Random Thoughts - 20250507

Random Thoughts - 20250507

My name is Daniel. I’m 185 centimeters tall. I’m one of the people who graduated from my high school. My zodiac sign is among my twelve favorites, but I’m guessing that yours is, too.

I prefer the Jim Phelps version of Mission: Impossible to the Ethan Hunt version. Stunts don’t add to the story.

The Naked Gun is one of my favorite comedies despite the fact that no one gets naked, and despite one glaring casting issue.

I like to travel, but I’ve never been to Morocco. I have nothing against Morocco; a trip there just hasn’t risen to the top of my to do list.

“Walking In Memphis” is one of my favorite songs. I haven’t been to Memphis either. Occasionally, I imagine walking there and writing a song about it.

I didn’t care for broccoli or lima beans when I was a kid, but I’ll eat them now. I like most vegetables, but I’m not vegan. If you are, I’d prefer not to discuss it.

I watch lots of news, but I don’t spend time thinking about the price of eggs. I can’t remember the last time I bought one. It’s difficult to imagine needing twelve of them.

I once saw a UFO while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I was driving. The UFO was flying off to my right, heading in the same direction but faster. It was daylight, but no one seemed to notice. Noticing things is a lost art.

I’m fairly open-minded, but I believe that authoritarianism is universally awful. I doubt that anyone would be able to convince me otherwise.

Good people die too soon. Bad people have a long shelf life. I don’t know why that is, but it complicates history.

The Chinese zodiac is also based on the number 12. That strikes me as an unlikely coincidence.

Lies

The pat exaggerations

That shape the way we live

The blame and accusations

We’re oft prepared to give

Convenient excuses

We store on private shelves

The most corrosive lies

Are the ones we tell ourselves

The Era Of Political Corruption

What bothers me most is not that our government is about to be led by a convicted criminal, a corrupt and vengeful authoritarian who threatens to abuse power and prosecute political rivals. Dangerous scoundrels have been involved in politics since the dawn of mankind.

What bothers me most is not that a plurality of the electorate voted for this scoundrel. People are routinely convinced to vote against their own best interest. The propaganda that makes this possible is more prevalent today than ever before.

What bothers me most is that all of the controls that were meant to prevent corruption and the rise of authoritarianism have failed.

Impeachment is neutered by partisan loyalty.

The rights afforded to protect criminal defendants have been exploited to further criminal gains. 

The justice system was hog tied by an endless stream of appeals and delays.

The Fourteenth Amendment and the Emoluments Clause have been deemed unenforcible.

The judicial branch, corrupted by deep pocketed interests and a lack of ethical accountability, made a series of absurd and unprecedented judgments for the sole purpose to render one criminal defendant in particular above the law. It’s as though they wrote an extra article of the constitution to protect him and he alone.

The rule of law has been reduced to a quaint slogan.

This is what bothers me most, because it’s difficult to imagine how we can undo the damage. The precedents that have been set in recent years are highly toxic to a healthy and thriving democracy. It’s going to require a groundswell of political will and a complete recalibration of the principles of political ethics and criminal justice.

In the meantime, brace for an onslaught of damage to rights and political norms as self-serving oligarchs and right-wing zealots take control of the reins of power.

Snowflakes

The 2025 presidential inauguration will usher in a new era of masculinity in U.S. politics, an era of bold, manly men who run inside and hide when the weather gets cold. Some might call them snowflakes.