It often enough seems we’re on the ragged edge of failure when it comes to the viability of our statewide 911 systems. The latest outage and bout with cyber stress in MA may have been the result of some technical glitch or a firewall malfunction, but it still serves as a reminder of how important it is for us as a nation to prioritize dependability and resilience of such a critical piece of infrastructure.

I assume we’ve got people on the job, that leaders at all levels are mindful of the covert efforts of players foreign and domestic who have nothing better to do than sabotage emergency response systems and hold them hostage. Bastards.

Just one of the many areas of daily life that warrant constant vigilance.   

It’s a detail of which I’ve been aware for some time, but driven home as I read Liz Cheney’s Oath and Honor: Donald Trump had been told repeatedly, by multiple people in his own orbit, that he had no basis for disputing the outcome of the 2020 election. He lost to Joe Biden fair and square, by a lot, and yet… here we are almost four years later, and the bastard will not go away.

He’s doubling down on the double-down, still whining, still angry, still stirring up trouble, still wasting everyone’s time and sapping us of energy, all because he will not let go of Stop the Steal. Though by now, one might see this merely as a convenient excuse for holding onto power.

It’s one thing to have political differences but working through them, or simply being ok with not prevailing all the time. It’s an entirely separate issue to have to put up with someone who needs to win all the time, who doesn’t care about the country and has no use for civil discourse and doesn’t even know what that is.

I’m still not convinced this is simply about Trump. Trump is the pliable front man—impressionable, weak, immature, devoid of character, apparently charismatic somehow. The equally real culprits are Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Michael Flynn, Vladimir Putin, the rogue’s gallery at Fox “News” and Newsmax and OAN, and the rest of the bloggers and radio talking heads. Along with the millions who have adopted this poisonous mindset and are awaiting word to tear the country apart.

What is their gripe? What is the source of their pain? And what is their vision for America, besides blowing it up? Trump and the rest have nothing to offer but the promise of resolved “grievance.”

Nothing. No plan, other than revenge and destruction, yet they’ve got millions of people feeding from their hands.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard such sour grapes. It started before Caitlin Clark joined the WNBA, when players like Diana Taurasi were saying how different Clark’s experience was going to be in the big league, as in , “oh, you just wait…” There would be a “learning curve” to handle, apparently.

Behind all the big talk about what sounded like hazing, what I heard and still hear from veterans of the league comes across as nothing more than big-time jealousy. Race may play a role, but it sounds more like a simple matter of current players and big name rookies whining about Clark getting all the attention.

I tired quickly of Clark’s hotdogging antics when she played for Iowa, but there’s no denying she’s a special player who will most likely settle in and become a force in the WNBA. I guess all this crying and whining and cheap-shotting is to be expected, but maybe Clark will simply silence it all with her great play. She’s no delicate flower. She’ll most likely weather the storm.

Her teammates on the Fever are probably glad she’s there. And she might even be the one to raise all boats.

People have inclinations. Toward generosity or stinginess and fear of scarcity, toward kindness or evil. That’s just the way it is. These dynamics play out every day all over the world. They sometimes get commented on, get noticed, lamented, or celebrated.

Is it safe to say that most humans possess a mix of these things, and their emergence is dependent on circumstances? Is it also safe to say that there are those rare individuals who manifest a tendency toward spending inordinate amounts of time and energy at the evil end of the spectrum? There are plenty of good people, or at least people who try to be good more than they try to be bad. I guess I’m talking about that distinguished—used ironically—subset that seems hellbent on sowing havoc and hatred, that small group who are in it for themselves at the expense of anyone who gets in their way.

Sadly, it appears there will never be a shortage of these. And their reach, at least for a time, is commensurate with their grasp. They wreak unspeakable hardship, pain and suffering on many who just want a chance to live the one life they’ve been given.

These people give themselves permission to make assumptions, to run roughshod over others’ self-determination. They have no qualms with taking things away—up to and including life itself. And all the while they live in the lap of luxury, grossly out of touch, obscenely and intentionally self-involved in their thinking and interactions.

They have no inherent right to the position they’re in, yet there they are. Making threats, making life miserable. On some cockamamy mission, deluded in thinking that their way is the highway.

For the rare person who may have stumbled upon this blog and occasionally checks in, it might seem that my only motivations for writing are outrage and critique. Donald Trump and those who support him are favorite targets most days, as are other Republican officials in various states, along with an occasional Democrat, maybe even an Independent or two.

It might appear that I live for the cynical take on things, and I guess I do sometimes. Yet it’s not like I don’t notice other things. I’ll write about places I’ve been, things I’ve seen, and the wonder of it all.

I do occasionally feel like just another commentator taking shots from the sidelines, offering criticism without motivation toward any constructive end. But most days I don’t consider this blog as some sort of advice column. I don’t consider myself to be particularly insightful. I don’t write in hopes of enlightening anybody or starting arguments. I do little research, rarely use multiple sources, though I do check spelling and verify word meanings and other details from time to time.

Basically, I just write how I’m feeling, what I’m seeing, for myself. It’s mostly reactive, an outlet and nothing more, though I must say I enjoy the (very) occasional “like.”

Maybe evolution in thought will eventually bring me to a different place, where I feel more obligated to look beyond my own feelings and opinions to reflect a deeper understanding and shift in perspective. But right now, in this time and space, it’s more about catharsis, and trying to clear my own head.  

Truth lies in the eye of the beholder. Put Rachel Maddow and Donald Trump in the same room and you’ll have your proof. This is always the rub. This is what we always have to deal with. There are probably many truths, but some emerge as being more consequential than others. Dare one even say universal?

To anyone for whom the rule of law matters, what happened yesterday on Capitol Hill should trigger vehement disgust. Are there standards to which we hold our elected leaders, or not? Whose standards are they, and who abides by them? I’ve had enough of the dueling realities, where nearly half the country thinks Donald Trump is STILL electable, keeps getting a raw deal, and somehow maintains a decent level of public trust. If there is truth in any of that, then I need to keep an eye out for the flying pigs.

The kowtowing is hard to watch, on full display when Trump returned to the scene of the crime, as CNN put it. There was Trump, surrounded by his groupies, who were falling over themselves with adoration and praise, paying tribute to their tainted emperor, hoping to get or remain on the good side of a convicted felon.

I think this is the most sickening thing of all—the swooning House and Senate members, the intentional blindness, the starstruck sycophants who get sucked into the Trump vortex and so readily compromise themselves for a chance to serve such a lowlife, deluded pretender.

Anyone with a sense for what is fair and reasonable may have been just slightly miffed as they attempted to make heads or tails of the image of Trump back on Capitol Hill for the first time since he left office, surrounded by people who are smiling as if they’re welcoming back a long lost loved one.

The scene was so obtuse that I remain at a loss for words, really. The only thing that comes to mind is to wonder what’s going on inside the brains of those gathered ‘round the 34-time felon and insurrectionist and all-around stooge. He really must be some kind of god to them.

This is way beyond “forgive and forget.” Based on that image, it is as if nothing has happened in the last eight years. They’re welcoming back a hero. He’s their ticket to staying put.

It’s official. We’re in trouble.

The heat is coming. There was a time when we’d just grumble and complain and chalk it up to the time of year. But now we might be haunted by the spectre of climate change, maybe even concerned that we aren’t going to do anything about it.

We keep hearing scientists ring the alarm bell, but that’s just background noise most days. It’s like we hear them but we keep thinking someone else will handle the problems in time, and things will just magically improve.

And all we have to do is carry on with our neglectful lives.

Southern Florida experiences relentless rain and flooding. Poetic, given that Ron DeSantis and allies are OK with deleting climate change from the conversation when making environmental policy. That’s one way to do it—just ignore it, bury one’s head, and say it doesn’t exist. Sounds very DeSantis-like. Or Trumpian.

I wonder if he ran this by his Surgeon General first.

Liz Cheney’s recent book, Oath and Honor, is enlightening. It’s more detailed, of course, than what you might get in an 8-minute sound bite on one of the networks. It corroborates details of just how slimy and impressionable– not to mention calculating– Kevin McCarthy and Josh Hawley and Mike Johnson, among others, were and still are (whatever happened to Kevin McCarthy, by the way?).

Ms. Cheney’s account clears up any doubts about what Trump—and those in his orbit—wanted to do. It was blatant election interference, leading to insurrection. Trump was mad, sitting in his high chair with a bib on, crying because his Cheerios were soggy. He picked a story and stuck to it, is still sticking to it, because he doesn’t know how to do anything other than double down and cling to the image of “winner.”

Fewer and fewer people are thinking of him as a winner. At best, he’s a poor sport. At worst, he’s a traitor, though maybe that’s a bit harsh. Trump emanates a vibe of not being smart enough to know better. Pure image, zero substance, at the mercy of his many delusions.