Who’s the Real Party of Hate?

Although I consider myself a liberal Democrat I receive Emails from GOPUSA because I am always interested in how those whose views are different from mine see the world and share their opinions on politics and world events. GOPUSA describes themselves as a private company whose mission is to spread the conservative message throughout America.

They list their mission as one to “educate, enlighten, and engage conservatives through a host of features and services including news, online discussions, commentary, and information.” And although they are not directly affiliated with the Republican Party they say that they “hope to be the first source that Republicans and conservatives will turn to for news and information, both at the state and national levels.”

On Monday December 14th they sent this to my email inbox. It was an opinion piece about President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Their opinion was that it was a terrible choice (laughable and left wing) and that the main(lame) stream media (in this case, Time Magazine) was trying to be politically correct when there were so many other good choices that they could have made…Of course, their pick would have been President Trump because of his stellar leadership with regards to the Coronavirus pandemic throughout 2020.

But that is their opinion, which is fine. However, what struck me the most about their opinion was the cartoon depiction that they made of the Time Magazine cover featuring both Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris. Here is the cover of Time Magazine as it appeared on newsstands.

And here is their cover of “Crime” Magazine, featuring the “Plunderer of the year”, with the names of Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris off to the side of their depiction of the two new elected leaders and the caption underneath that reads: “Changing America’s Election Results”.

So I guess that it is their opinion that the President and Vice President elects have stolen the election and are thieves, plunderers and criminals and not duly elected and honest American leaders?

But notice their caricatures as depicted by the artist. Where did those gigantic noses come from? One, more of a sinister beak that cannot be contained by his mask, while the other is rather long and upturned under her mask. What could they possibly represent… since neither Mr. Biden nor Ms. Harris are known for their big noses? (as you can see by looking at their photographs in the real magazine cover) So this is not a caricature as much as it is a message to the Republican and conservative (?) faithful.

It’s one thing to lose an election and be upset by that and another thing to disagree with a choice made by a magazine for its choice of cover… but it’s a completely other thing to depict your nation’s new democratically elected leaders as vile criminals!

So 306 electoral votes means it’s too close to call in a presidential election? Get angry! Get your guns! Take to the streets!… But 3,000 citizens dead each day from a virus and 300,000 citizens dead already after 10 months of a pandemic? Let’s party! Let’s go to a bar! Where’s my freedom?

Meanwhile hatred sells. Hatred is profitable. Hatred makes money and motivates buyers and sellers alike. It’s a commodity. But Empathy? Sympathy? Cooperation and kindness? Good luck raising money and building a grass roots movement with those skills.

We live in a very sad country right now… And it seems to me that it’s getting sadder every day…

Why War Is (Still) Stupid

I wrote this almost 3 years ago, early on in my blogging days, but sadly it still seems to be ringing truer than ever…

During Desert Storm, the first war in Iraq, a student in my class raised his hand and asked me a question.

“Hey, Mr. Picone, did you see that general on TV who was showing the video where a cruise missile tracks down an Iraqi truck and blows it up right there on a bridge?”

“Yes, I replied. I did.”

“Well, continued the student, how much do you think that old Iraqi truck was worth?”

“Oh about 20 to 30 thousand dollars,” I guessed

“And that bomb with the camera inside that tracked it down and blew it up. That cost a few hundred million didn’t it?”

“Yes, I think you’re right.” I said.

“So my question is, said the student who was about to give me something very interesting to think about, If our country is Spending 200 million dollars to blow up a 20,000 dollar truck how long can we keep that up before going broke?”

He asked me that question in 1992 and although I had no answer for him then, apparently my answer should have been, “Oh, I’d say about 16 years!” War is stupid because eventually we all go broke. You can bet money on it! Just ask Egypt and Greece and Rome and Persia and Spain and England and France and the Soviet Union and…now…US.!

We owe 18 trillion dollars and have no plans for paying off that debt except for the proposed dismantling of our Social services, pension systems and national infrastructure. Some plan, huh?

All civilizations eventually either spend all of their money on feeding the wealthy’s appetite for more wealth or on war, neither of which is an ingredient in any recipe for the extended prosperity and growth of a civilization and its people. And we here in the United States are doing both…at the same time!

Education however, no matter how expensive it may be for a civilization’s inhabitants to fund, sustain and expand never leads to the end of anyone’s civilization. When will we ever learn that?