It is a rainy, stormy Saturday morning at my coordinates. It is a perfect storm of grey wet depression. The dogs are not very happy as the bouts of thunder and wind cause them to whimper and shake… except for Bubbles. She appears to be fearless about everything. The weekend series for my Nationals is blacked out, because they are playing in St. Louis, and for some odd variable the MLB doesn’t think my market deserves the game. I had planned to do some work outside on our brick courtyard, but now it is a muddy mess.

It is a perfect storm of environmental causes for bleakness. Then there are the sociological factors of bleakness. Politicians calling half of the population lunatics. Local politicians being defiant and arrogant, despite having marginalized all women and LGBTQ members of society. They have no dignity Then we have the rival White Christian Nationalists(WCN) declaring war on the whole religion and people of Islam….

All of this awareness creates a heavy bleakness upon my person. What can I do, I can’t fix it. It requires a large community to fix things, and my governance is only interested in dividing and conquering their own people… (as I sigh profoundly)

I can’t do anything about the weather today, or the MLB blackout, so I must do something else to occupy my time… Write… Do a puzzle… Listen to music… …do some indoor chores… …the never-ending pile of dog hair… …laundry… I think it is going to be a long winter…

As for being a lunatic, I think the Bad Catholic who occupies the Vice Presidential seat needs to stop projecting. The man obviously can’t see beyond his mascara. His desire to be wealthy and powerful is nothing more than a cry for help from an inner child that is insecure, powerless, and desiring love. He has built this facade of strength on nothing more than a hardened chocolate shell on melting ice cream. His insecurities are very evident when he speaks. He thinks aligning himself with this feckless MAGA movement is how you can be remembered as influencing history. His desire for a legacy eclipses his modest upbringing. I wonder how many moral sacrifices he has made to launch himself to this position. How many friends and colleagues has he used for gain? He calls democrats and democratic-socialists lunatics. Has he looked in the mirror or listened to himself from the third person? I can only venture a guess… If I am a crazy lunatic, then he must be certifiably….???

Over the past few years Iowa has moved ever closer to taking a women’s right to reproductive health care away. They have also removed human rights protections away from the transgender community. A local business leader and republican politician who has proudly voted to remove these freedoms for his cause took to social media in defiant way. Someone illegally vandalized a series of election signs. He wrote how we have more signs, and he is more motivated than ever to win an election. He just gave the vandals a challenge. He told those whose rights have been taken away have never mattered to him, and their anger means nothing. His arrogance is just drawing more ire against him. This politician is not my representative. No, I do not want his signs vandalized. I despise his vote to remove freedoms from Iowans. His defiance is an arrogant attempt at displaying power. A more dignified response would be to replace the signs and install a wildlife camera to catch the vandalizing culprits and keep it off social media.

These two men are nothing but bully blowhards attempting to intimidate the public to secure their power through fear and intimidation. Their behavior is telling other adults and children that this is how, you too, can be successful and powerful, by preying on the disenfranchised. Only weak cowards brag about taking power away from the meek. If you have to use fear and intimidation to feel better about yourself, I feel sorry for you. I pity them. I pity their ignorance and bias. I pity those who try to make themselves look like victims while they take away from the real victims. Neither man deserves his office. It is a pity they conned so many people into thinking they were worthy of election.

The war on Islam being waged by White Christian Nationalism(WCN) and their propaganda networks is propagated by bias and incomplete information. Islam is a religion of peace. I’m an atheist, and I have never had a negative experience with a Muslim in my life. I have met dozens if not hundreds at this point. Sorry, not one bad experience. Not all the Muslims I have met were American (yet.) Some were Turkish, Syrian, Azerbaijani, Egyptian, and Jordanian. All beautiful and kind people. Artists, scholars, and students of various ages. We all have one thing in common, beyond being human. We love our children.

I can differentiate between peaceful Muslims and the extremists. I can differentiate between peaceful Christians and the domestic terrorists enabled by WCN. What we have going on in the USA is a propaganda campaign by the WCN against Muslims using fear. Fox (Not News,) Hegseth, $47, Netanhayu, Zionists, and WCN enablers are the real enemy here, not the peaceful Muslims. Who has the power here? Who has the money? Who has the broadcast capability? This propaganda network is using one’s ignorance to play on fear. Sharia law? Really? …but you support Christian Law? Bias and ignorance. Islamic assimilation? Really? American assimilation convert to Christianity? Bias and ignorance.

All this bleakness. Ignorance… Cognitive Dissonance… Arrogance… Freedoms to exist taken away… Religious WCN law being impressed upon us… Propaganda used to marginalize minorities… WCN racism… Political projection… …and a lack of kindness. Things are weighing heavy on me this rainy morning.

…so it goes…