cycle and gain the advantage.
Weinberger-Powell Doctrine – eight questions that must be answered affirmatively before military action can be taken by the U.S., that is if not surprise attacked. This doctrine will be referenced later.
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“If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
With the above few models, concepts, and strategies for waging war introduced, I want you to return to imagining yourself as a Supreme Commander. You have just received a High-Priority Intelligence wire about an impending attack on your nation and civilians. The communique reads:
28 OCTOBER, 2019, 8:17AM EST
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND
By combining disparate lines of evidence, our intelligence committee and agents were able to put a time-stamp of an imminent threat of mid-October 2019 circulating and organized in the Hubei province of China and Wuhan. By December 2019 this threat will escalate into a scaled attack on the United States' Ports of Entry by mid-January 2020, progressing into a full-scale offensive of lethal, unacceptable proportions by April 2020 or earlier.
URGENT! MAKE ALL PREPARATIONS POSSIBLE IMMEDIATELY!
As Supreme Commander of your nation and the avowed sworn protector of your people, what would you do? What would Sun Tzu do or any other of history’s greatest commanders? Act or remain lethargic? Alarm or panic your people by publicly speaking without first confirming the facts? What are the forecasted consequences of immediate action or idle inaction?
WAR WITHOUT CASUALTIES?
Let’s flip roles. Now, imagine for a moment you are the aggressor, the attacking enemy upon the United States. Become your enemy so that you can anticipate their maneuvers and objectives. Find your enemy’s worst weakness, exploit it and without being discovered in so doing. What does the 2,500+ year old treatise by Sun Tzu recommend doing to expedite victory with minimal losses to your people and forces?
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Would it be possible to defeat your enemy without fighting or while fighting, sustaining no casualties from your ranks? How might a feat that remarkable be pulled off?
Quick Disclaimer: Before I continue I want to make clear that I am in no way promoting any sort of conspiracy theory from this blog-post. I am merely proposing What If’s in the historical context of warring nations while examining and inquiring how best to wage war on your enemy. But precisely what I am denouncing in real-time from actual real events, I will soon reveal below.
The history of warfare is replete with victorious tactics and methods of the most sinister kind. From the 14th-century BCE Hittites to the 4th-century BCE Scythians, the 1st-century BCE Carthaginians and the Romans, the 14th-century CE Mongols and the 18th-century CE Russians, to the 19th-century Germans in World War I, biological warfare has been employed by combatants. A host of these diabolical tactics, many known and some unknown and unconfirmed, have been used with devastating effectiveness. And they were used with minimal-to-no casualties for the attacker. For the most inhumane, immoral, and bloodthirsty tyrant, that is a blueprint for victory indeed; victory at any cost by any means.
“Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Attack your enemy where he is most unprepared, appear where he least expects, and where he is most vulnerable. In early 1941 when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy designed the attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, Yamamoto followed Sun Tzu’s three principles above.
By accomplishing all three objectives in a surprise attack 11-months later, Yamamoto and Imperial Japan crippled America’s ability to stop or significantly oppose Japan’s South Asian and Pacific expansions until mid-1942. The loss of military and civilian lives on Dec. 7, 1941 were heavily lopsided: 64 Japanese personnel to 2,335 U.S. personnel and 68 American civilians lost. Over 1,100 Americans were seriously wounded.
When World War II officially ended, the total number of fatalities for the United States topped out at approximately 420,000 dead. The amount of lives lost from all involved warring nations and the civilian bystanders caught in the cross-hairs was astronomical by any standards. But I want to reiterate American losses: 420,000 killed. All of them premature, obviously. Think about that for a minute. Thousands upon many thousands killed were only teenagers, multitudes signed up without their mom’s or dad’s permission, with 60-70 more years ahead to live a life.
“When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders’.”
Sun Tzu
Imagine what Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered and knew too well would be the cost in American lives? The untold damage for families was felt for the next two or three generations to come. Children raised by one parent and perhaps the eldest sister; brothers old enough to fight were gone, many never to return.
The U.S. economy in wartime was fragile at best. There was no guarantee our Federal Reserve would hold out to the end, especially in the first two or three years of fighting, much less our civilian population. My family still has my father’s boyhood wartime rations card and stamps for all 1942 American civilians when they went to grocery, supply stores and other merchants. My Mom told me one day that Dad spoke modestly about how difficult the rationing was and on occasion he and his family of seven simply went without, sometimes for several months. But in order to win the war they had to and did it gladly.
Today, generations removed from a world war, we take for granted these American luxuries and abundance without any thought or gratitude as if we’re entitled royalty. In truth we don’t need so much lavishness to survive. In fact, when we do not or cannot get this opulent overabundance, I’d say we’ve demonstrated too often self-absorbed ugliness coming out in childish tantrums. We revolt, spit foul-mouthed insults, even become barbaric to our fellow Americans and leaders with little, if at all, civility, understanding, respect, or dignifying collaboration during national crises.
[There] “is a third strategy that States might employ to increase their relative power. This strategy involves causing two rivals to engage into a protracted [fight or] war, so that they bleed each other white, while the Baiter remains on the sideline, its military strength intact.”
John J. Mearsheimer – The tragedy of great power politics
In November and December 2019, however, America was not in a world war per se. It was to be a different type of war, and a “war” we had already waged numerous times before. The most costly of them was from February 1918 to April 1920. Much more, our enemy today warned us they were coming and would assault us by January 2020. Even more staggering, our enemy told us how they were going to attack!
To the severe detriment and death of ordinary, hardworking Americans this early announcement of war, biological war, came during the 2020 election year. As a result, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans’ safety and health were ignored, jeopardized, sacrificed, dead bodies of all ages turned into a number, then tossed aside—too many unable to be with dying loved ones in ICU—merely for political, ideological gains and one Party’s election campaign.
INCOMPETENCE REDEFINED
Now for the denouncements (D-x).
(D-1) Of all the forty-six United States Presidents, there stands only one who by most standards of foreign and domestic statesmanship, failed miserably to uphold not just the Constitution, but the Executive office’s sworn duties and responsibilities (oath) to the American people: Donald J. Trump. And there is one crucial measuring stick to be first applied: How many Americans were killed by the biological enemy’s relentless attack during Trump’s Administration?
From an initial broadstroke perspective, let’s examine the numbers. As of January 20, 2021, the date Trump officially left/lost the White House Oval Office, the cumulative COVID-19 deaths were 424,401 per the CDC, typically lower, delayed numbers than reported by other health organizations like Worldometer.info and others. However, when President Joe Biden took office, after 15-months of finally fighting back against enormous odds—in several cases not able to fight back offensively as one unified nation—America was still woefully unprepared, disorganized, and dragging its feet to counter-attack the biological enemy that had invaded our ports of entry as early as Jan. 13th in Chicago, IL. Later, the enemy was confirmed in nation Jan. 21, 2020 in Snohomish, WA, then Chicago, IL, Orange Co. LA and Santa Clara Co., CA, and Maricopa County, AZ all before February 1st. Therefore, how many American deaths should be fairly attributed to Biden’s charge at the helm?
Making the preposterous claim that more Americans have been killed by COVID during Biden’s Presidency than during Trump’s is not only wrong, but does not take into account all variables and factors involved during a campaign election year. This was followed by an uncooperative, belligerent transition from the old to a wholly new Administration. In fact, suggesting this claim would be like saying President Harry Truman single-handedly lead us to victory over Japan and Nazi Germany in 1945. It’s absurd. Only incompetent fools would count Truman as our heroic WWII president or Biden the killer of 337,480+ Americans. Read the facts-checked here.
[War, or being prepared for war] is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. […]
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
(D-2) Earlier in the post I bulleted the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine. Within this doctrine are eight Sun Tzu “deliberation questions,” if you will, that must be answered affirmatively before military action can be taken by the U.S. This doctrine of deliberations outlines how to respond to a national security threat, in this case COVID-19. It’s considerations should have taken place at the nation’s highest levels preferably by mid-November 2019 and reasonably no later than December 2019. With answers following the eight deliberations are:
Did we have a clear attainable objective? YES, it was self-evident.a) To at least slow the death-rate of Americans as significantly as possible by b) preliminary and necessary pandemic mandates, while c) researching then determining a medically safe vaccine(s), d) expediting its speedy distribution to all Americans, and e) disseminating singular, factual information about #a–d in order to stop, repel, and eradicate this biological enemy.
Were the risks and costs fully and frankly analyzed? NO.As of Jan. 31, 2020, when President Trump took his first (inadequate) action by only denying foreign nationals entry into the U.S. who had traveled to China 2-weeks prior, the risks and full costs of a prolonged biological war were in full swing and devastating, hence, not frankly or realistically analyzed.
Were all other non-violent policy means [e.g. in this case PPE’s for frontline health & emergency workers, at the very least] fully exhausted? NO.Manufacturing capacities of PPE’s would’ve easily met demand.
Was there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement? NO.By early 2021 the CDC and DHHS determined at least one follow-up booster shot would be required, possibly 2-3 more if the COVID virus was allowed to perpetuate and mutate into variants.
Were the consequences of our action fully considered? NO.See Trump disinformation slideshow below.
Is the action supported by the American people? MIXED.Due to inconsistent federal to individual state leadership & statesmanship regarding #2a, b, d, and e above, as well as highly polarized political rhetoric, about 163-million Americans chose indifference and/or passivity to the enemy’s invasion.
Did we have genuine broad international support? YES, OVERWHELMINGLY. However, because of #2 thru #7 it did not matter until February 2021, much too late.
The final Weinberger-Powell Doctrine scorecard for Jan. 20, 2021 and the outgoing Administration reads “An Unmitigated Disaster,” obviously. To confirm simply talk to any of the 424,400+ surviving American family-members of their premature loss(es) of loved one(s) or pandemic ER/ICU nurses to affirm this final score. The stories are gut-wrenching. One example from November 25, 2020:
Furthermore, in relation to #2-e above, these were the reports Trump was disseminating to Americans on how the biological invasion and war was progressing. From my Nov. 2020 blog-post Delusional Incompetence; notice the dates of egregious disinformation:
(D-3) This all could have been made less devastating, so less deadly had immediate action by a declaration of war been made and all available resources mobilized. Instead, the total death-toll to date of American cannon-fodder, insolent indifference, and initial inaction and continued inadequate half-measures (or less) by the former President and his Administration is in context of American lives, prematurely (to put mildly) and unnecessarily lost, unthinkable and glaring:
The unnecessary reality of inaction, incompetence, and human loss.
(D-4) Since 1884 all U.S. Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Senators, H-Representatives, and other federal employees serving Americans take this sworn oath and promise We the People to abide by and fulfill them. Most all Presidents of Crises have served Americans with honor, distinction, and statesmanship (see the C-SPAN network 2021 Lincoln Forum’s Wartime Leadership – Lincoln & FDR and Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship for exact definition) in accordance to this Presidential Oath of Office:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
That Constitution is for the People, all Americans, is the law of the land for all U.S. citizens and its employees, and therefore by implication denotes the same protection and defense for every U.S. citizen, all ages, all ethnicities, all creeds, all socioeconomic classes without exception. By this measuring stick former President Trump also failed miserably. He was unequivocally derelict in his duties he vowed to uphold on Jan. 20, 2017 at his inauguration.
“Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots. […]
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
BAIT & BLEED REVISITED
(D-5) Returning finally to the military concept of what Mearsheimer coined as baiting, bleeding out, or bloodletting, imagine once again you were the enemy aggressor on the United States. According to Sun Tzu and Mearsheimer, one subtle method of collapsing or weakening your enemy with minimal losses to your forces would be to pit, to radicalize and polarize your enemy’s inner factions against each other. For a prime example, divide (extremist) Republicans and (progressive) Democrats so fiercely that the U.S. as a whole cannot be of one mind, one objective to win the war. As the popular cliché goes, a house divided against itself cannot stand.
By pitting Americans against Americans, as the enemy aggressor you win over half the battles or better, and win the war. This tactic of Americans killing Americans (via biological virology) would make Sun Tzu and any prolific general, past or present, foaming at the mouth green with envy!
For all the arrogant incompetence we’ve endured, the wordfare vs. warfare, and indifferent inaction, we the American people, who put the historically worst leader into the White House from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2021, beyond any doubt are suffering and have suffered the worst calamity, the worst socioeconomic impacts dominoed into every sector of our lives. Thus, it is the worst ongoing defeat in our nation’s two centuries of history. We were baited and blead by our own leader. And as if it could not be any worse, today that incompetent leader still cares less about our rising death-toll and might, just might weasel back into office because some 74-million Americans cannot distinguish between or recognize the manifestations and deceit of a megalomaniac versus exceptional statesmanship.
For a few months now my blogging time has been at the mercy of situations at home, as many of you know. Some of you are probably grateful. Some of you may be ecstatic. Still others are perhaps undecided, contemplating if the world is a better place without my regular ranting, raving, and splendidness. And there are two or three I know are being driven mad without their weekly dose, their fix of my penmanship and sheer foolishness. 😉 I know, I know. But there’s only so much of me to go around! And a few have my best parts, others have the not-so-good parts (always yelling at me are those), and several have curiously returned other parts of me as defective, dysfunctional, or in need of some sort of overhaul major repair—your refund check is in the mail… if I had your address. If I didn’t and you want your refund, call 1-900-932-4668, or with the letters on your dial pad: 1-900-YEA-H-NOT 😁
Seriously, don’t call that number. I have no idea if it’s a working number.
What tha hell have you been doing? GET BLOGGING Professor!
To briefly let you all know what I’m working on, here’s a rundown of a few, oldest to newest drafts:
Cheating Death —
Aubry, Pat, and Terry —
Kinshasa-Leopoldville —
He’s A Cannibal! —
Black Underworld Inc. – Appendix —
Transparency: A Double-Edged Razor —
Marx and Nietzsche Today —
Heterosexual Humble Pie —
Christian Apologetics: Land of Oz – Pt I —
A Bright Future for Our USMNT —
Social Compassion, Plus —
A Newer Constitution —
It’s a bit of a laugh isn’t it, this list? This is only 12 of 37 drafts I have awaiting completion. Yeah, now you can laugh and joke. I deserve it. For more chuckling, ask me when I will finish these and the other 25 drafts. HEY! I am not a terrible procrastinator. Life has lots of curveballs, some of them miss you by millimeters, others hit you smack in the sack-ticles!
Besides, most all of my last seven therapists have all told me, A procrastinator? Nah, you are like fine wine with time. Just don’t lose the homing-device for my whereabouts, bring a jolly attitude and more Malbec, preferably from the Mendoza Valley, Argentina. That is my medicine, my go-go juice 🍷 …or a smooth tequila. 🙃
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Listen More – Learn Always
