Dignity is an important thing to me. So is pride. And integrity. And the feeling that I have the respect of those around me. Probably it matters to you too. So I really don't relate to a world in which people beg and grovel for favor and positive attention in the name of personal gain and advancement.
I may be nobody from nowhere to most people, but I appreciate being able to look in the mirror and see someone there who is fundamentally decent and honest and who is not beholden to anyone else for my lot in life. I wonder how those people feel down deep inside when they see themselves and hear their voices emotionally prostituting themselves for someone who, we all know, simply is using them in an entirely transactional relationship, for as long as they remain useful to him, after which point they become the nobodies from nowhere but with the stain of having sold their soul for the ultimate price of embarrassment and humiliation from their master, and the condemnation of history books that will record and show for all time the feckless submission to their overlord.
They chose their wallets and their egos over their souls. Feel not sorry for them, for they deserve no respect that would warrant any sympathy. Their deal with Mephistopheles was made entirely of their free will. It's okay to feel glad that you will not have to see or hear from them in an afterlife when they are banished to a far worse place than the one that you have earned by being honest with others and true to your morals and your values.
Oh, I am certain that folks like Bondi, Hegseth, Patel, Bongino, RFK, Noem, Gabbard, etc. feel pretty good looking at themselves in the mirror, even with their faces covered in whatever was on the boots they were choose to lick. What they see is: "WINNER!" They'll never look back or have a doubt about what they're doing or have done.
They will be happy as long as they continue to "get theirs" and enjoy favor from their god. But we know from ample experience that everything he touches eventually turns to stone, and the real bill will come due when their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren have to live with their legacy, respond to questions and comments about the fawning over such a destructive person, and accept having the family name and the blood relationship hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives. Only then will the true cost of the syncophants' original sin be fully calculable.
I am pushing 80 and have 14 great nieces and nephews. The range from 3 months to 30 years. Sometimes I am glad that I won't have to watch this mess for long. I am deeply sorry that I won't be able to tell the youngest of them about the before times.
I hope that is the case that the subsequent generations have to face that shame. As you'll note, for now, they're happily going along for the ride (Eric, Don Jr, and those she's keeping a lower profile, Ivanka isn't losing sleep).
Amen. I have no respect for people who want to break the country like a pinata just in case treats for them fall out.
Should I gloat because I'm a lot healthier and happier than the Trump cabinet? Probably not. That self-righteous glow is probably going to bite me in the ass someday. But there is something to be said for realizing I wouldn't trade places with these people in a million years.
I struggle daily against falling past contempt straight into hatred of Trump and his MAGA cult. It takes all the mishmash of Jesus / Buddha / Seneca I've absorbed to keep me from handing that power to them. They are deeply flawed people who have shown no remorse for anything they've done. But when Trump and MAGA are defeated I want justice!
LOL. I can't remember whether the Dude tells us his personal philosophy while making his beloved White Russians; he "abides", that is all. Maybe it's a koan.
I gave in to the dark side a while ago. I am wishing the next elected President rains retribution down on these people so hard that no one from any political side will ever try that again.
That's the trap that Trump/MAGA have set: we can't use their methods if we are to get back to our foundational principles. Any justice will be incomplete, but at least conscionable.
What youтАЩre describing is a conscience. Those people who prostrate themselves before Trump feel nothing deep inside, because they strangled theirs long ago.
At least Faust gained knowledge of the world from his bargain with Mephistopheles. These cabinet members have made their deal, and Mephistopheles is laughing all the way back to Hell. He's left them more ignorant than they were before.
I think people like Bondi, Rubio, et al never had integrity or principles. They have been "crossing red lines" their whole careers. Lines they pretended to themselves were real. They are maleable at their core. We humans are really good at justification and rationalization when it serves our needs. I think it is necessary for success in politics.
I personaly suck at holding my toungue. I was never able to "go along to get along", just isn't part of my personality. It was always obvious to me that once you cross a line, the next time it will be easier to cross and pretty soon you are so far down the road you swore you would never travel that there is no coming back. I am also nobody from nowhere, but I am really good with that too. :)
It seems to me that we have never entertained a bar as low as the one we now have.
Being publicly anonymous is mostly only appreciated in its absence. Once you become a public person you are always on display in the celebrity culture, cell-phone-cam world. ItтАЩs difficult to know who you are when everyone thinks youтАЩre part of the family because they recognize you in the supermarket. Everyone is a bit different at work than they are outside of work. When youтАЩre famous, you are always at work, even when youтАЩre by yourself. Being тАЬnobody from nowhereтАЭ is a precious form of freedom. ThatтАЩs just one reason itтАЩs really hard to be an ethical politician.
For me, тАЬgo along to get alongтАЭ does not mean I hold my tongue. If you have standards and a moral spine, you know when you canтАЩt go along, and you donтАЩt.
Trump is a very skilled sociopath. He learned for his first administration not to have anyone in his cabinet with any integrity, knowledge, confidence, or skill. Trump has a great sense about who he can intimidate and control. Everyone in his cabinet is either so greedy that will do anything to enrich themselves, or like Rubio, they once thought they were real people, but they let it all slip away under pressure. Hegseth and RFK are just psychologically damaged people. They are so self-destructive that they will destroy their departments without any guidance from Trump.
Hegseth and RFK are both psychologically damaged and neurologically damaged from all the substance use (and by RFK's admission...the brain worm). Between the two, I think they are truly incapable of understanding the damage they are inflicting on this country.
If RFK is capable of realizing what's he's doing, he may be history's greatest monster. Honestly? He scares me more than Trump and Vance combined. I suspect he will be remembered as a man who promoted American atrocities and killed children worldwide. My big fear is that he will have an outsized role in history that is bigger than his father's and uncles' due to destruction instead of creation. I would not put anything past him.
What has amazed me (a little) is to watch those same cabinet Members during the short periods where Elon is holding court. ItтАЩs fascinating to watch the various members play with their pens, examine their fingernails, or stare at the table directly in front of them whilst Elon rhapsodizes about what a genius he is, or makes a little joke about the lefties destroying his cars and dealerships. They donтАЩt even make any eye contact with him. But when the Dear Leader speaks, they become thoroughly engaged, entranced even. The transformation is dramatic.
I think the people you described in the first two paragraphs do not have what you attribute to them in the last one: souls. Or, if they did, (and paraphrasing the song), "They sold their souls to the MAGAville store".
Dignity is an important thing to me. So is pride. And integrity. And the feeling that I have the respect of those around me. Probably it matters to you too. So I really don't relate to a world in which people beg and grovel for favor and positive attention in the name of personal gain and advancement.
I may be nobody from nowhere to most people, but I appreciate being able to look in the mirror and see someone there who is fundamentally decent and honest and who is not beholden to anyone else for my lot in life. I wonder how those people feel down deep inside when they see themselves and hear their voices emotionally prostituting themselves for someone who, we all know, simply is using them in an entirely transactional relationship, for as long as they remain useful to him, after which point they become the nobodies from nowhere but with the stain of having sold their soul for the ultimate price of embarrassment and humiliation from their master, and the condemnation of history books that will record and show for all time the feckless submission to their overlord.
They chose their wallets and their egos over their souls. Feel not sorry for them, for they deserve no respect that would warrant any sympathy. Their deal with Mephistopheles was made entirely of their free will. It's okay to feel glad that you will not have to see or hear from them in an afterlife when they are banished to a far worse place than the one that you have earned by being honest with others and true to your morals and your values.
Oh, I am certain that folks like Bondi, Hegseth, Patel, Bongino, RFK, Noem, Gabbard, etc. feel pretty good looking at themselves in the mirror, even with their faces covered in whatever was on the boots they were choose to lick. What they see is: "WINNER!" They'll never look back or have a doubt about what they're doing or have done.
They will be happy as long as they continue to "get theirs" and enjoy favor from their god. But we know from ample experience that everything he touches eventually turns to stone, and the real bill will come due when their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren have to live with their legacy, respond to questions and comments about the fawning over such a destructive person, and accept having the family name and the blood relationship hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives. Only then will the true cost of the syncophants' original sin be fully calculable.
I am pushing 80 and have 14 great nieces and nephews. The range from 3 months to 30 years. Sometimes I am glad that I won't have to watch this mess for long. I am deeply sorry that I won't be able to tell the youngest of them about the before times.
I hope that is the case that the subsequent generations have to face that shame. As you'll note, for now, they're happily going along for the ride (Eric, Don Jr, and those she's keeping a lower profile, Ivanka isn't losing sleep).
Amen. I have no respect for people who want to break the country like a pinata just in case treats for them fall out.
Should I gloat because I'm a lot healthier and happier than the Trump cabinet? Probably not. That self-righteous glow is probably going to bite me in the ass someday. But there is something to be said for realizing I wouldn't trade places with these people in a million years.
Well said. Looking into the mirror and not seeing Dorian Grey is an extremely comforting moment. In the end personal integrity is what defines us.
I struggle daily against falling past contempt straight into hatred of Trump and his MAGA cult. It takes all the mishmash of Jesus / Buddha / Seneca I've absorbed to keep me from handing that power to them. They are deeply flawed people who have shown no remorse for anything they've done. But when Trump and MAGA are defeated I want justice!
I like your mishmash.
My mishmash is Buddha/Jesus/The Big Lebowski
LOL. I can't remember whether the Dude tells us his personal philosophy while making his beloved White Russians; he "abides", that is all. Maybe it's a koan.
I gave in to the dark side a while ago. I am wishing the next elected President rains retribution down on these people so hard that no one from any political side will ever try that again.
That's the trap that Trump/MAGA have set: we can't use their methods if we are to get back to our foundational principles. Any justice will be incomplete, but at least conscionable.
Don't be reasonable. I want my Paul Atreides moment :-)
LOL, the spice is powerful stuff!
What youтАЩre describing is a conscience. Those people who prostrate themselves before Trump feel nothing deep inside, because they strangled theirs long ago.
I have no sympathy/empathy for those who chose to be a magat for they had no sympathy/empathy for others. #FAFO
At least Faust gained knowledge of the world from his bargain with Mephistopheles. These cabinet members have made their deal, and Mephistopheles is laughing all the way back to Hell. He's left them more ignorant than they were before.
Imagine being the person (Trump) who deeply NEEDS that bullshit. He is a bottomless pit of narcissism.
And mistrust and insecurity
I think heтАЩs rather stupid too.
I think people like Bondi, Rubio, et al never had integrity or principles. They have been "crossing red lines" their whole careers. Lines they pretended to themselves were real. They are maleable at their core. We humans are really good at justification and rationalization when it serves our needs. I think it is necessary for success in politics.
I personaly suck at holding my toungue. I was never able to "go along to get along", just isn't part of my personality. It was always obvious to me that once you cross a line, the next time it will be easier to cross and pretty soon you are so far down the road you swore you would never travel that there is no coming back. I am also nobody from nowhere, but I am really good with that too. :)
It seems to me that we have never entertained a bar as low as the one we now have.
Being publicly anonymous is mostly only appreciated in its absence. Once you become a public person you are always on display in the celebrity culture, cell-phone-cam world. ItтАЩs difficult to know who you are when everyone thinks youтАЩre part of the family because they recognize you in the supermarket. Everyone is a bit different at work than they are outside of work. When youтАЩre famous, you are always at work, even when youтАЩre by yourself. Being тАЬnobody from nowhereтАЭ is a precious form of freedom. ThatтАЩs just one reason itтАЩs really hard to be an ethical politician.
For me, тАЬgo along to get alongтАЭ does not mean I hold my tongue. If you have standards and a moral spine, you know when you canтАЩt go along, and you donтАЩt.
I regret that I have but one "Like" to give this comment. +1
Trump is a very skilled sociopath. He learned for his first administration not to have anyone in his cabinet with any integrity, knowledge, confidence, or skill. Trump has a great sense about who he can intimidate and control. Everyone in his cabinet is either so greedy that will do anything to enrich themselves, or like Rubio, they once thought they were real people, but they let it all slip away under pressure. Hegseth and RFK are just psychologically damaged people. They are so self-destructive that they will destroy their departments without any guidance from Trump.
Hegseth and RFK are both psychologically damaged and neurologically damaged from all the substance use (and by RFK's admission...the brain worm). Between the two, I think they are truly incapable of understanding the damage they are inflicting on this country.
If RFK is capable of realizing what's he's doing, he may be history's greatest monster. Honestly? He scares me more than Trump and Vance combined. I suspect he will be remembered as a man who promoted American atrocities and killed children worldwide. My big fear is that he will have an outsized role in history that is bigger than his father's and uncles' due to destruction instead of creation. I would not put anything past him.
I think itтАЩs Miller and Vought who are the puppet masters. Felon Trump is their stooge.
Theil has done some heavy lifting too.
They are all so fucking despicable.
HeтАЩs another one I like to send back to South Africa.
What has amazed me (a little) is to watch those same cabinet Members during the short periods where Elon is holding court. ItтАЩs fascinating to watch the various members play with their pens, examine their fingernails, or stare at the table directly in front of them whilst Elon rhapsodizes about what a genius he is, or makes a little joke about the lefties destroying his cars and dealerships. They donтАЩt even make any eye contact with him. But when the Dear Leader speaks, they become thoroughly engaged, entranced even. The transformation is dramatic.
I think the people you described in the first two paragraphs do not have what you attribute to them in the last one: souls. Or, if they did, (and paraphrasing the song), "They sold their souls to the MAGAville store".
тАШAnother day older and deeper in debtтАЩтАж
But NOT to the store, to its founder.
A classic!