Tuesday, February 11, 2020

  Well, it's still raining, alternating between misting and pissing down, but always raining. It's cold and grey, and the world is getting increasingly weird. Not in the fun, cool "man, that sky is so blue, have you ever thought about hands" kind of weird. A disturbing weird, a weird that doesn't know if you're actually necessary anymore.



 Trump's post-impeachment acquittal revenge tour continues unabated today. Dirty tricks man, Nixon C-list goon and absolute bastard Roger Stone is facing conviction for corruption, making false statements and witness tampering, indeed the first pebble dropped in the tumbling boulder that led to Donald Trump to be the third president impeached and, subsequent, acquitted. The guy is guilty as hell, convicted and tried by a solidly conservative judiciary back in November, and prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice recommended a seven-to-nine year sentence. A fairly light sentence, especially considering the depth of Stone's crimes and his general behavior of being a smug, arrogant shit ass the entire trial.

 This morning, the Blind Idiot God pitched one of his regular Twitter shit fits. He called the conviction "unfair" because he's a big baby and everything he doesn't like is "unfair". I won't argue about this; the president's a huge whiner and a completely spineless jellyfish. We've seen him prove this over and over, so there's no point in discussing it. Anytime someone shows any backbone or intelligence, he crumbles like a stale cookie. The only people who don't believe this are those that get a blue-vein throbber at the idea of an authoritarian who keeps the status quo and are weak willed enough to let a sorry specimen like Trump be that thug.

 I'm in a bit of mood and getting away from myself. Apologies. Anyhow, Trump cried and kicked like he does, the DOJ showed they have as much spine as the GOP in general, and now the four prosecutors on the case have resigned. U.S. Attorney General lawyers Aaron Zelinsky, Jonathan Kracis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando all hit the road, and given how in with Trump Attorney General Bill "The Pope" Barr is, I don't blame them. The President's Boys have shown they'll threaten "disloyal" officials like former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovich and will give the bum's rush to those despite past efforts, like Alexander Vindman and Gordon Sondland, because they didn't kiss Trump's ring.

 Yeah, I'm not objective about this. Defenders will argue Eric Holder and Obama, but it's all bullshit, things they don't quite understand, or outright lies that Fox News hinted at and Trump's dumbass believes. But the fact is, they don't really care and just bring up past indiscretions (real or imagined) to shut up anyone who argues with them. They're fine with whatever Trump does, we all know this. When the Epstein case kicks up incontrovertible proof that he had sex with an underage girl, they'll be fine with it. Within a month (generously) there will be articles in The Federalist about how pedophilia is good, actually.

 Okay, I need to move on. I can feel my blood pressure rising and, frankly, I still can't shake this funk I've been in. But this is where we are. I'm not one to mewl about "what's happening to this country" because we're within my adult lifetime where my cousin's marriage to her black husband wouldn't be legal in the state of her birth. Maybe we've gotten better from Jim Crow and LGBT in the closet due to threats of loss of livelihood or, indeed, life and even the idea that a woman who's been raped by a well-off person still has a right to seek justice. I'd like to think so.

 But here we are. We are definitely moving towards a more pro-authoritarian mentality in this country. Conservatives since, at least, Reagan have been thirsting for a Big Daddy President, someone who'll punish the naughty, reward the good children and maintain the Status Quo. They like that Trump ignores precedent and law in pursuit "making America great". And since they're not the ones who'll suffer, there's no reason for him to even pretend. Liberals and leftists, they don't really believe the things they say. They just do what they do and fight against God's Chosen just because they're spoiled and indolent.

 When authoritarianism is the goal, cruelty is the point. It's not just Trump and his government, it's an increasing attitude of "Do As I Say Shall Be The Whole Of The Law" across the spectrum. Follow the rules if you can keep up with what "the rules" are, don't complain, be thankful they let you live. One doesn't blame the aforementioned prosecutors for saving their necks or, indeed, GOP senators for saving their phony-baloney jobs. A quote from Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas has been running through my mind this week:

 "In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."

 Indeed. But what the Good Doctor missed is that we're being ruled by the Dumb. They have won, the Dumb and the Mean. Intelligence and, in fact, compassion are seen as weakness and character flaws. Be smart, beloved, and be kind. Remember your Socrates. Know thyself but know that a life of Virtue is the Best Life. There's no reason to not lend a helping hand or have a little a little patience for someone that isn't yours. It's our Natural State, and it's only through cowardliness, selfishness and dumbness that we let it be otherwise.

 All right, let's bring it home with something completely inconsequential but hilarious and representative of today's rot. Apparently, Xbox owners saw a new update coming for the latest rendition of the popular first-person shooter Call Of Duty series. It asking them to swallow a 68 gigabyte download for, what I'm told, is a new map, some tweaks & fixes, and a few new characters rather than a whole new game or, more sensibly, two or three new games. It's actually gotten bigger over the past couple hours, and the game isn't even finished with the updates and DLC's. Triple A games are getting ridiculous, man. Huge memory demands for amazingly rendered horse apples, and it's the same game, more or less, that snuck in under 1 GB twenty years ago.

 This is why I'm sticking to indie games these days. Star Traders: Frontiers or American Fugitive, a little over 2 gigs total and both loads of fun. Furthermore, you can buy both for much less the cost of a decent date at a quality restaurant. Yes, that's a recommendation.