18 July Open Thread - 'Eh'

I didn't and don't have much reaction to the attempted assassination of Trump. Mostly my reaction is, 'eh'. I'm upset about the man who died protecting his family. And the possible screwups, that's bothersome too. What really upsets me is what the shooting revealed, once again, about America. Our country is founded, and built, by violence and the guns that reflect that. RJ Eskow expressed exactly what I've been feeling, but couldn't describe very well, is his article 'One Nation Under Fire: Trump Resurgent'.

Eskow talks about how most Americans are 'under the gun', 'under the gun' of economic hardship as well as random shootings and so on, and about how America was founded in violence and how the wars America has fought in the last 75 years have all been driven by political violence, one way or another. I can't disagree; he's right.

From 2012, but it fits. An editorial cartoon from Cleveland.com.

A Funhouse Mirror?

New York turning to Mormonland:
In reference to Gaza and the holocaust Israel is inflicting upon the Palestinians, this sarcastic analogy by Caitlin Johnstone about giving New York to the Mormons really hit the spot with me. Depending upon the time we are looking at in history, most any religious group could replace Mormons in her piece, we would just have to change the location as necessary.

Artwork for Johnstone's article from SoundCloud, where you can listen to a reading of the article.

Ring In the New Year!

Many of us have thoughts on the old year, as we ring in the new. R.J. Eskow (The Zero Hour on Youtube) recently published his musing about the past year, and I found my own thoughts on 2023 to be reflected in the essay. The piece is called '2023: The year the monster showed its face'.

Eskow quotes MLK speaking about the three triplets - racism, extreme materialism and militarism - which Eskow likens to the three faces of a monster:

They’re the three heads of a single creature with many arms: social, ecological, imperial, even spiritual. We knew about this monster years ago. The people we admired, like Dr. King and Malcolm X, talked about it. It was debated, protested. Then it was forgotten. Soon, people doubted it was ever real.

But it is. It has shown its face in the destruction of Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian supporters blocking I-5 in Seattle. From this article, with many more pictures, on the protestors calling for a cease fire.