6/11 Capitol Riot Commission

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:  God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.
―     Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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On This Day In:
2020	Fact Check: Presidential Memories
	Vote In November!
2019	Where Today’s Republican Party Is Failing America (And The President)
2018	Either / Or
2017	Redemptive Power
2016	On Calls To Renew Waterboarding / Torture
2015	Still Struggling
2014	How To Become A Saint
2013	Not Much Change
	Our Biggest Fear
2012	Brain, n.
2011	Styles Of Leadership
2010	Face Front!

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Families

…
The nuclear family, in its brief heyday, was fundamentally an economic strategy, one that made it easier to control the supply of workers and organize childcare and domestic work so that women were doing as much of it as possible for free.  This arrangement no longer makes economic or emotional sense — and millennials know it.  Almost half of us, after all, grew up with parents who were divorced, or in single-parent households.  But the nuclear family remains the only form of family with cultural legitimacy.
…
Here’s the lesson I had to learn:  “Traditional” nuclear families today are no more stable or secure, no more or less likely to lead to lasting happiness, than “alternative” households.  In “The Sirens of Titan“, Kurt Vonnegut spends hundreds of pages coming to the conclusion that the purpose — or at least a purpose — “of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”  The problem with found families is exactly the same as the problem with every other sort of family.  There is no perfect structure, no single set of rules, that can guarantee that people will always be decent to each other, will never have growing up to do, and that nobody will ever get their heart broken ever again.
…
And that, I suppose, is what family means.
It means you love whoever is around to love.  That doesn’t mean you have to like them all the time.  Love takes work.  Living together takes work.  Sick and tired of waiting around in the antechamber of socially sanctioned adulthood, millennials are setting up home right here.  We are not waiting for our “real lives” to start.  We may never have the security or stability we were raised to desire, but we can still have commitment and community.  For me, this is my real life.  These are the households and relationships where I have grown up, learned how to take care of myself and other people, had my heart and brain and favorite mugs broken.  These are our real lives, brief and beautiful, stupid and unlikely, and we would live them far better if we were given permission — beyond the wish fulfillment of fiction — to believe in them.
—    Laurie Penny
From her article: “Live Wrong And Prosper: It’s The Future Of Families“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine, dtd: July / Aug 2020
Online at:  https://www.wired.com/story/live-wrong-prosper-covid-19-future-of-families/
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On This Day In:
2020	A Message To Optional Trump Supporters (Basically Everyone)
2019	Bigger Jaws
	On The Other
2018	Hoping For A Blue Wave In November
2017	Garden Dreaming
2016	Well, Maybe Not “No” Talent
2015	An Appetite For Life
	A Trip To The Library
	Great Expectations
2014	Pass The Soul
2013	Zapping Music And Art
2012	Not Quite Fantastic
	That Kid Is Back
2011	Wolves At The Door
2010	I’m Feeling Patriotic… (Well, more than usual, anyway.)
	Beating the Heat…

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Saving Democracy And A Voting Rights Act

Some things you miss because they’re so tiny you overlook them.  But some things you don’t see because they’re so huge.
—    Robert M. Pirsig
From his book:  “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“
[To “save” American democracy we need three things:  A voting rights act (to save the people’s right to decide our leaders);  increased vaccinations (single payer health care would be nice, too);  and, an infrastructure bill which make fighting climate change a national priority.  Unfortunately, one or two will not be enough – and the clock is ticking…    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Two Hours From Now
	Criminal Incompetence, Criminal Indifference Or Both
2019	Slow Wisdom
	It Is A Start…
2018	Young, Fun And Playing Well
2017	Earning Your Blessings
2016	A Suggestion…
	Capable Of Being
2015	Looking For The Needles In The Haystacks
2014	The Definition Of A Gentleman
2013	Thar She Blows (Not)!
2012	Naturally
2011	Been Here, Done That
	Remember
2010	Timeless Classics

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The Truth Shall Keep Us Free

The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.
—    George Orwell
[This quote is widely available on the web, but I recently found it on a blog I follow: https://aponderingmind.org/
The link for the specific post is: https://aponderingmind.org/2021/06/25/the-further-a-society-drifts-from-truth-the-more-it-will-hate-those-who-speak-it-george-orwell/
Like almost all of my “re-posts” from other blogs / websites, this excerpt is being posted without prior permission.  As such, I will remove / correct the post if requested by the the owner.  I am making no claim to ownership of the quote, the full post or to the original web site.  This is a blog I have been following for some time.
Please visit the original site if you have some time.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	But What About Tomorrow’s Blog Post?
2019	Don’t Forget Obstruction Of Justice
	An Honest, Unvarnished Assessment
2018	#45 And The Republicans Are Pretending (So Far)
2017	Made
2016	Halves
	Accepted Fraud
2015	Even The Little Ones
2014	Who’s On First?
2013	No Equal Measure
2012	A Single Host
2011	No Exemptions
2010	Memories Of KSA – Inside The Fire

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Happy 4th of July 2021!!

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
—    Confucius
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
—     Abraham Lincoln
Excerpt from:  “The Gettysburg Address“
[The italics in the text / quote were added by me.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Happy 4th of July 2020!!
2019	Happy 4th of July 2019!!
2018	Happy 4th of July 2018!!
	People Got to Be Free
2017	Happy 4th of July 2017!!
2016	Red, White And Blue BBQ
	Happy 4th of July 2016
	IMF’d (Marathon / Binge)
2015	Happy 4th of July 2015!!
2014	Happy 4th of July 2014!!
2013	Patriot Act, Anyone?
2012	Five Lost Wars
2011	Worth Fighting For
2010	Still Learnin’ Hard…
	4th of July 2010

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Biden Won By Almost 7 Million Votes

Never explain; your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it.
—    Victor Grayson
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On This Day In:
2020	The Tragedy Of Trump Republicanism
2019	What Do Your Children See You Doing?
2018	Is #45 STILL Losing America
2017	We Sleep To Remember And We Sleep To Forget
2016	Useful Gift
2015	Who’s The Boss?
2014	What Counts In The Future
2013	Improper Sequence?
2012	Two Gems
2011	A True Test

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Why Republicans Are Failing America

Government can be preserved only by statesmen with knowledge in proportion to their task.
—   Plato
[A “loyal” opposition / minority party, should be working to guide government to better policies through compromise, not fighting to stop EVERYTHING dead in the water.  The same is true when you have a unified government in control of both the White House and Congress.  A “loyal” majority party should not have to force anything through with no concessions to the minority.  The majority party needs to be particularly careful when the dis-loyal minority attempts to force you into these actions.  Their purpose is to create a “moral equivalency” to justify their past actions and further / future undemocratic actions when / if the dis-loyal minority ever manages to regain control of the government.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Normal Scientific Assumptions
2019	Close Change
2018	Don’t Break It
2017	Representative Government For The 99%
2016	Trying To Ignite Ice
2015	Or Increasingly Unwilling To Pay For…
2014	Returning Time
2013	Gentle Invitation
2012	Pleading The Insanity Defense
2011	Graduations And Conservatives
	The Big Sin

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One Year Later (Now 604,000+)

I do not know which of our afflictions God intends that we overcome and which He means for us to bear.  But this is certain:  Some I have overcome, some I continue to bear.
—  Jean Toomer
[This is an unusual post for me.  This post is being written on 28 May, three days after the Memorial Day weekend.  Yesterday, the U.S. passed 100K in deaths due to COVID-19.  We are dying at just under 1,000 lives per day.  We are engaged in a great social experiment testing whether we can open our economy without a plan to deal with the virus.  This post is scheduled to go online roughly 15 days after the holiday weekend.  If the President’s gamble was correct, the average death rate will be at or below 1,000 per day.  If his gamble (with our lives) is incorrect, the death rate will be higher – and potentially much higher.  Only time will tell.   —   KMAB]
Follow Up to Last Year’s Post (115,000+):
The “post” above is from one year ago.  It is still too early to tell how good / bad a gamble President Trump took with the health of the nation.  Partly because it is still too soon to have had academia take a look at the data and partly because a number of states – mostly (but not exclusively) with Republican governors (Florida) – are using their office / administrations to hide the true / accurate numbers of illnesses and deaths for political reasons.  We do know that since the Inauguration, the vaccine count has gone from under 50 million to over 300 million.  Over 50% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine.  Part of this success is attributable to a competent President / Administration and part to the manufacture and distribution of the various vaccines ramping up.
As for our losses, the current “rolling” weekly death average is under 500 per day.  A few weeks ago, the CDC also updated the information on their site to “confirm” that not only are the vaccinated unlikely to get seriously ill and die (still 5 – 10% chance of illness, and less than 1% chance of death), you are also unlikely to become infected and ill at all (15 – 20% illness rate once vaccine period is completed).  Again, it’s too early to KNOW the exact numbers, but in this case it’s because (it is my understanding) “illness” is being self-reported.  Still, this is “good” news and we should see the economy and society begin to return to normal.  We’ve dodged a bullet this time folks.  I am not making light of the individual losses to family members and friends, but the virus could have been a lot more lethal and we still have a considerable way to go on getting the rest of the way to herd immunity.  Let’s hope we are better prepared for the next epidemic…
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On This Day In:
2020	115,000+
2019	One Generation’s View
2018	The One Thing
2017	Never Give Up
2016	Which Generation Are We?
	Congratulations, Kyle!
2015	Centered
2014	Economic Trinity
2013	At Both Ends
2012	Holding Allowance
2011	The Power Of Good

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One Likely Consequence

Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel.  These once unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome after-effects.  Their precise nature is anyone’s guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation.
—    Warren Buffett
[Government handouts can get you through a non-market caused depression (like the one recently caused by COVID / relief payments), but without an employment plan which improves the general welfare (like a massive infrastructure bill), only the wealthy will benefit when inflation inevitably begins to roar.  Infrastructure will improve the national resource base (bridges, roads, levies, dams, drainage, parks, beaches, river-fronts, water and waste treatment, trains and airports, etc.), it will also provide medium and long-term employment to re-build our middle class.  The longer the delay in passing a major bill, the less time available for its impact to begin before the next election cycle and the greater the opportunity for the “do-nothing” Republicans to blame the lack of progress on Democrats who wanted more than they could deliver and then failed to deliver anything.  The danger is too little and too late.  With or without jobs, inflation is coming (IMHO).  The question is: who will gain from it and who will suffer for it?    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Know Love
2019	Spoiler Alert
2018	Tic-Toc
2017	Explaining Working Class Support For Donald
2016	Not In My Experience
2015	Effort
2014	Honest Wants
2013	Faith, n.
2012	Surprise Me
2011	Confused With Truth

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Don’t Let The Violent Take It From Us

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.
—   John Lewis
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On This Day In:
2020	Or Frightens Us
2019	The Best Gifts
2018	Sweep!!!
	We Must Be Living In TRULY Historic Times
2017	The Best?
2016	Timely Opinions On “The Donald”
	Even Allowing For Coincidence
2015	First Things First
2014	Without The Other
2013	Earn This
	Seeking A View
2012	Stumblin’ Along My Way
	We’re Proud Of You, Jr!
	Union Card
	Two Philosophies
2011	Simply Unpredictable

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A Bit Like Politics

You won’t do ministry that really matters until you define what matters.
—    Aubrey Malphurs
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On This Day In:
2020	Independent Isolation
2019	This Pilgrim Has Had A (Mostly) Happy Road
2018	And Men, Too
2017	Damned If You Do
2016	A Storm Over The Horizon
2015	What About Today?
2014	Idiot, n.
2013	Temporary Reality
2012	The Great Objective
2011	Read A Book

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How Trump Won The Fringe Right

Never argue with stupid people.   They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
—    Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	I’d Include Health Care
2019	Accustomed To It
2018	Booking My Trip Into The Expanding Universe
2017	Fear Instead Of Convictions
2016	Memorial Day – 2016
2015	A Handful Of Reviews
	And You Can Quote Me
2014	Get Wisdom
2013	Enjoying The View?
2012	Adam’s Rib
2011	I’m Sure I Remember That…
	Memorial Day, 2011

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I’ve Still Not Found #45’s One Thing

There may be a hundred things you know about a person — all of them bad.  But there may be just one thing you don’t know, which if you did know, would completely change your opinion.
—     Robert H. Lauren
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On This Day In:
2020	Listening To A #IncompetentDonald COVID-19 Press Briefing
2019	I Am Doubtful
	Future Justice Looks Corporate
2018	True Measures
2017	Hoping For Tapes
	In It Now
2016	On Viewing This Mudball
2015	It Takes A Village
2014	In God’s Eyes
2013	We Root For Ourselves
2012	Like A Shark
2011	Discernible Virtue

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We Like To Believe So, Anyway

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.
—    Peter Drucker
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On This Day In:
2020	I’m Older Now
2019	Why #45 (#LazyDonald) Was Destined To Be A Failed Presidency
2018	Easter In Liverpool
	Star Guides To Destiny
	Growl
2017	Decisions
2016	Along The Path
2015	Make Mine Rare, Please
2014	Passion Flooding
2013	On Purpose
2012	Sans Gall Bladder, Day 4
	How Did You Spend Your Day?
2011	It’s Hammerin’ Time!!
	Convenient Auxiliaries

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Allowing For Compromise

As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences.
—    Eugene McCarthy
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On This Day In:
2020	Why #LyingDonald Hurts The US
2019	Blow Between Your Ears
2018	Thinking Ahead
2017	I’d Like To Try
2016	Or Blog (And Bound)
2015	Welcome The Virtuous
2014	Closing The Gap?
2013	On Parenting
2012	What Knowledge Is
2011	The Indefinite Accumulation Of Property

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