Red-Green Alliance

 

    So, the Democratic Socialists of America are gaining in popularity in certain sections of the country.  And, by certain sections, I mean the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast.

    Yikes.

    Rather than a dissertation and/or debate on why I think Socialism is a fantastic idea in theory but hopeless in practice (I covered that in an earlier post), I’m choosing to go off in a different direction today.

    Coupled with the ascendancy of Socialism/Marxism/Communism is the growing influence of Islam in the United States.  Not merely Islam, you understand, but Radical Islamism.

"SHE DOESN'T HAVE HER ANKLES COVERED!"

    I’m not one to castigate an entire religion.  Most practicing Muslims are great human beings who would be welcome in my home.  Other Muslims are Muslim by birth.  They don’t really practice their faith; they were just born into a Muslim home.

   Much like the fact that I’m a Catholic.  I was born into a Catholic home, was an altar boy for four years, and know the difference between a mortal and venial sin.

    But, with the exception of the odd funeral here and there, I haven’t been in a Catholic church since I staggered into Midnight Mass with a collection of Miller pony bottles stashed in my coat.

"And don't you be thinking it wasn't noticed,
cheeky, drunk boyo."

    Meaning, a long time.

    I’m talking about intolerant Muslims who wish to hold those they consider “infidel” to convert, be taxed for their “infidelism” (not a real word), or die.  They wish to cover our women in head-to-toe shrouds and demand we live by a medieval sharia code.

    Yes, I said "medieval."  While Christianity has evolved beyond the barbarity of its barbarism, Islam remains firmly stuck in the Middle Ages.

"Okay, this was probably bad."

    That some Americans have no problem with this is astonishing.

    How do the Socialists fit into this, you might ask?

    Well, in a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” kind of way,

Stalin:  "Just you wait."
Roosevelt:  "Look.  Squirrel!"
Churchill:  "Oh, this isn't going to turn out well."

"Squirrel?  Where?"

they in many cases, seek common cause with Islamists.  In their version of paradise, the Reds (Socialists/Marxists/Communists) and the Greens (Islamists) have formed an alliance.  To them, Western ideals and culture must be replaced to force utopia.

    NOTE:  In my research, Environmentalists are sometimes identified as “Greens.”

Not to be confused with...

 

    There is precedence for this.

    In 1920, shortly after they took power in Russia, the Bolsheviks sought to export their ideals throughout the world.  One such landing spot was in Gilan (northern Iran) under the auspices of the Persian Socialist Republic.  Even though it proved to be short-lived, its Marxist ideals proved to be persistent for decades.

    More troubling events happened in greater Iran in the 1970s.  Shah Pahlavi, no Boy Scout, was loathed by many in his country.  The Iranian Socialists sought common cause with the religious zealots headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini.

"Hey, aren't you dead?"
"Aren't you?"
"Touche."

    Well, some of us lived through those times, some have read history, and some have made Tik Tok dancing videos, but the shah was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

    Instead of, as you would think, back slaps and high fives all around, the Islamists quickly turned on their allies.  Having seen the end of their usefulness, the Islamists arrested hundreds of Persian Socialists and executed some.

    It was a classic example of the “Scorpion and Frog” fable.

This is long enough. 
Feel free to Google.

    My point, you may ask (if you’re still here)?  Are the Islamists making common cause with the Democratic Socialists today?

It's not like it hasn't happened already.
Most troubling, Bernie-boy is Jewish.

"Meh, don't worry about it. 
He crossed his heart and swore on a pile of something called
Taqiyya magazines that he wouldn't be a problem."

    Then, if they achieve primacy in our society, will the Islamists realize their allies have exhausted their usefulness and, like a green scorpion, sting the red frogs?    

    I fear that, disgusted by juvenile orange antics in the White House, we will let them.

"Trust me.  Some of my best friends are infid...Christians."

    I desperately hope that I’m wrong, but the “Red-Green Alliance” is a thing.

    So is Taqiyya.

    While you’re there, go ahead and Google that.

    I’ve tortured you long enough.

Progress?

I thought we had finally gotten beyond all this.     

"I therefore proclaim that Franklin be seated apart from the rest of us."

Then Star Trek: Strange New Worlds goes ahead and beams a boarding party aboard a crippled starship with the black girl set off to one side.

Tough to argue.

Full Disclosure:  I don't really think so, but it's a wiseguy observation, the type of which I enjoy making. 

I Can't Help Myself

     While I'm not exactly anti-Trump, there have been more than once when I looked at some of his antics and remarked, "Geez-a-Lou, that fucking guy."

    So it was when he tried to force himself into the Spanish football team's celebration after the World Cup final.

   

The memes, of course, were predictable.

Third Time's The Charm?

 

Independence Day Has Come and Gone

 

You are free and clear to resume bitching

Enjoy. It's Your Right.

 

    There are many things in life I do not understand.  How a thermos knows whether to keep things cold or hot, why ‘The View’ is still on the air, the fact that my wife chose to marry me...

    And why some Americans choose to run down their country as we celebrate our 250^th birthday as a nation.

    I get it.  Orange Man Bad.  Look, I haven’t been a Trump fan since...ever.  I voted for him in 2016, true.  But, that’s because he was the Republican nominee and the prospect of Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office was horrifying.

I created this eight years ago. 
During that time, I fought with a lot of my friends.

    I supported Marco Rubio at first, then Ted Cruz.  In fact, since I lived in Pennsylvania at the time, I registered as a Republican so I could vote in the primary for Cruz (Pennsylvania has a closed primary system).

    Once I did so, I once again left the GOP.  Because they suck I wanted to be an Independent.

    I held my nose when I pulled the lever for the Donald.  Since then, no way did he get my vote.  Mind you, I didn’t vote for Biden or Harris, either.  I just didn’t vote for Trump. 

    Even though I support much of what he’s done, I’m aghast at a lot of his behavior.  I can't keep up with his crazy.  My wife thinks I hate him.  Well, ‘hate’ is an awfully strong word, but by no means am I MAGA.

    Sidenote:  when some people learn that I am an unabashed Conservative, they automatically assume I’m a MAGA Republican.    Likewise, some on “my team” automatically assume that, if you are a Democrat, you automatically are a batshit crazy Leftist.  Nope, nope, a thousand times nope.

    Most people are good people, Left or Right.  There are radical zealots on both sides of the aisle, no question.  Thankfully, I don’t include any of them as my friends. 

    In any event, my distaste for most things Orange is not the purpose behind today’s post.

    What I AM writing about are those whose disgust with the administration, however justified, detracts from their celebration of the coming Independence Day.  I’ve even read some statements from idiots who believe displaying the American flag means you’re a racist who worships at an orange altar.

    Let me throw a little perspective their way:  Trump only has six years of the 250 years that the United States has been in existence.  That is miniscule when you take into account the (mostly) proud heritage of this nation.

    To let one man destroy what should be an opportunity for joy is ludicrous.  Imagine if people on the Right took their ball and went home when FDR was president.  Ridiculous.

Or Woodrow Wilson. 
That sanctimonious racist was the worst.

    We certainly haven't been perfect.  Far be it from me to list the darker side of our story.  They’re there, no question.  I’m no Pollyanna who believes it’s been nothing but sunshine, lollypops, and unicorns since 1776.  Perfect?  Hell no.  But, in my heart, I believe we want to do better.  And have done better.

    When Obama was president, I remained a proud American.  When Biden was president, I displayed the flag every day (that I remembered to put it up).  When Trump pulls some cringe nonsense

Exhibit A

I reflect on how much this country means to me.

    To sum up, please celebrate the coming holiday.  It’s for all Americans.

    Or don’t, although you should.  It is your right, after all.

    Which is one of the reasons I, for one, will celebrate.

NOTE:  For those who do not know, we are also displaying the flag of Argentina at my house.  My wife (she of the questionable taste in men) is all excited about Argentina's performance in the World Cup.  Her parents were born and raised in that country, so of course I'll support her team.  Unless they face the United States in the final.  That won't happen, though.     

Juneteenth

 

    The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.    -Major General Gordon Granger

    Probably like most schoolchildren, I assumed that the First Civil War (some scholars claim it was the second since the American Revolution could be considered a sort of civil war) and slavery in the United States ended with General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865. 

    Well, true, for all intents and purposes, the war was over.  However, there were still plenty of enslaved people in the South, even after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated less than a week later. 

    In fact, the Western Confederate Army didn’t surrender until June 2 and the last of the slaves in the South weren’t freed until Major General Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19^th and issued the above proclamation.

"Do kids learn about me in school?   Nooooooo."

    Thus is the genesis of Juneteenth.

    But, before we go much further, a little history:

    In January, 1865, Congress proposed the 13^th Amendment to the US Constitution, which would abolish slavery in the United States (mind you, this was before the war was over).

 

SPOILER:  It did.

    By June, most of the enslaved population in the South had been freed, with the notable exception of Texas. 

    Notice I wrote “South.”  Wouldn’t you know it, Delaware and Kentucky, two of the border states, wouldn’t abolish slavery until the amendment was ratified in December. 

    Yeah. 

    NOTE:  Another misconception of my early childhood was that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1^st, 1863, freed all of the slaves.  Oh, no.  The gist of the proclamation announced “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas “are, and henceforward shall be free.”  Sounds good, but how was Lincoln going to enforce it in Dixie?  Plus, slaves held in the Border States (Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware, and Missouri) were not free.  Why, you may ask?  Simple.  Lincoln needed them.  Cynical politics, to be sure, but those are the facts. 

    And now?  My opinion.  This may surprise some people, but I wholeheartedly support the establishment of Juneteenth as the newest federal holiday in 2021.

Signed by the Panderer-in-Chief, Joe Biden.
The same Joe Biden who decried public schools as "racial jungles." 
No matter, though.  It was the right thing to do. 

     In fact, I wonder, what took so long? 

    I believe that it should be a joyous event for all Americans, not just black Americans.  Take a day off, hold celebratory events (which don’t include setting school buses on fire), feast like your life depended on it, and express joy that one of the evils of this nation’s founding was eradicated.

    Just don't expect any mail. 

    In any event, I believe this is an overall good for the country. 

    It’s a day of pride for our brothers and sisters.  No amount of carping about it should diminish the day. 

    After all, it certainly isn’t the silly bit of business that Kwanzaa is.

A made-up, bogus holiday. 
Like Valentines.