"Barbara O’Brien’s wide-ranging account of Zen history is conveyed with a master storyteller’s ability to keep the forest from getting lost in a myriad of trees. Wearing her scholarship lightly, she blends just the right amount of skepticism about her hagiographic sources with a deep appreciation for the Dharma." — Barry Magid, author of
Nothing Is Hidden and
Ending the Pursuit of Happiness Order here!
I worked today and did not have the chance to read anything but the highlights in the Interwebs. I'm not sure if there's much new stuff in the report that I haven't read from the J6 Committee and the indictment.
The high point of the report isn't in the report itself. From what I read, Trump plans to rewrite history in his last term. I suspect we'll see official reports of what happened with Covid rewritten. Trump will "prove" that he won in 2020. The J6 Insurrection will be rewritten to something totally benign. Trump will go after everyone on the J6 Committee to try to "prove" the conclusions of the committee were fraudulent. Af the same time, Trump will (probably is) using his thugs in the House to remove and destroy evidence.
The report seals Trump's long-term legacy with other liars and losers from history, The report is "out there" in the Internet with evidence and testimony. It's not just the J6 Committee and going after a lawyer of Jack Smith's stature will be a colossal mistake. MAGA will never look at facts – those of us who were engaged in the last four years know. In thirty years, historians will sift through what was said and look for facts that support or refute the narrative. The truth will not be kind to Trump, nor will history.
The short-term will be ugly, especially since major news outlets will temporarily bend the knee to Trump. The narrative will become Gospel to some and there will be violence against those who try to speak the truth openly. But Trump seems committed to atrocities against minorities and to the illusion that tariffs are free money for the US that other countries pay. The consequences of those two policies will bite Trump on his fat behind real quick. Prices will go up almost as fast as unemployment. All the double talk in the world won't bail Trump out.
Laughable.
Caught red handed stealing our votes and trying to overthrow democracy. He went to plan B. Lied. Lied more. Cried victim. Ran again. Got elected. Avoided justice.
Laughable.
Now he is going after the special prosecutor.
Still lying and gaining cult members.
It is the sick humor of our destiny. A human race hell bent on its own extinction. Chanting drill baby drill while engulfed in a fire storm caused by overuse of fossil fuels in a county that has the highest percentage of pavement of any county in the world. (My estimate based only on observation and memory)
Horribly funny with an emphasis on the horror.
Laughable.
Caught red handed stealing our votes and trying to overthrow democracy. He went to plan B. Lied. Lied more. Cried victim. Ran again. Got elected. Avoided justice.
Laughable.
Now he is going after the special prosecutor.
Still lying and gaining cult members.
It is the sick humor of our destiny. A human race hell bent on its own extinction. Chanting drill baby drill while engulfed in a fire storm caused by overuse of fossil fuels in a county that has the highest percentage of pavement of any county in the world. (My estimate based only on observation and memory)
horribly funny with an emphasis on the horror.
Speaking of jokes, I heard a good one, or at least the biggest one.
Pete Hegseth
That is the best I could do for a suspenseful pause. I'm open for better suggestions. The gulag would have done it better, I'm sure. RIP
So, sure, this country has 2 realities which the details I am sure you all know. In the case of the aforementioned report, the medium us the message. The cultists will first note that it is an in-depth, meticulously documented piece that attempts to portray facts based on real evidence. The cultists will just ignore it because will revert to their tribal thought that it is bad and ignore the details. They want a book that they can buy, never read, and then put on their shelf to show that they are smart like Rush (using the model since Rush L is smart, I am smart because I have the fetish/talisman of his intelligence and follow his dictums). But this is just drivel from me.
I was talking to my work-mates (cultists) about the LA fires and they honed in on mean-spirited conspiracy drivel that they pleasured themselves with on the tik-tok. It seems there is no path to leading them to use media in a responsible way and it is unfathomable to me how someone can be so fundamentally misinformed about reality. Pushing back means a screaming match. The only thing I can wrap my head around is that the medium is the message and that anyone that gets their media from the tik-tok is a brain dead zombie (and a dangerous one, to boot).
We can commiserate and analyze the details of the aufulness till kingdom come, but does anyone, here or elsewhere (like a reddit board), have a real coping mechanism that not only gets one through these encounters but also, at least, nudges folks to not imbibe internet slop as if it were the Gospel? Sheesh, I have seen a lot of bloviating but no solutions except for the lefty-lefts saying ORGANIZE. I don't even know what that means and it does not help the depression I get when the tik-tok zombies emit their smug self-assuredness.