I slept in this morning so I missed church.  After that, it was a day of chores with kitty kuddles interspersed amongst them.  Right now, said kitties are sleeping about me . . . my little girl in the rocking chair, one boy on the ottoman, and the other on top of my foot on the floor.  Oh to be so loved!  TC is still sick but taking medication to kill the bugs.  Hopefully he have a spring in his step in a few days.  Please keep him in your thoughts or prayers. 

Short Takes

The Guardian — When Donald Trump delivered his first address to Congress 10 days ago, sticking dutifully, for once, to the teleprompter, the media praised him for sounding statesmanlike and presidential. But one person, sitting in a front-row seat just a few feet away, thought differently.

Bernie Sanders was growing more aghast with every sentence. Then, when Trump began to talk about the environment, the 75-year-old independent senator from Vermont nearly laughed out loud. Earlier that day, the president signed an executive order that gutted federal controls against the pollution of rivers and waterways. Now he was standing before US legislators pledging to “promote clean air and clear water”.  …

“The hypocrisy was beyond belief!” says Sanders, still scarcely able to contain himself. “To talk about protecting clean air and water on the same day that you issue an order that will increase pollution of air and water!”

“This is what they should do,” he says, pumping out the Bern. “They should take a deep reflection about the history of this country, understand that absolutely these are very difficult and frightening times. But also understand that in moments of crisis, what has happened, time and time again, is that people have stood up and fought back. So despair is absolutely not an option.” [emphasis added]

Bernie Sanders has been making the rounds to various venues around the country trying to ignite the progressive grassroots and moving people to get involved in municipal and state politics.  In this interview, he talks about the disaster that is the Drumpf administration and what it is going to take for the Democrats to get back to their base.

Read the full transcript of the interview HERE.

The Nation — …Hitler wasn’t directly elected to power, his appointment as Reich chancellor was legal and constitutional, the result of political intrigue surrounding Germany’s aging conservative president, Paul von Hindenburg. Many people in Germany thought that Hitler would be a normal head of government. Some, like the conservative politician Franz von Papen and the leaders of the German National People’s Party, thought that they’d be able to control him, because they were more experienced and formed the majority in the coalition government that Hitler headed. Others thought that the responsibilities of office would tame and steer him in a more conventional direction. They were all wrong.

Hitler won mass support between 1928 and 1930 because a major economic crisis had driven Germany into a deep depression: Banks crashed, businesses folded, and millions lost their jobs. Hitler offered voters a vision of a better future, one he contrasted with the policies of the parties that had plunged the country into crisis in the first place. The poorest people in Germany voted for his opponents, notably the Communist Party and the moderate left-wing Social Democrats, but the lower-middle classes, the bourgeoisie, the unorganized workers, the rural masses, and the older traditionalists—Protestants and evangelicals who wanted a moral restoration of the nation—switched their votes from the mainstream centrist and right-wing parties (save for the Catholic Center Party) and gave them to Hitler instead.

Whereas other politicians seemed to dither or to act as mere administrators, Hitler projected purpose and dynamism. They remained trapped within the existing conventions of political life; he proved a master at denouncing those conventions and manipulating the media. The first politician to tour the country by air during an election campaign, Hitler issued an endless stream of slogans to win potential supporters over. He would make Germany great again. He would give Germans work once more. He would put Germany first. He would revive the nation’s rusting industries, laid to waste by the economic depression. He would crush the alien ideologies—­socialism, liberalism, communism—­that were undermining the nation’s will to survive and destroying its core values.

This rather long read on the rise of Hitler is fascinating.  I've heard said that we should not compare Drumpf's ascendancy to Hitler's because the times were different, the history was different, but I still saw similarities.  As I read this article, Drumpf's name is not mentioned but he is definitely there, and the similarities are even more glaring as a result.  One pundit said he wouldn't be surprised if Drumpf tried to stay in power for 16 years.  I would not say that because I think the American people would eventually throw him out of the WH on his ear.  Read through the rest of the article to see if you see the similarities that I do.

YouTube — John Oliver on the American Health Care Act

 

John does have a way with words . . . and humour!

My Universe