Now, I've seen it all.....

And now a break from my usual political commentary, and a note on the current state of American society....

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After tonight's late night ads, I must say that - Now, I've seen it all - Coloring books being marketed to adults!  When I grew up, a child would progress from simple coloring books to being able to draw simple pictures on his/her own.  If that child had talent, it would be nurtured, so that he/she could draw or paint complex pictures.  If not, he/she would have to be content, painting by the numbers and churning out many a Velvet Elvis.

Strangely enough, I can see why this product would be easy to sell - a coloring book becomes a form of meditation. Even Crayola has seen a way to sell its products to adults. The minimal effort needed to fill in blank space can help clear the mind, and allow it to relax.  But I am appalled by the sales pitch - where they say that the after product becomes a piece of artwork which one could give to friends.  Are they serious????

According to Wikipedia, 

"In 1958 the National Defense Education Act was passed with the encouragement of many legislators who feared the United States education system was falling behind that of the Soviet Union. The act yielded textbooks, produced in cooperation with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, which stressed the importance of evolution as the unifying principle of biology. The new educational regime was not unchallenged. The greatest backlash was in Texas where attacks were launched in sermons and in the press.Complaints were lodged with the State Textbook Commission. However, in addition to federal support, a number of social trends had turned public discussion in favor of evolution. These included increased interest in improving public education, legal precedents separating religion and public education, and continued urbanization in the South."

In short, cultural competition and urbanization pushed America forward in regard to scientific education.  But now, we're seeing people who are too busy to learn basic STEM skills, as well as others that prefer to use their religion as an excuse not to recognize generally accepted scientific reality.

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This rot is not limited to mathematics and the sciences.  It infects what we call common entertainment as well.  Compare two Television episodes made about 50 years apart.  In the 1960's one show had a child's father talking about the day the child was born. A wonderfully innocent joke was made: "Was Mommy There?" And the response was an obvious yes, with the setup for a story.  50 years later, a popular TV show made a big production about who peed on a pregnancy test stick - and bored the hell out of me. Yet, the people on the 2010's TV show made a fortune - even though what they did wasn't that funny.

Recently, I went to Atlantic City, and saw a comedy show with 3 popular comics.  The whole audience was laughing their guts out, while my partner and I was totally bored by the acts. When one of the comics started to make jokes referring to an 8 year old boy who shot his dad, I got disgusted.  The child was a victim of child abuse, having been beaten for 1,000 days in a row.  Is this something to laugh about?

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But back to the coloring books....

I have nothing against the firm who is selling these books.  In fact, I wish I had thought of this idea first.  It is something that actually serves a purpose - just not the one being advertised.  And I hope the people buying this product enjoy the time they spend filling in the blanks with colors.....

He kept us safe....

I have to admit - Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air, mixed with the usual smog of politics. And recently, he opened up a conversation that mainstream Republicans wanted to avoid - was George W. Bush's presidency a great failure?

In an interview, Trump opened up a pissing match with Jeb Bush, noting that Bush #43 was president on 9/11, and we went down the wrong path by destabilizing the Middle East.  Jeb responded that his brother "Kept America Safe".  Does any sane person really believe that Bush #43 actually kept us safe - even though it might be unfair to hold him accountable for 9/11?

This idea "he kept us safe" is the one thing that many Republicans hold on to which prevent themselves from massive "transformative learning". It's hard to admit that one's leadership got it totally wrong to such a large degree as Bush #43 did.  And Jeb is making the mistake of saying his brother did the right thing, while the majority of Americans (including a growing minority in his own party) believe that his brother was a total failure as president.

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If we go back to 2003, Bush #43's administration made a decision to remove Saddam Hussein's government from Iraq, setting the stage for a "forever war" the minute a power vacuum was allowed to exist in Iraq.  Obama, giving the American public what it wanted, pulled troops out of Iraq, allowing ISIS to form.  This was a two-stage clusterfuck. We either had to stay in Iraq, with thousands of Americans coming home in body bags - or, we could pull out, and take a risk of radical Islam gaining power.  There was no good choice - and this was Bush #43's legacy.

Did he keep us safe?  No.  But he did create great political theater to make us feel this way. When you look at the TSA and their continued screw ups, one wonders how more incidents haven't happened.  They can spy on our high tech communications.  But they can't spy on low tech (paper) in the same way.  Each time there is a failure in keeping us safe, the TSA tightens things up until the public complains, then eases off a bit.  There is no way to preserve absolute safety - but the public is being treated like a bunch of children and is not being told the truth - life, itself, is a bunch of risks.

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There is a growing list of politicians who are willing to discuss the mistakes this country made in the wake of 9/11.  And this is a good thing.  The GOP can not govern unless it is willing to look at itself honestly and say what they got wrong, and what they got right.  If they build on the things they do right (and we're not talking pandering to ignorant, dogmatic parts of the base), they have a chance to sell America on a market based economy, with all of the risks markets entail.  But this will include safety nets for whom the market can not serve.  If the party fails to address these points adequately, it will shrink in importance as its base shrinks as a part of the general population.

Armistice Day

Armistice Day.  We now call it Veteran's Day, as a way to honor those who served.  But, in America, we've lost the true meaning of the holiday.

There are many cemeteries in Europe in which are buried the bodies of soldiers who died in World War One.  This was the first global war in our world's history, although most of the killing was done by the European powers and their proxies.  It was considered "the war to end all wars", and yet, there was another world war within a generation.

What is it about humanity that leads us into war?  Could it be the nature of the Alpha Male is getting out of hand when large populations are involved?  I have no idea. But one would think that as a species, we'd have learned how to dampen this tendency in humans.  Sadly, we haven't yet learned how to do this.

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We have one political party which has had a collective myopia, being hawkish about getting into war, but with no clear plan of what to gain from making that war.  Have they learned anything from the lessons of 11/11/1918?  I doubt it.  They were responsible for us squandering billions of dollars in Iraq, claiming that we needed to make that nation "Safe for Democracy".  Does anyone think that Iraq became better off because of our involvement? And then, this party wanted us to invade Syria and remove another dictator.  Do they want to keep getting us involved in areas of the world, where a potential removal of our troops (once there) would create worse problems than had we not invaded in the first place?  Do they want "Forever Wars" only to keep the Military-Industrial Complex profitable?

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Wars should be rare things, not forever things.  America has made the big mistake of empire - we're using war to get our way in the world, and this is a tool that becomes much more expensive over time.  In addition, history has shown us that a propensity towards war is the sign of a dying empire.  Instead, we should be using diplomatic and economic power to get our way, to keep this empire.  It's one of the better ones that have existed, as it did help people become free and prosper around the globe.  But we can't make all the world safe or prosperous - the people and their cultures in areas that we have influence must want what we want for this to happen.  That's why Iraq and Syria were failures for us.

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The fields of Europe hold many a cemetery from both world wars.  Can we afford to add fuel to a fire which may result in another world war?

Democrats finally debating

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton - Opponents who know who their real political enemies are. One comment from Bernie in regard to Hillary's emails said all that needed to be said about the difference in tone between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in this country. 

Contrast the difference between Sanders' campaign and Trump's campaign.  It'd be almost impossible to find an instance where Sanders said anything mean about an individual.  Yet, you'd find a very strenuous voice against social injustice in our society.  Contrast this with Donald Trump, where a lot of meanness exudes from the man - but he doesn't have much of a message worth delivering.  Sanders states how he'd fix the problems in our society, while Trump only makes grandiose statements on how he'd make America great again, without filling in any of the details needed to believe him.

Both Sanders and Trump are voices against "business as usual" from the party elites. But again, look at the differences.  Sanders can work with the Democratic elite, even though he is an Independent from Vermont. Trump threatens the Republican party elite, and he comes from the same circles who could buy and sell presidential candidates.  Who do you think will get more done if elected to POTUS?

Many still consider Sanders' and Trump's campaigns as sideshows to the "eventual" main event - Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton. But Jeb has no traction right now.  The top 3 GOP candidates are all people from outside the Washington elites.  There is a good reason for this - the public is sick and tired of an elite that no  longer looks out for the welfare of the common person.  The dislike of elites shared by rural and inner city people is now spreading to suburbia - crippling Bush's chance of being nominated as the GOP's candidate. However the same dislike is not hurting Clinton that much.  

Why is Clinton not suffering as much as Jeb Bush?  This is an important question to ponder. The way I see it, her wealth is "new money" - something people respect, even though they question her ethics. Bush's wealth is "old money", and no longer has the respect of the common person. This is not conscious. I only thought of it when I think of how rich the Clintons became in 15 years.  

This leads to yet another question - Why has Trump's wealth not been held against him? To me, I think it is how Trump has promoted himself.  He has had many more business failures than successes, yet has figured out a way to offload the risks of his business ventures onto others.  For a project manager - this is a great thing to do.  But for the rest of us, it smacks of something less than ethical behavior.

Over the next 3 months, we'll see a lot of change. And we'll see if Sanders' and Trump's campaigns are going to implode when real elections are held.  If I am right, Hillary will collapse again, and the people in back of the GOP Clown Car will drop out of the race. I also think that Sanders will ask Hillary to be his VP - and she'll accept the position. It'll be a fine way for her to end her political career - and she could still get the job she's coveted for several electoral cycles.....