"I Alone Can Fix It"

This entry comes from a campaign quote of 2016:

"Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."

If you don't remember that—or 2016, for that matter—it's understandable.  The party in power likes to keep as much obfuscated as possible, partly by continually manufacturing more controversy.  It's a way of keeping us from thinking about what they've done or are doing.  No one has time to think things through.

Still, looking back at "I alone…" is worthwhile.  It's a telling statement in several ways.

First, it's immensely arrogant.  Out of everyone in the nation, over three hundred million, why would any one candidate be the only suitable person?

Second, it's beyond baseless.  A career in real estate, reality tv and, as we now know, committing business fraud doesn't give someone the knowledge base to be able to make such a claim.  "No one knows the system better than me"?  Really?  Coming from someone who's never even been in the system?

Third, it's remarkably revealing.  "Nobody knows better than me."  "I alone."  Fifteen words, and still managing to concentrate twice on himself, and only himself.  He turns out to be a narcissist?  Don't that beat all.

It just goes to show that, regardless of what any of us want to believe, in the case of anyone who might be trying to put one over on us, whether a politician, an advertiser, an influencer, or anyone else, we need to exercise our critical thinking skills.

Do they have something to gain for themselves from what they're saying?  Are there any facts to support their claim?  Do they at least have a history of truthfulness?

If you fell for this one, don't beat yourself up too much.  There was plenty of propaganda going by trying to get you to believe it.  And it was skillfully done, playing into The Politics of Discontent.

No, if you fell for it, don't beat on yourself, just don't let it happen again.  Think things through regardless of the pressure of events.  Consider what the claims are trying to accomplish, and whether there's any evidence to support them.

And, as in this case, if the answer is no?

Tell the one making the claims to beat it.

Getting Rich Going Bankrupt II

You may have noticed that the current chief executive of this country is busy gilding his office spaces, statues, and so forth while his constituents are economically struggling.  If you find that odd, reminiscent of "Let them eat cake"—something no politician should consider repeating or re-creating—consider this:

For him, it's normal.

I wrote a year ago about how he's enriched himself while his lenders and employees lose out.  Letting everyone else suffer while he increases his wealth is his operating method.  So of course he's doing it.

Don't believe it's normal for him?

The six bankruptcies were the result of over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York: Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump#Business_bankruptcies

Something to think about while eating a Trump Steak and Trump Chocolate and drinking a Trump Vodka reading Trump magazine, sitting on your Trump Home furniture in the house you bought with a Trump Mortgage.

Let me just add that, if 49.8% of the electorate doesn't look around and realize it made a mistake in 2024, this really will be the new normal.  There are plenty of other wealthy, unscrupulous individuals out there.  If half the voting public is going to hang an "Exploit Me" sign around their collective neck, expect the country to continue to be taken advantage of.

The Day Our Innocence Died

Sung to the tune of Don McLean's classic American Pie:

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how my duties
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make that keyboard dance
And maybe keep the threats down for a while
But that fall morning made me shiver
With every bit of news delivered
Bad news in the inbox
Wolves were loose in our flocks
I can't remember if I cried
When I saw smoke from the tower's side
But something touched me deep inside
The day our innocence died

So, bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, with no planes in the sky
And everyone was just aghast at the sight
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

Do you cite the rule of law
And do you have faith in shock and awe?
If the Pres'dent tells you so
Now can combat take us to our goal
And leave us with our nation whole?
And can you tell me how this war is going to go?
Now if you have had enough of this
Well sorry, ignorance ain't bliss
We thought we all could snooze
With this "end of history" news
It's easy to look like a total schmuck
When in a foreign mire you're deep stuck
But I knew we were out of luck
The day our innocence died

I started singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, no one's ready to fly
And all those folks were waving peacetime goodbye
And singin', "We just can't go curl up and die
We just can't go curl up and die"

Twenty-five years, all the seeds are sown
And a new war has us on our own
But that's not how it used to be
When a generation of mujahideen
Came to the calls of the muezzin
Hit the towers, Pentagon and Flight 93
Oh, and while Osama looked around
For something else he could take down
His hideout we did learn
Revenge came in return
While the new world order was no lark
Seeing a new enemy so stark
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day our innocence died

We were singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, but we can't just go cry
And all those wanting a thousand points o' light
And singin', "This'll be the day that's come nigh
This is when our innocence dies"

Helter skelter in a downstairs pelter
Thousands died in collapsing shelter
Stories high and fallin' fast
Airliner plunging toward the grass
Passengers fighting to the last
Pax Americana a time that's now passed

Now the bombers were up flying soon
Cruise missiles pounding desert dunes
We started up the dance
'Gainst Iraq and the Taliban
Ground troops then take the field
To force Al-Quaida to give up and yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day our innocence died?

We started singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, and the missiles do fly
And all those folks thanking every ally
Singin', "This'll be when too many die
This'll be when too many die"

Oh, and there we were all in one place
Our past gone without a trace
With no time left to start again
So, come on, might be nimble, might be quick
But still comes one more ugly trick
'Cause torment is the Devil's only friend
Oh, and as I saw scenes of Abu Ghraib
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day our innocence died

He was singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, feeling safe was a lie
And all those folks look into hell and they sigh
Singin', "This'll be when hatred applies
This is when our innocence dies"

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I looked on up there from the floor
For the heavens to implore
But still did the ugliness stay
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The heartstrings all were broken
And the people I admire most
The quiet ones who never boast
They look like they just saw a ghost
The day our innocence died

And they were singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, we're all cut down to size
And all those folks wondering why oh why
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This is when our innocence dies"

They were singin' bye-bye, to the hopes we held high
Shocked from rev'rie, hearts are heavy, there's no stars in the sky
And all those folks with heartbroken goodbyes
Singin', "This is when our innocents died"

Posted on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks