A rant in general, shouting at the wind, hopefully to shout a hole I can pee through in Normal entries

My niece, no, not that one, the other one, said something a bit surprising the other day. I don’t think it was original, it could have been, it was surprising that she said, although it was self-involved enough to belong to her, it also was sort of insightful to the mean tempature of the nation. She said “I’m conflicted between staying well informed and staying sane.” Hmmm, now that I’ve typed it outloud it doesn’t sound original at all, but I like it.

I’ve actually seen a train wreck or two in my time; it’s not impossible to look away but it’s damn compelling in a kind of morbid way and though not implicit in the saying one small part of you doesn’t want carnage at your back, if steel and fire are shooting through the air you kind of want to see which direction they are heading. Yes, I’m referring to the current body politic as a train wreck, just as my niece, no, not that one, the other one, was referring to the dissemination of information as the body politic is hobbled.

It’s hard to tell the rumor mill from the grist of fact and the media might well be doing it on purpose. I hate using the phrase “the media”. It’s used these days the way “Society” was used fifty years ago as though it were a singular entity with intelligence and malice. Heh. I don’t mean to imply “The media” or “Society” has no intelligence, but now that I have instead of correcting the course I’ve pointed it out. It’s imprecise and though common useage is a perfectly acceptable way of fucking up the language, neither the media or society is singular in any respect whatsoever and sure as hell not of a single mind, not for malice or benevolence. I’m so fucking old I remember when “the media” used to pretend to be objective and “Society” was agreed upon more’s and values,

There is a very clear line drawn in the sand, rumor has it that the line is where the wall is to be built. That’s less clever on the page than it was in my head, but it does speak to my point. I’ve heard the Cheetoh speak about the fucking wall for months now and I’ve seen the petitions for impeachment, and the more I hear without seeing anything actually happening, the less informed I feel. The new administration and “the media” are at odds and some insults are being hurled and some knees are being squeezed under tables and Christ almighty.

Here’s something I know about power. Information is power. Feel free to disagree, Christ knows there is a strong push towards ignorance these days. I know, you don’t need my permission to disagree, I guess all I meant by that is I’m not spoiling for a fight. I’d be more than happy to amend the statement to One component of power is information as long as you understand there is a silent parenthetical (the) in front of One.

If I just wanted to be angry or mean or try to be funny I’d suggest the Trump administration wants everyone as clueless as they are. It’s a little funny but a misdirection. I don’t think Trump is stupid, I do think he’s fine with having his intelligence underestimated. That’s neither a compliment nor a dig. It’s entirely possible that his plan is control the flow of information. Wait, that sounds stupid, every politicians plan is to control the flow of information. I think this administration is sowing the seeds of doubt of information in general, not like the third reich, it’s not content that’s being controlled, it’s credibility. Cast enough doubt and every source is suspect. What that achieves is prolonging the state of things now; everybody bitching and shouting out opinions.

I would never suggest that shouting out opinions is wrong and that you should keep them to yourselves, I would, however, suggest you remain clear on the difference between opinion and fact both from your own mouth and from the mouth of your adversaries. Also be clear that your neighbor is not really an adversary, he’s just as scared and misinformed (I believe on purpose) as she is, as you are as I am. I’m not a patient guy so it’s fairly disingenuous for me to say let’s wait and see but I am saying it. I hardly mean lie back and take it up the ass, pardon my … no, shit, no pardon … I mean let’s see where the facts fall before taking up the torch and pitchfork.

I have this feeling ignorant and in the dark is where we are being led; hostility just makes them what would lead us there feel justified. I say this with the personal theory that this administration doesn’t really know where or how or when to do the crazy shit it talks about or the crazy shit it’s rumored to want. A polarized public benefits them. The more angry accusations the public flings at one another … huh, I don’t want to finish that sentence. Two different analogies come to mind. One is the old style of warfare the Europeans used; two armies of relatively equal size standing in a line facing one another and firing. Not only does that guarantee a huge body count, but the only investment the individuals had were their own deaths. The other analogy has to do with a common but reprehensible way of training a dog and I find I don’t have the stomach to use it.

Let’s you and I not be a party to either analogy. You know how I pick a product on, say, amazon, that I’ve never owned before? I read the five star reviews and the one star reviews because I’m pretty sure they are both full of shit but somewhere in the thread of them there is a kernel of truth and if you read enough of both it starts to become clearer. So far I’m batting a bit better than .890 doing that. It’s not a great strategy and, again, I’m not very patient, but it’s the best personal strategy I’ve found for making a decision about something I can’t hold in my hand. A week or so into this new body politic and all reviews are full of shit and there are only five star and one star reviews. I’ve yet to find that golden kernel.

I lean heavily towards the one star, but then I would, right? I have no doubt as to my own opinion so where I lean isn’t really helpful to me. For instance I actually feel bad I didn’t go stand with the crowds at Standing Rock. I did march into the black hills twice in the seventies under what I consider very similar circumstances; amending treaties from “… is your land as far as you can see …” to “… The top six inches of topsoil is yours as far as you can see …” I paraphrase of course but that was the gist. I believe in civil disobedience, I believe it’s my civic duty and patriotic duty to engage in civil disobedience when my sense of justice is offended. I’m old and tired and need to use my energy wisely because there is only so much left. No offense to anyone but Standing Rock seems like a better fight than wearing pussy hats to call a misogynist a misogynist. I mean the best possible outcome of protesting at Standing Rock would be force a treaty to be honored and protect the environment. I’m not sure what protesting Trumps lack of character and vulgar attributes is meant to achieve; an apology? Some kindness? Proof that his personal behavior is deplorable? Again, no offense, and I’m not really saying those marches were a bad idea at all, I liked the idea and the energy, but it’ll be a long four years if we shout at every tree in the forest. I just meant of two topical issues that I’m pretty sure actually happened and are happening, Fracking in South Dakota offends my sense of justice more.

If trump sexually harassed my daughter I would be outraged and personally be loading for bear, but I’d still think fracking on another nations sovereign land is the greater offense to my sense of justice. There is nothing to suggest it’s either or and, again, I feel bad I did neither, the one person that is reading this knows if they did one and not the other or neither and my intent here is not to instill shame, outrage or add another shouting voice. If you believe as I do the next four years is going to be a fight, I’m just suggesting to chose your battles, or if you are young and full of energy go to them all, me, I’ll have to choose my battles. I need real information to do that properly, and so, disingenuous or not, I sort of want to separate the wheat from the chaff before sharpening my pitchfork. And I’m still under the opinion that the president is trying to keep the people angry at one another and maybe the people will build his fucking wall, for example, for him, out of spite. Personally what I’d like to see, like right now, is a crazy ass trump speech that receives only the chirping of crickets.

Much to my dismay his current tactics seem to be working, as far as actions go he seems to be vague as to the when and how, and overconfident as to the why; this has people shouting at one another and that, for what it’s worth, is working.