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Tucker Carlson

Will Tucker Carlson Become Michael Cohen?

April 25, 2023
by Peter Feinman
Michael Cohen Testifying (Source: Diego M. Radzinschi) and Tucker Carlson receiving a subpoena for January 6 (Getty Images)

Will Tucker Carlson become Michael Cohen? Right now commentators comment on the options Carlson has for his future. Some of the suggestions may be taken as tongue in cheek: no, he will not work for RT … although he could become a reporter for them! The problem then would not be disseminating his message in Russia but in the United States. If he does not care about his American audience then playing the Russian card seems legitimate. But Carlson is a young male by Don Lemon standards still in his prime so he may prefer something larger. As the great Yogi said, “when you come to the fork in the road, take it.” Carlson is now at that proverbial fork in the road.

ANOTHER NETWORK

Yes, there are other networks. Whether or not they can afford Carlson is another matter. Furthermore, another network will not give him the outsize presence in the American political arena he had with Foxhub. Does the name Chris Cuomo ring a bell? How about Bill O’Reilly? Or Glen Beck? At some point, Carlson’s slot will be filled. That person will be different in style and personality but probably not too much in politics and social values … at least those expressed on the air.

It is not as if the audience Carlson cared about in the texts revealed in the lawsuit will automatically follow him to wherever he goes. After all that audience already knows that Carlson cannot be trusted to tell them the truth or to respect their intelligence. It is hard to see how another network or even creating his own podcast will keep him in the limelight. Anyone who accepts his invitation to appear on Carlson’s show would be jeopardizing their chances to appear on Foxhub.

WORK FOR TRUMP

Another possibility is to work for Trump in some capacity during the campaign and then during the Trump administration. This option poses its own problems. Carlson is used to operating independently and not being supervised by anyone. While it is perfectly permissible for Trump himself to go off the deep rails secure in the knowledge that his flunkies will support him, the same cannot be said in reverse. Apparently some of Carlson’s shows surprised and angered the higher ups in the Fox business organization. If that happened in a Trump bureaucracy, then Carlson would not last long. How long could Carlson survive if kept on a tight leash? Imagining him as a Press Secretary brings shudders to everyone and his survival time would be limited.

BECOME A NEW TUCKER CARLSON

For now Carlson is facing his own lawsuit and who knows if there are more to come. If the charges prove true, then it is a whole new ball game. Then he has to become concerned not only with spreading disinformation, but with the consequences of his having created a toxic work environment that could lead to more lawsuits down the road wherever he is hired.

Strangely enough despite the rape trial and revival of the Access Hollywood tapes, there have been no additional charges for anything Trump has done in the last 15 years. It is probably the longest he has gone without any sexual and/or harassment charges being levied against him. Since he still is a person of no morals, the change is not because Trump saw the light. Perhaps his current wife lay down the law about what would happen if he is caught again. On the other hand, given his age, it is possible he just lost his mojo. Either way, the change in behavior is rather remarkable. So maybe Carlson’s next work environment won’t be as toxic. He could change.

BECOME THE NEW MICHAEL COHEN

One final consideration is to go straight and tell the truth. What does he have to gain by not telling the truth? Everybody knows now what he really thought about January 6 in contrast to his “documentary.” We have heard what he has had to say/tweet about the cast of characters and their “evidence” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. We know what he thinks about calling the election in Arizona. We certainly know what he has said/tweeted about the person who actually was trying to steal the election. So when Carlson is deposed to appear in the Federal investigation into the events surrounding January 6, what reason does he have to lie or to take the Fifth?  Think of how much he knows about the goings on inside the White House and inside the head of the President.

If Carlson should decide to tell the truth, then the floodgates maybe opened. There are so many topics Carlson potentially could tell the truth about with even more coverage that Michael Cohen. Ukraine, COVID, COVID vaccines in addition to January 6. These are not areas where Carlson would be asked to violate his values. Instead all he would be asked to do is to tell the truth.

Carlson would then have the opportunity to explain the Dominion tweets which so rocked the non-Trump world. Michael Cohen does not hesitate for a moment to delve into the psyche and emotional immaturity of the person he calls DONALD. We already know what Carlson really thinks about Trump the person. One can imagine Carlson having counted the weeks, the days, the hours, and the minutes before he was rid of the demonic destroyer he passionately despises. Now here we are almost two years later with Carlson out of a job and Trump on the path to Presidential Election Round II. So why not tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? He has no audience to lose and a place in history to gain.

At this point, no one knows for sure what Tucker Carlson will do. Even he might not know. His mind may be a swirl of emotions and roads to take. It may take time for it to settle down. In the meantime there will be more Trump indictments and possible subpoenas. Carlson had moments in his past when he wondered about his journey when things were not going well in his career. Now he is at the biggest moment of his life with the biggest fork in the road staring him in the face. Will Tucker Carlson become a profile in courage or will he continue to be the toxic person spewing disinformation wherever he goes for the rest of his life?

Critical Thinking and the Stacey Abrams for Governor Endorsement

September 28, 2021
by Peter Feinman

Tucker Carlson calls for the banning of peanuts since someone died from eating them.

Tucker Carlson calls for the banning of sex since someone had a heart attack while having it.

Tucker Carlson calls for the banning of drinking water since someone had a stroke after drinking some.

Most likely such pronouncements would not pass muster not even on Carlson’s cable show. However, we are now experiencing case studies not in Critical Race Theory but in critical thinking. In a democracy everyone has the right to vote. We no longer can test people to determine if they have the mental necessity to vote, that is, to be informed voters capable of making critical thinking decisions about the candidates. But what we are learning, is that not all people have such skills regardless of their age and their decision making reflects that shortcoming.

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Critical thinking skills are not the ability to memorize people, places, and dates. I mention those three examples because typically they are the way people define history in the public schools. It is all about the boring need to remember people, places, and dates, information that is readily available online should one actually have any use of it. To some extent such a characterization of history as it is taught in the public schools is true. Supposedly, the situation changes in history classes in college. The emphasis shifts from memorization and regurgitation to analysis and thinking about questions posed by the teachers and raised by the students themselves.

As a general rule, there are no child prodigies in history. On average, the public school mind is not capable of the same level of thinking as the college mind. The college mind is less capable of thinking than the adult mind in part due to the absence of experiences. The ability to incorporate real world experiences into one’s thinking changes the critical thinking skills of the individual. Ideas can become more grounded in reality.

The brain changes as one matures.  It does not happen at the exact same age for everyone, it does not develop at the same rate once it does start, and it does not end at the same place for everyone one the process starts. There is a bell curve to critical thinking skills just as there is for most things in life. There are Anthony Faucis and there are Marjorie Taylor-Greenes. Bluntly put, there are people who never will be able to think as well as others. In a democracy the issue is the ability to think well enough to be an informed voter. One problem challenging the ability of a democracy to survive is that suppose not enough people have the critical thinking skills to be an informed voter.

Let’s look at some case studies now affecting the country.

STACEY ABRAMS FOR GOVERNOR

We have just witnessed an example of the seventh-grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck mind at work. When such a person wakes up in the morning, he does not know what smart-ass remark he will blurt out during the day. The material is not planned. It just happens. Yes, there may be some standard nasty comments but the original remarks are unanticipated. They depend on what the teacher says, how the students respond, and the individual skill of the smart-aleck-dumb-aleck to improvise based on the moment.

In other words, there was no plan to endorse Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia over Brian Kemp. Instead the speaker was in the flow. He was grooving on insulting the person who had defied him and not helped me steal the Georgia vote and win the state. As he was speaking, the nastiest insult he could think of popped into his head. He would say a Democrat is better than a RINO. He would say that a woman is better than a man. He would say that a black person is better than a white person. He would say a loser (in 2018) is better than the winner. And he would do so in one perfectly calibrated insult: Stacey Abrams would be a better governor than you are. And it felt good saying it.

Did he think through the consequences of his insult? Of course not. The seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck simply blurted what felt good for the moment. He never gave a thought to the consequences because he was incapable of thinking of the consequences. The insult felt good at the moment so he said it. Sometimes he can show minimal thinking skills: going public with getting a colonoscopy would make him the butt of jokes. He knows what cracks he would make as seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck about a colonoscopy so he understood what would happen if he was the target instead of the attacker.

Unfortunately for him, there still are some Republican adults in Georgia. They understood the significance of his wisecrack. Stacey Abrams does too. One can anticipate seeing and hearing that endorsement multiple times during the campaign in the event she does run for governor.

But what about the audience? In general, the audience responds to the utterings of the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. They laugh along with his insults. If he tries some adult stuff like “get vaccinated” they respond by booing. But nobody seemed to boo at the Stacey Abrams endorsement. The question must be asked why didn’t the Trumpicans boo him after his endorsement of the number one enemy of the Georgian Trumpicans? Didn’t they understand the implications of what he was saying? Didn’t they recognize the consequences? Apparently not. Maybe now they realize the impact of what he said. But at the moment of utterance, they did not have the mental necessities to boo him for that remark.

CORONAVIRUS AND RED-STATE DEATHS

The inability to make an intelligent informed decision is most visible now in the deaths from the coronavirus. Initially White House Trumpicans did not care about a virus hoax that seemingly targeted AOC people. They did not understand that the virus strikes based on opportunity and vulnerability and not on politics and race. True we had to learn about the virus, but once we did as a nation we understood that politics does matter: adult human beings in a democratic society are making informed decisions not to be vaccinated. After all it is a hoax, it is no worse than the flu, I am healthy, the vaccination is more deadly than the virus, shortcuts were used to develop the vaccine. I have done my research on the web and have made an intelligent informed decision. Don’t bother me the facts that unvaccinated people in red states are now the ones being killed. What lie are you going to tell me next? That the election wasn’t stolen? That the forensic audit in Arizona proved the election was not stolen?

The coronavirus vaccines illustrate the absence of critical thinking skills in huge portions of the population. In the September/October 2021 issue of The Pennsylvanian Gazette, Penn President Amy Gutmann, nominated to be ambassador to Germany wrote:

For decades prior, Penn medical researchers Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó had been investigating synthetic messenger RNA as a new and completely different way to prompt specific antibodies to fight against a targeted disease. Quietly in their laboratories, without fanfare, they created the breakthrough technologies that underly (sic) two of the most effective vaccines being employed to battle the pandemic: the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

Shortly afterwards, the Lasker awards for 2021 for excellence in medicine was awarded to these two research scientists, a potential precursor to winning a Nobel Prize. In the meantime, the scientists have won the $3 million Breakthrough Prize and the $1 million dollar Albany Prize.

By coincidence, an enthusiastic Penn alum wrote a letter published in the same issue as the Presidential column above on these individuals. Her concern was:

What I fail to understand is why Penn is not screaming it from the rafters. Call CNN, PBS, specifically Fox, targeting the unvaccinated audience. Get on the news so people who think the vaccines were developed too quickly can be reassured that researchers have been working on them for decades.

One can feel the emotional urgency in this letter. The writer genuinely believes that this information can save lives. The Penn alum implicitly believes that the unvaccinated people exposed to this information possess the critical thinking skills to see the light, change their minds, and become vaccinated. The evidence suggests otherwise.  Such hopes are wishful thinking. Forget about mandates. Even death doesn’t change the unvaccinated peoples’ minds.  There has been a lot of discussion about achieving herd immunity. There has been very little discussion about culling the herd of the most vulnerable people, the unvaccinated, to attain it. The American gospel of “come let us reason together” presupposes that people have the critical thinking skills to reason together. No provision has been made for situations where they don’t.

Do Tucker/Trump Oppose the Socialist Chlorination of Water?

August 2, 2021
by Peter Feinman

Do Tucker/Trump oppose the socialist chlorination of water? That action seems to match all the criteria deployed in the current opposition to vaccinations. It is based on science. It is a central government action. Individuals have no choice unless they are not connected to the municipal water system. For that matter, what do Tucker/Trump think about the mandatory requirement to use seat belts? Do they applaud the heroic individuals who decline to buckle up? Is the use of seat belts for children an example of child abuse?

What is going on here? Why is Tucker embarrassed to admit that he was vaccinated? Why is Trump not pounding the pavement in support of the Trump vaccine? This situation highlights that other considerations are involved besides “just the facts” or the merits of the case. Yes, vaccinations have been weaponized in the culture wars as masks were before it. Who knows if the chlorination of water be allowed if it were invented today.

LEADERSHIP

Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump are not leaders. They are channellers. They feel your pain to exploit their gain. They do not cause your grievance but they are skilled enough to sense its existence. Then they can amplify it, use it, profit from it. However, they do not cause the grievance or pain in the first place. The subtitle in the recent article in Time about Tucker tells it all: “By stoking the culture wars and peddling white grievance, TUCKER CARLSON has become the standard-bearer of the right.” Notice, he stokes the existing grievance. As the article suggests, Tucker provides excuses for people to express beliefs that they otherwise might feel uncomfortable with but already had.

And if Tucker/Trump disappear from cable TV or politics, the grievance and pain do not disappear with them. Then the people simply seek or require another mouthpiece to speak for them.

In some ways, these con artists remind me of some of the figures I see in science fiction shows (Star Trek). From time to time there will be aliens with telepathic powers of some kind. They may simply read your thoughts. They may seek to manipulate them for various reasons. But they do no create them. They may tap into the deepest parts of your brain to bring to the surface memories you suppress or ignore. Then those memories provide the alien with the opportunity to exploit you.

Con artists like Tucker/Trump work the same way. They are not leaders in the sense of being able to get you to do something you do not already want to do. An example of a channeller versus a leader was just displayed by Sean Hannity. Out of nowhere, he decided to tell the truth about the coronavirus and the need to be vaccinated. Perhaps someone he knew had died or been hospitalized. He couched his plea in the standard Foxhub rhetoric: talk with your doctor, your decision is confidential, you have freedom of choice. Still the thrust of the message was clear: YOU NEED TO BE VACCINATED NOW!

His message led to an immediate blowback. Viewers could see through his attempt to sugarcoat it that he was asking people to listen to Fauci and do what they already had decided not to do. In other words, he was trying to lead them. The effort failed. The result was he did a Kevin-McCarthy on 1/6. He walked back his failed try to be a leader. He should have known that. Remember when after the election Foxhub lost viewers to other media outlets fully dedicated to the alternate universe. Then Foxhub responded by doubling down on the partisan hype. Most likely Hannity will never again make the mistake of trying to lead his viewers. Instead; he will amplify their fears, insecurities, and need to believe in their view of the world regardless of what is really happening.

One observes the absolute refusal to abandon beliefs in the actions that otherwise defy commonsense. People on death bed exclaim how could they be dying from the coronavirus hoax. Even the hospitalization and looming death of child is not enough to sway true believers from their course. Their minds have been so manipulated and exploited over the years by Tucker/Trump and others that they have lost the capacity to think straight. The increase in vaccinations over the past week show that some people finally are getting the message that the virus is for real. Unfortunately it also reveals how many people cannot be reached.

One might think that the former President would be campaigning full-stop to have his followers be vaccinated. After all, he sometimes like to take credit for the development of the vaccines under his Warp Speed program. Sometimes the vaccine even is called the Trump vaccine so as not to give Biden any credit. And he was vaccinated himself. So why hasn’t he been championing the use of the vaccine?

Here we see that he is not a leader. He knows what Hannity learned by exposing himself to his viewers in his failed leadership initiative. He knows that if he tells his followers to be vaccinated they will not listen to him. Being a warrior in the culture wars trumps everything.

RONALD REAGAN

Consider the contrast with Ronald Reagan. Suppose something comparable had happened during his eight years as a two-term president. Would Reagan have worn a mask? Of course he would have. Wearing a mask did not threatened his masculinity and make him a wimp. It is simply what needed to be done to protect him and his fellow Americans from a threat. He would have made jokes about wearing a mask. He would have told stories about his days in Hollywood making westerns and wearing a mask. We are talking about someone who could make jokes even after he was shot in an attempted assassination. He would have worn a mask and so would the people who heroically refuse to today.

When the former President yanked off his mask on the White House balcony after having been released from the hospital, he was catering to his followers, not leading. The hope of some staff people that now he had seen the light and would be a leader were dashed. He remained true to himself as an insecure weeny con artist who failed to even try to be the leader the country needed. He is not going to jeopardize his extremely successful funding con by taking a leadership position.

In an earlier blog, I suggested that President Biden invite the former President to the White House to promote vaccination in a show of strength. A few days later, Frank Luntz, on CNN Andersen Cooper, made the same suggestion. Such pleas are for naught. Put aside all the comments made above and keep in mind that with our loser ex-President it is always about him.

The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Think of how he condemned all the Republicans who voted on behalf of a bipartisan infrastructure bill. How could he appear at the White House with the person who stole the election, who is almost senile, and who is one-step from death’s door? He can only appear at the White House if it is to remove the present occupant as will happen on August 13. Otherwise the hitman would be legitimating Biden’s steal and undermining his own re-election chances.

So, no, Tucker/Trump will not call for ending the socialist chlorination of water based on science. They will not because at present, there is no grievance about chlorination of water for Tucker/Trump to exploit. But if the coronavirus vaccine was distributed through the public water system, then all bets are off. Just as all vaccines are questioned now, so would the chlorination of water. And remember, in Dr. Strangelove, the purity of water was enough to blow up the world.

 

Fox Triplets: Do You Want a “Socialist” America? Dump Trump Now!

June 25, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Red line is the poll results for Biden; the orange line his opponent

Fox triplets, do you want a “socialist” America? Then DUMP TRUMP NOW!

It’s time to live in the real world.

No more Tucker tirades about the unelected Fauci. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

No more Hannity hosannas about Texas and Florida. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

No more Laura LOL drug cures. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you have the mental necessities to read a graph? How come the number of cases in the European Union has dropped dramatically while America’s is rising? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you think after the struggle to control the coronavirus, the European Union will now accept the White House fantasies of 15 becoming zero, miracle cures, it’s behind us, and embers? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

If our leader rates a “10,” then what would you rate the leaders of  Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, China and from other countries  that actually have contained the virus? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you think after the struggle to control the coronavirus, states like New York will now accept the White House fantasies of 15 becoming zero, miracle cures, it’s behind us, and embers? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

If our leader rates a “10,” then what would you rate the governors of the states that actually contained the virus? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Our President said the way to improve schools is to slow down testing: fewer tests mean fewer failures. Problem solved. How simple-minded to you have to be to believe this? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Oh, wait. He said to slow down the coronavirus tests, not school tests. Fewer tests mean fewer infections mean fewer deaths. How stupid are you? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

At Tulsa, here is what people who take this nonsense seriously had to say:

“This coronavirus is a little bit hyped. The media hypes things,” Anonymous.

If only FAKE NEWS knocked off their hyped reporting, there would be no talk of 120,000 dead and they would not be dead either…or the deaths aren’t really from the coronavirus anyway. Who knows how this unidentified electrician from Seattle is able to live in an alternate reality. The whole thing must be a hoax.

Other examples lends credence to the thinking it is a hoax.

“It’s all fake. They’re just making the numbers up. I haven’t seen anybody die, not from coronavirus. I don’t know anybody who’s got it,” said Mike Alcorn, Wichita, Kansas.

“I’ve been watching this closely over the last four months or so, and the numbers just don’t add up,” said Jeff Eskew, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“[The virus] is a scare tactic more than anything. And I just don’t believe all those deaths are coronavirus,” said Donald Fanning, Wichita Kansas.

Do you see any global warming in your backyard? I don’t see any global warming in your backyard. It’s all fake, it’s all made up.

How can you even blame China for a hoax? How can China be at fault if it’s all fake? That’s like saying the Bolton book is a complete lie but the lies are classified so it shouldn’t be published.

Just because someone looks up to Putin doesn’t give him the right to play Russian roulette with the lives of the American people. Masks work. Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Just because someone admires Queen Elizabeth doesn’t give him a 007 license to kill Americans. Masks work. Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Just because someone’s uncle was a supergenius doesn’t mean he knows what scientists are talking about. Masks work, Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

LBJ knew when not to run for re-election.

Nixon knew when it was time to resign.

There are no Howard Bakers in the Senate

There are no adults in the White House.

It’s up to you Fox triplets to save America.

Do you want a Democratic White House, House, and Senate? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you want Biden to win by even a bigger Electoral College landslide than 306 votes? By a bigger landslide than the 332 of Obama? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Why do you criticize what is going on the cities and then support the one person who will make matters worse?  It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Are you secretly working for Nancy Pelosi?

Are you trying to destroy the Republican Party?

Are you a minion of George Soros?

THEN DUMP TRUMP NOW!

The eyes of the world are upon us and what the world sees is a failed country with a laughingstock for a leader who is way out of his league. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Fox triplets: Rise to the occasion. Be a profile in courage. Save the country. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

I am not so naïve as to think the Fox triplets will ever read or even know of this blog yet alone act on it. But it felt really good writing it.

DUMP TRUMP NOW!

What Tucker Carlson Meant to Say

June 15, 2020
by Peter Feinman
"My function is to destroy that which is not perfect." (Words from Star Trek, Image from the Twilight Zone)

Opening narration

This is the face of Ramos Clemente, a year ago a beardless, nameless worker of the dirt who plodded behind a mule, furrowing someone else’s land. And he looked up at a hot Central American sun and he pledged the impossible. He made a vow that he would lead an avenging army against the tyranny that put the ache in his back and the anguish in his eyes, and now one year later the dream of the impossible has become a fact. In just a moment we will look deep into this mirror and see the aftermath of a rebellion in the Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone episode The Mirror was shown on October 20, 1961. In a Central American dictatorship, Ramos Clemente (modeled after Fidel Castro), and his four lifelong confidants, stage a successful revolution against the regime of General De Cruz. Clemente faces down De Cruz and revels in his victory, but the deposed general says that Clemente will soon learn the consequences of ruling by force. De Cruz also tells Clemente that his ornate mirror has the ability to reveal enemies in its reflection.

When Clemente begins using the same repressive tactics used by the deposed dictator De Cruz, a rift develops between him and his four friends, now the heads of the government. A particular point of contention is Clemente’s order for mass executions of prisoners he has declared to be enemies of the state. The purification of the new order requires the cleansing of the impure.

When Clemente looks into the mirror, he sees visions implying that all four of his confidantes are plotting to assassinate him. They are cleansed and the revolution is purified.

Finally, Clemente is approached by a priest who asks him to end the executions. Clemente refuses, saying that as long as he has enemies the executions will continue until the country is purified. Clemente takes one last, long look in the mirror…and sees only himself. He picks up his pistol and throws it at the mirror, smashing the glass. “The last assassin,” he says, “and they never learn…they never seem to learn.”  The country is purified at last.

Closing narration

Ramos Clemente, a would-be god in dungarees, strangled by an illusion, that will-o’-the-wisp mirage that dangles from the sky in front of the eyes of all ambitious men, all tyrants—and any resemblance to tyrants living or dead is hardly coincidental, whether it be here or in the Twilight Zone.

If there is a Twilight Zone episode about purification, then there must be a Star Trek one too. The episode is “The Changeling” first broadcast on September 29, 1967.

Plot

The Enterprise investigates a distress call. The cause of the distress is an object that identifies itself as “Nomad”, and refers to Captain Kirk as “the Creator”. It was a space probe launched from Earth during the early 21st Century. Its original mission was to explore the galaxy and seek out new life, but it had been reported destroyed.

Now Nomad’s new mission is to seek out and eliminate any “biological infestation” that it deems imperfect. The change occurred after Nomad had collided with a meteor, was severely damaged, and then wandered through space. It finally coming into contact and merged with a powerful alien probe designed to obtain and sterilize soil samples from other planets. Nomad partially integrated the agricultural mission directives, interpreting them to mean “sterilize imperfections”. When Nomad declares that its directive is to sterilize imperfections it allows no exceptions. Kirk points out that Nomad itself is imperfect, since it has mistaken Captain Kirk for its true creator Roykirk. Seconds after Nomad is transported from the ship, an explosion is detected and Nomad is no more.

In the Star Trek episode as in the Twilight Zone, the one who seeks destroy imperfections or who leads the revolution dies.

Once the purification process begins there is no real off switch. Consider the situation in the Peoples Republic of Seattle. The President of the United States had called upon people to liberate their states (from Democratic governors). He operated under the naturally short-sighted thinking that only his people would do the liberating and not the other side. Welcome to the real world.

One might think that the Seattle autonomous zone was about George Floyd. Perhaps it was at first but that is not how purification works. Moe’ Neyah Dene Holland, a Black Lives Matter activist in Seattle said:

We should focus on just this one thing first. The other things can follow suit. Because honestly, black men are dying and this is the thing we should be focusing on. 

The reference is to the expanded agenda of purifications which had been identified. First, three demands were posted on a wall. Then five were posted on a fence. Then there were 39 online. That’s the way the purification process works. Where does it end?

NEXT CONFEDERATES

The next target for purification has been the Confederates. With police reform, there has been a legal process at the local, state, and federal level to pass new laws and make changes. The same has applied to Confederates regarding the naming of military bases, the removal of statues, and the changing of street names. But some people also have taken the purification process into their own hands and acted independently of the law. Statues have been toppled. That’s the way the purification process works.

NEXT COLUMBUS

At first glance, Columbus would seem to have nothing to do with George Floyd or police reform. You are wrong. Once it is started, purification just keeps going and going and going. Columbus like the Confederates already has been under attack. Cleansing actions have been undertaken in multiple states to remove the presence of Columbus. The current situation provided an opportunity to further act to cleanse the country.

Ironically, in the village where I live, the march on May 25 to protest police brutality began in Columbus Park. The park is located not that far from Columbus Ave. The march against police brutality stayed focused on the issue of the police. To the best of my knowledge there was no call to rename the park or the street on which Spanish-speaking people live. Nor has there been any indication of traumatized people stressed out for living with the Columbus name. At some point, these people are going to have to be educated in the steps required to purify the village of Columbus. The questions of racism and genocide will be raised time and time again until every statue, every street, every building has been purified of the Columbus name. That’s the way the purification process works.

NEXT SLAVEOWNERS 

Albany, N.Y. Mayor Kathy Sheehan has announced that the city will be taking down the statue of Philip Schuyler because he was a slave owner. Dr. Alice Green, Executive Director at the Center for Law and Justice, said: “He enslaved them, he devalued them, and the lesson for young people is that: Why are we glorifying people who treated us that way?”  An objection was raised by former state legislator and city historian Jack McEneny:  “Philip Schuyler is one of the people who… if we didn’t have him, we would’ve lost the battle of Saratoga.” In response, Dr. Alice Green, said: “I don’t believe in censorship. I do believe if somebody wants to glorify Philip Schuyler… they should, but not on my government property.”

There are other examples glorifying Philip Schuyler. One is the nearby Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site located on state property and operated by the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. Another is the Schuyler House, Philip Schuyler’s country house, located near the Saratoga battlefield and owned and operated by the National Park Service.  What is the basis for removing the statue but keeping state and federal ownership of his houses? Why should taxpayer money be used to support the homes of a slave owner? Shouldn’t these houses be privatized? One thing always leads to another. That’s the way the purification process works.

What about Schuylerville, the village where the Schuyler House is located? Shouldn’t its name be changed?

What about the streets with the name of a slave owner? Just as the name “Columbus” must be purged as part of the purification process, so too must the names of all slave owners be eliminated from America’s streets and buildings. This process too is already underway especially at colleges where buildings have been renamed. However it has not yet been extended to the individual street names. Systemic racism means simply removing a statue is not enough. All vestiges of slavery need to be removed. Those street names have to go if the town is to be purified of the reminders of slavery. That’s the way the purification process works.

A reporter in Albany asked, do all the slave-owner named streets have to go along with Schuyler including those named after the founders of the city and the country.

Yes, said Derek Johnson, who is black and represents the South End on the Albany Common Council. “If we’re going to be consistent, all of them should be changed,” Johnson told [reporter Chris Churchill]. “Right is right.”

NEXT ALEXANDER HAMILTON

A bigger problem is Schuyler’s daughters. They appear in the musical Hamilton as one of them married Alexander Hamilton. The daughters were all beneficiaries of white privilege. What are they doing on Broadway in positive roles? Shouldn’t they be removed from the musical? If seeing a statue is traumatic what does that make seeing living examples of these daughters of white privilege singing and dancing before an appreciative audience? What does that make the people who pay to see them? “Who will the story?” the musical famously asks. The real story is one of slavery and not that of Hamilton. That’s the way the purification process works.

NEXT THE FOUNDING FATHERS

Then what about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington who also appear in the musical. Imagine the trauma experienced by the black actors performing in the role of an author of the Declaration of Independence and the father of the country. Doesn’t that qualify as cruel and unusual punishment? Both founding fathers already have been under attack. Seventy-five-per-cent-white Sally Hemmings has become a cause célèbre as a black person in the life of Jefferson. Washington has been attacked for tracking Ona Judge Staines. How can the country be purified if slave owners are the people who founded it? They and the country they created have to go. That’s the way the purification process works.

NEXT JULY 4

The birthday of the slave country is July 4. The Declaration of Independence was written by people who owned people. The purification of the United States demands that the people be liberated from a country based on racism. Indeed, The New York Times received a Pulitzer Prize for showing that America is a slave-based country. The newspaper also identified the birthday of the new country to be created: 1619.

NEXT THE CONSTITUTION

Just as the birthday of the country needs to be changed, so too the governing document needs to be scrapped. It is the product of racist slave owners. The purification of the United States demands that the people be liberated from a governing document based on race.

Systemic racism cannot be eliminated as long as the birthday and governing document of the country are based on racism. Instead of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, the country needs to be cleansed of its sin. A new country based on 400 years should be created. Only then will the purification be completed. That’s the way the purification process works.

I am not saying this scenario will happen. I am not saying that people in Politically Correct Command Central have a plan and are deploying the politically correct people (PCPs) to implement it. I am not saying there even is such a command center. I am not saying that the people protesting for police reform [a subject to be addressed in a future blog] aren’t patriotic Americans who want the country they love to live up to its ideals. I am saying the purification process described here is a logical conclusion to the forces that now have been unleashed. There really is no way to tell where this process will stop. We need a new national narrative for the 21st century.

 

One Small Step for the Penguin-Walk President or One Giant Leap for the Fox President?

March 12, 2020
by Peter Feinman
https://batman.fandom.com

The favorite venue for this President is the professional political wrestling arena. He literally feeds off the emotion and energy there. For the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck the professional political wrestling arena is a dream come true. He can say whatever he wants, act however he pleases, and make up whatever “facts” occur to him. There is no teacher, no principal, and no school superintendent to control him. In fact, he is the superintendent!

One of the acts he likes to perform is the penguin-walk President. He goes all stiff with arms down his sides and waddles a few steps. He adds a commentary about how this is how the adults in the room tell him to behave as President. Then he laughs at them for championing such rigid behavior. After all, wasn’t he elected precisely to destroy such conduct?

There are a few times when the immature child President knows he has to behave like an adult. For example, the State of Union. Just like the child who knows he has to behave at a funeral or some other occasion, Little Donee Waney can behave properly…for a short period of time, but that’s it.

Then there are the unexpected times when America wants him to act as an adult and he can’t – Charlottesville, Puerto Rico, and now, the coronavirus. One would think by now We the People would know he simply isn’t wired to do so but we hope for the best and then are disappointed once again when he fails to be an adult.

His penguin-walk persona (which is separate but related to his running on air off a cliff behavior, see Running on Air off a Cliff: The Coronavirus and the Real World), provides a window into the mind of the child trying to pass for an adult. It genuinely reveals how the seventh-grade-smart-aleck dumb-aleck perceives the role of the President. For him, acting presidential is what he does when he is in the professional political wrestling arena, not when he is speaking to the nation from the Oval Office or standing alone at a White House podium. It demonstrates the impossible challenge facing him when circumstances beyond his control force him to assume the adult mantle.

His White House coronavirus speech of March 11, 2020, was one such moment. When the Unpresidential Library is built, this speech will be one of the highlights. Visitors will have the opportunity to see and hear Franklin Delano Roosevelt after December 7, Ronald Reagan after the Challenger, George Bush and Rudy Giuliani after 9/11, and Little Donnee Waney during the coronavirus.  In the years to come, visitors to the Unpresidential Library will gasp in horror and shock as this immature child struggled to pass for an adult. It will become a lesson for teachers of American history.

The speech would have been more effective if it simply had been distributed as a handout. It was not the creation of a President writing on a legal pad, typing on a computer, or even tweeting and then giving it to others to polish for the presentation. The speaker was unfamiliar with words, struggled with phrases, and didn’t understand what he was reciting. He looked and acted uncomfortable because he was. Remember, his view of the President as an adult is of a stiff, rigid penguin. He was out of his element and out of his league.

Remember how much fun Little Donne Wanee had had just ten days earlier mocking the height of Mike Bloomberg by ducking down behind the lectern?

Our President Having Fun while the Hoax Virus Miraculously Disappears

This picture of him during the coronavirus when everything supposedly was contained and the count of 15 was miraculously dwindling to zero also will be in the Unpresidential Library. It will hang right next to a picture of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

A float depicting President Trump as Roman Emperor Nero in the traditional Carnival parade in Mainz, Germany, on Feb. 24. (Michael Probst/AP)

THE DEEP STATE IS BIGGER THAN FOX IMAGINED

The reaction to the pitiful performance was worse than even the nightly Fox diatribes against it.

BREAKING NEWS

The E.U.’s top officials condemned President Trump’s Europe travel ban, saying the decision was “taken unilaterally and without consultation.” (NYT, Fake News)

The European leaders are well aware of the mental shortcomings of the immature child President of the United States. They laugh at him to his face at the General Assembly. They laugh at him behind his back at international conferences. They probably laugh at him more times than we know. Still no matter how much he insults and alienates them, they know that American leadership is needed to solve global problems. They know it for climate change and they know it for the coronavirus.

As soon as Little Donee Waney announced the 30-day ban on travel from Europe, they knew the moron in-chief had done it again. My own immediate reaction after gasping was to think of the American travelers who would be stranded in Europe for a month. Where would they stay? How would they pay for it? If they were traveling with medicines, how would they get refills? If they needed to be back in the United States for family and business, what would happen? I am sure other people had equally puzzled reactions to this announcement.

Sure enough almost as soon as the speech was over, the American Government began issuing correctives. What he said was not what he really meant. Why expect clarity in the single most important speech of his presidency? Do you really think he has a White House staff capable of ensuring the final product was coherent?

I presumed he personally knows of someone currently in England so he exempted England from the travel ban so that person could get home. I could be wrong. What’s your explanation?

In any event, his botched performance led to this headline:

Trump address sparks chaos as coronavirus crisis deepens (CNN, Fake News)

President Donald Trump set out to steady a rattled nation and a diving economy in a solemn Oval Office address, but instead sowed more confusion and doubts that he is up to handling the fast-worsening coronavirus crisis.

Trump’s top assignment on Wednesday was to show that he was in charge and that he appreciated, finally, the grave nature of the weeks that lie ahead. But the confusion over the travel ban turned his speech into something of a debacle and may up exacerbating uncertainty over his leadership.

“I don’t think there’s confusion,” Pence said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Who the hell does Vice President Mike Pence think he is deciding for us whether or not we are confused? Why were there so many corrections issued afterwards if the President of the United States was crystal clear? It is one thing to sell your soul, but did he have to abandon his common sense with it?

BREAKING NEWS

U.S. stocks plunged again, as investors reacted with dismay to President Trump’s latest effort to address the coronavirus outbreak. (NYT, Fake News)

European leaders weren’t the only ones to cast judgment against Little Donnee Waney. Wall Street did too. Almost as soon as the speech was over the stock markets began to tank. And they continued to do so throughout the day. Wall Street like Europe knows better than to trust Fox. It could see with its own eyes that the President of the United States wasn’t up to the job of being a leader in a time of crisis. The judgement has been harsh.

Some of the decline has been due to the hit the economy is going to take from the coronavirus.

Some of the decline has been due to the oil battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia (will the world’s greatest dealmaker negotiate a deal?)

Some of the decline has been due to the recognition that we are in a crisis and no one is in charge…or at least, no adult is.

The presidential speech did have one positive impact despite its shortcomings.

The day coronavirus became real for millions of Americans (CNN, Fake News)

Even Trumpicans who watch Fox should be starting to learn that the coronavirus is a real threat that is only going to get worse contrary to the claims of the Fox announcers save for Tucker Carlson.

Is the NBA also part of the Deep State?

Is the NCAA also part of the Deep State?

Is Tom Hanks also part of the Deep State?

And what about the upcoming baseball season?

Meanwhile on the Bull-Trump network, the speech of our Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be His Name, was the greatest speech since the Sermon on the Mount. Such bold and decisive leadership showing full command of the subject and demonstrating the ability to contain and defeat the disease. And remember Trumpicans like mainland Chinese get their news from only one source, the government propaganda network…unless they also watch basketball, unless they also like Tom Hanks, unless they opened their bank statements at the end of February or will do so at the of March.

There is one way to get through to Trumpicans. Margaret Sullivan (Washington Post, Fake News) suggested that

Rupert Murdoch could save lives by forcing Fox News to tell the truth about coronavirus….So imagine if the word flowed down from on high that Fox News should communicate to Trump that he needs to take an entirely new tack on the virus. Imagine if Murdoch ordered the network to end its habit of praising him as if he were the Dear Leader of an authoritarian regime and to instead use its influence to drive home the seriousness of the moment.

Or imagine if Murdoch replaced Hannity with Tucker Carlson. Fat chance. But for a sneak look at what is really important in the Trumpworld and what has the highest priority, it is just what you would expect:

The Trump team is now working overtime to question Joe Biden’s mental fitness (CNN, Fake News)

It’s always about him.

Running on Air off a Cliff: The Coronavirus and the Real World

March 11, 2020
by Peter Feinman
If Only We Lived in a World of No Gravity!

Here is what I wrote last June 19:

There is a longstanding cartoon routine of someone running off a cliff. The figure may be human or an animal and it is almost always male. The figure runs straight off a cliff and then appears to be running on air. The laws of gravity are suspended and the figure remains aloft, legs churning. Finally comes the moment of truth. He realizes his predicament and looks down. There below him, far, far below him, is the hard ground. Suddenly reality takes over. The result is SPLAT! Actually, since the fall does not kill him, it’s not too real.

So far that moment of truth has not yet arrived for the current cartoon character running on air. He has managed to maintain his illusions for far longer than I would have anticipated. There has been no Cuban Missile Crisis. No 9/11. And his hurricane failure occurred in Puerto Rico and not Louisiana. Thanks to John McCain and a few others he was not able to strip Trumpicans of their healthcare otherwise the Trump really would have hit the fan.  Is it really possible to sustain his delusions for an entire four-year term?…

There are a few simple tests to monitor his grasp of the real world, his willingness to operate it, and his success if he tries. We don’t need to wait to see how he deploys his campaign resources to know if he is operating based on real polls or his fake polls. We’ll know in a month because of health care.

“You’ll see that in a month when we introduce it. We’re going to have a plan. That’s subject to winning the House, Senate, and presidency, which hopefully we’ll win all three. We’ll have phenomenal health care.” 

 So claims the very stable genius who is the smartest person in the room and the only one who can solve America’s problems.

That month of waiting for his “phenomenal health care” plan has long come and gone.

Now he says

“the people are getting better, they are all getting better”

“You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.”

“We’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

And there will be a miracle. Now it is the vaccine which will be ready soon, soon, very soon. Imagine if we did have a “phenomenal health care” plan as promised last June and people didn’t have to be worried about the cost of coronavirus healthcare.

Playtime is over for our immature child president. Try as he might with his Fox assistants, ignoring, denying, and insulting the real world doesn’t cut with the coronavirus. When it first appeared, mainland China tried the Trump approach. It suppressed whistleblowers. It ignored the facts on the ground. It stood by while people died.  And then its leader took credit for solving the problem and being an example to the world of what every other country should do. So besides in trade, the Middle Kingdom and the City on a Hill now are competing as to who should be recognized as the world savior.

America initially followed a similar path as mainland China. The impact of the coronavirus was downplayed. Democrats and the media were insulted. It was all a hoax. Still the stock market tanked and the numbers of infected and died rose. These past few days I have received too many emails about conferences cancelled, lectures postponed, and places closed.

This morning I woke up to see the street where I grew up on the front page of the newspaper. For most of my life, New Rochelle was best known for Dick Van Dyke. Now the National Guard will be enforcing a containment area in New Rochelle that looks like it includes the house where Carl Reiner once lived. It is a strange feeling to see your childhood community on the front page with the words “National Guard” and “containment.”

At this point, no one knows what is going to happen. Eventually, of course, the coronavirus one day will pass as an imminent threat. No one knows when that day will or how much damage it will cause. No one knows how long it will take for normalcy to return.

Think back now to the ancient crisis of the targeted killing of Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani. Today, March 11, would have been his birthday. On a personal note, March 11 also was the birthday of my father and of a neighbor around the corner from us in New Rochelle, Benjamin Ferenz, the Nuremberg lawyer. Today he is celebrating his 100th birthday. I hope he is in Florida and not at his home in New Rochelle or else he would be caught in the lockdown too.

It was only two months ago when Suleimani died but in Trump time that is eons of crises ago. At the time, Peter Baker (New York Times, January 6, 2020), began an article with:

For three years, President Trump’s critics have expressed concern over how he would handle a genuine international crisis, warning that a commander in chief known for impulsive action might overreach with dangerous consequences.

But this time the crisis is not self-induced. This time it can’t be solved by behaving like a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. This time it can’t be solved by Hannity and his parade of Flying Monkeys who have sworn to defend the Wicked Witch of the White House. Iran and mainland China have their own Hannitys, too, and saying “Death to America” won’t solve their problems either. “Lock her up” and “Build a wall” aren’t enough. We need real leadership.

Part of the challenge is coping with the uncertainty. It is no secret that stress aggravates all other physical conditions. Our mental health pays a price for ongoing stress whether it is the abused wife who never knows when she will be struck again, the workers who never knows when they will be laid off or what time their next shift will be, or the kid who never knows when he will stopped by the police. Now We the People know that uncertainty and stress. Where will the coronavirus strike next. If I get it, will it kill me? Besides any specific legislative action, We the People need our Comforter in Chief to tell us not that everything is alright since we know better but that everything will be alright.

No one is less qualified to be America and world’s Comforter in Chief than our current President. He can’t do sympathy. He can’t do empathy. He can’t tell the truth. It’s always about him. It’s always about what he has done. If he tried to be Rudy Giuliani on 9/11, the results would be frightening. He cannot understand why in a moment of crisis, Americans would prefer the calmness of Joe Biden to the ongoing stress of what will this President say, tweet, or do next. Fortunately the coronavirus crisis is not like the Cuban Missile Crisis where a single action might destroy the world. Fortunately he hasn’t eliminated all the government employees with professional abilities in health care and who will speak truth to power. Fortunately these health professionals can be the adults in the room.

This is one crisis where the solution will be despite the President instead of because of the President since on his own our immature child President would drive We the People over a cliff while yelling how great he was.

Can anything get through to him?

Maybe the plunging Dow Jones. Wall Street knows better than to believe him or Fox. After all it was in New York where America’s biggest individual financial loser first made his mark as a con artist who could not be trusted.

Maybe the rich people he helped get richer know the truth and share with him the true situation including how poorly his performance is playing in Peoria.

Maybe watching some of the leading Congressional Trumpicans self-quarantine, including people who were in direct physical contact with him will bring the real world home to him.

Maybe Tucker Carlson will get through to him in a way Sean Hannity hasn’t:

“In crisis, it’s more important than ever to be calm. But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that. Instead, it’s better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”

Maybe it will be the senior White House official said, “The gravity of the moment was pretty clear.”

Does he at last understand the gravity of the situation? Does he at last understand that real leadership is needed? Does he at last understand that Fox can’t solve the problem? We may know in 60 minutes.