jasonderoga86

Morocco just got hit by a massive earthquake, and in less than an hour, 1,300+ people are dead. I think sending love, support, and condolences to the people of Morocco right now is far more important than demonizing Covid-19 vaccines and spitefully condescending to those fighting for basic human rights across this nation in the interest of inane political power grabs. I look out for the little guy (it's literally my job as I help the disabled), and I'll go on the record and say this, especially to this nation:

Human tragedy/grief and support for the suffering should (and will) always take precedence over asinine political culture wars waged by the greedy and selfish. Humanity was not made to be controlled and oppressed by humanity. And humanity was not created for the sole purpose of mutual, senseless destruction born of hatred. We should remember this, 'cause if we don't, our planet will be lost sooner than we think.

*drops mic and struts off stage*

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Music: peaceful white noise

Hypocrisy is driving many open-minded Republicans out of the GOP, including some religious ones. It ain't hard to tell why, as sacrilege is now the new Scripture.

After having read about Mr. 45's admission to being a ruthless autocrat yesterday (saying it was "incredible past service" and that he "ruled" America with grace), I took a look at a story involving his little boy. An article on the website BaptistNews.com quotes an article from a web journal called The Atlantic, written by a man named Peter Wehner. The article describes how, back in 2021, Jr. 45 spoke to a "congregation" at something called Turning Point USA -- and said "F**K YOU" to the Savior so many right-wing conservatives once claimed to cherish.

“If we get together, they (the affectionately labeled "Radical Left" by 45 sr.), cannot cancel us all. OK? They won’t,” he said. “And this will be contrary to a lot of our beliefs because — I’d love not to have to participate in cancel culture. I’d love that it didn’t exist. But as long as it does, folks, we better be playing the same game. OK? We’ve been playing T-ball for half a century while they’re playing hardball and cheating. Right? We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. OK? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution in our country."

Tehrer's response is below.

“Throughout his speech, Don Jr. painted a scenario in which Trump supporters — Americans living in red America — are under relentless attack from a wicked and brutal enemy. He portrayed it as an existential battle between good and evil. One side must prevail; the other must be crushed. This in turn justifies any necessary means to win. And the former president’s son has a message for the tens of millions of evangelicals who form the energized base of the GOP: the Scriptures are essentially a manual for suckers. The teachings of Jesus have ‘gotten us nothing.’ It’s worse than that, really; the ethic of Jesus has gotten in the way of successfully prosecuting the culture wars against the left. If the ethic of Jesus encourages sensibilities that might cause people in politics to act a little less brutally, a bit more civilly, with a touch more grace? Then it needs to go.”

And right-wingers get all bitchy every time someone calls them "racist", "un-American", or "un-Christian". Who can blame them? They blew their own cover, and now all they can do is futilely lie or threaten by inciting their trusty AR-15-wielding vigilantes.

In my youth, I was always taught that using Christ's name or words in any disrespectful manner is a cardinal sin. Seems in today's American Christianity, cardinal sin is the way to Heaven.

I don't mean to be a whiner or annoyance to anyone, but as a defender of people (especially disabled, disadvantaged people, like those I serve at my awesome lil' job), I have to call out bullying and weaponizing ideologies with fundmentalism when I see it -- I was a victim of such as a child, and remain one even now... by my own government. Christian nationalism and culture wars are the direct antithesis of real Christianity, if such a thing even exists anymore. It's why I dropped what I was taught at church in my youth. And now that I've seen that the man behind the curtain isn't a white-robed white man with brown hair and blue eyes, but rather an overweight, hunchbacked, orange-hued, ugly zombie of a man with delusions of grandeur, I'm glad I did, when I did.

Current Mood: cynical
Current Music: peaceful white noise

It looks like true conservatives and liberals have come together to state the constitutionally obvious: The 14th Amendment is going to be a very hot topic this election season. I heard that lawsuits are being filed to invoke the 14th to block Mr. 45 from the ballot. Fingers crossed for this -- if this fails, then the Constitution is in effect null and void, just like he wanted. The guy has proven to be the biggest threat to this country since the Confederacy. Hell, at this point, he is the Confederacy, reborn. He refused to to condemn Confederate extremist ideology in September of 2020 because he needed to use it as a contingency plan if lies wouldn't be enough to keep him in power.

But, it also looks like the clown's delusions know no end. Not only does 45 still believe that he had absolute authority to do anything -- including to abuse confidential documents that could very well have compromised national security -- but now he's gone and made up a new constitutional amendment to make himself an exception to the original one. He's even given it a half-assed name: The 14 1/2 Amendment. He says it's "super-legal" -- yeah, and it hasn't even been ratified yet.

What does it do? Well, in his words, this would mean all federal officials in violation of the 14th Amendment would indeed be barred from holding public office... except for him. The reason for this exception should open the eyes of every open-minded soul on this soil. In his words:

"It basically exempts me from any bad laws due to my incredible past service as the greatest president ever to rule America.”

The source material for this quote was from this article blog on Medium.

Ladies and gents, the Orange Führer just officially let the cat out of the bag and admitted everything. Exempting himself from being banned as a result of inciting an insurrection with a made-up-on-the-spot amendment addendum not even yet ratified is effectively an admission that contrary to what he's been babbling recently, he did have something to do with 1/6/2021. And notice the word highlighted in red. It's in red 'cuz it's a red flag, it's an admission of what the guy thought he was when his saggy orange ass plopped into the leather seat behind the "resolute desk" of the Oval Office. To him, it wasn't a leather seat -- it was a throne. And let's not forget, in his rants against the indictments filed against him on Truth(less) Social, he referred to himself as "The King".

It makes you wonder why people are even being asked if they believe a man is innocent when that very man is deliberately stalling court cases and investigations, promoting violence against his prosecutors, and sending coded messages to his supporters to assassinate his political enemies whom he says are trying to kill him.

If this country is any bit about law and order and defending democracy and the Constitution as it says it is, this should be an open-and-shut case. The evidence is damning. The accused are doing everything they can to slow or outright escape their inevitable judgement. An innocent person lets a case proceed unimpeded. A guilty person... well, you get the idea. I mean, if you know you're innocent, do you really need to make up something to protect yourself from conviction? Why not let the truth speak for itself? Oh, right -- because you're not innocent.

Failure to see this through will be tantamount to setting fire to the Constitution of the United States.

Peace out, y'all. *drops mic*

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: peaceful white noise

All right everyone, it's time for another feedback review for the fifth episode of Matt Zimmer's Gilda And Meek and the Un-Iverse. Get your Kleenexes ready before you read this one folks, 'cuz if you thought the previous episode had the feels, well... like the man said, "you ain't seen nothin' yet." Here's the review I sent to Matt (through an e-mail, DW's private messaging algorithm has a character/word count limit), verbatim:

"Alright Matt,

I got around to reading “Darkness Falls”. If the previous episode was emotional, well, it’s certainly increased ten-fold in this one. I love how morality and close-mindedness play such a big role in this episode. It also reinforces, at least to me, why I dropped my religious upbringing and decided to live based simply on what is innately humanly right and wrong. Admittedly, that line can be blurred in some situations, but it’s a hell of a lot better than riding on garbage like predestination, “good news” (seriously, how is the Earth’s destruction and the damnation of “non-believers” GOOD news?), and conditional (and easily revoked) salvation. In fact, I daresay fundamentalism in religion is the sole cause of many, if not ALL wars across the globe throughout history right up to now. So, without any further ado…

Gilda and Meek #5: "Darkness Falls"

· Okay, right off the bat, Gilda’s statement about magic strikes so many chords with me. And especially in these days we’re in, with the unacceptable gun violence epidemic that increased even after what happened in Jacksonville, Florida. When Hurricane Idalia struck Florida, right before I swore off the news for a week, I heard another lesser-known mass shooting happened in a Floridian suburb – during Idalia’s onslaught. Guns don’t pick sides. There is no such thing as a “good guy” with a gun and a “bad guy” with a gun. A gun is not a “morality test” as Gilda refers to dark magic. Just look at cops all over America. They’re supposedly “good guys” with guns, but the news is rife with stories of these “good guys” shooting POC’s for no real reason – a clearly “bad guy” act. Just look at the Mississippi “Goon Squad” story, it paints the image that American cops are in essence the foot soldiers of the White supremacy crusade. It ain’t about mental health, cuz POC’s can’t afford good mental health treatment anyway (apparently myself included). Nice way to take a jab at this issue, IMHO.

· Mr. X’s grand reveal was so shocking, and yet, so appropriate. I love it. Trenchcoated villains are among my favorites, my villain Terry the Professional from the original 4-part series of Lil’ Hero Artists is an expression of that. I guess it harkens to my affection for those old noir films (the Sin City-esque ones with the dark saxophone-laced soundtracks, the gritty, monologuing protagonists, and seductive femme fatales who serve as double agents – complete with the obligatory attempted make out attempt and the protagonist turning it down and going “lone ranger/wanderer”). But listen to me ramble on, let’s get back to the review.

· Man, Gabrielle’s manipulation of Bernadette just might make her worse than Mistress Augatha. She’s basically playing on the young girl’s guilt and maturity to her advantage. Honestly, she’s almost creating a child soldier out of Bernadette – the character “Raiden” from the “Metal Gear Solid” franchise comes directly to mind here. The taking of life at such a young age, when the mind is still developing, not only traumatizes the child, but it also really changes them. Another example comes from two of my favorite Batman animated films from long ago: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Andrea Beaumont and Tim Drake were both changed for the worse when they took life. Andy’s actions turned her into a cold-hearted killer who wound up alone with irreparable guilt and the permanent estrangement of her love. Tim wound up with grave mental scars that haunted him up to adulthood after dealing the death blow to the Clown Prince of Crime as a child, to say nothing of also becoming the host for the Dark Knight’s greatest foe in the future. It’s deep stuff, and you’ve expertly woven it into this episode. Props, Matt. Seriously.

· Mr. X’s conversation with Redmond was quite interesting. It harkens back to an entry in Jazz Nevermore’s Andromeda Jane comic discussing why God would allow so much pain and strife to ravage the Earth unaddressed – the natural disasters and the wars which end so many lives, including those that have nothing to do with the conflict (i.e., innocent bystanders, collateral damage – a bullshit excuse if I ever heard one). It’s a question that has no clear answers, regardless of what some “experts” say – saying God allowed 9/11 to happen because America embraced same-sex marriages automatically nixes the reason for Muslim hatred to me. Does it mean that humanity really is that absentminded and thus on the path to destroying the Earth in selfish conflict with WMDs? Scientific evidence shows that nuclear weapons seriously damage the Earth’s surface, so knowing that, why would anyone consider using them? And what about the lasting deadly effects of the subsequent radiation? Have we learned NOTHING from Nagasaki and Hiroshima? Is conquering an “enemy” country in the name of “patriotism” really justified despite the very real consequences that manifest in the near future? Thought-provoking, for real.

· “Once you know a future is coming, you can CHANGE it.” Preach it, Gilda. I think I love you, girl. And you are definitely never one to accept defeat, even when things look the grimmest. Unquestionably the definition of “never give up.” And props on that “mic drop” moment – couldn’t have come at a better time. *nods and proudly smiles*

· Man… Piranha falling to “destiny” speaks to me personally. When you’re raised on a “religion” from childhood that says that salvation is only conditional on a simple statement – a state that is voided once you do something wrong and can only pray and hope for “forgiveness” – which also clearly implies that a baby too young to say that statement who is killed by something or someone is therefore condemned to burn forever by an entity claiming to love all children, shows just how powerful weaponizing religion is. Case in point, when I developed depression in 2001, I was dead sure my judgement had already been passed because of a major fuck-up in my childhood. I didn’t tell anyone – friends or family. Aunts and uncles prayed for me, but it meant nothing. At one point, I was thinking of just ending my life. I was told that doing so equals instant damnation. So I said back, “So I guess that means God wants me to stay alive and suffer till I die, and THEN I get sent to the oven? What kind of “loving” God does that? Sounds like sadism to me.” I learned later that the simple act of acknowledging my wrongdoing and doing the forgiving for MYSELF, not waiting on a perceived conditional forgiveness, was all it took. It’s simply learning from one’s mistakes and trying to become a better person (I saved someone from suicide once in high school). At that point, I decided that, though it would VERY difficult, I had to reject what I was taught to believe and use the teachings as a guide to further my life mission: to help and inspire others. I believe I’m doing that now at my job and with my artistic prowess, and I have no regrets. Gilda and Dr. Raggleworth clearly show that this kind of indoctrination (a term the right wing is hypocritically and shamelessly throwing around in their little “rewrite history/maintain the lies” campaign) at the episode’s conclusion is the stuff that literally divides people and it’s INHUMANE, full stop.

Looks like #6: “The Village” will be quite an emotional rollercoaster. I’m ready to strap myself in. Once again, GREAT job. I am SO glad I met you and found this comic. As I always say, it is indeed "a comic so unlike any I have ever read" - and boy do I MEAN that."

In a few words: a true piece of excellence in character development, fo' sho'.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: soothing rain sounds on YouTube