The real problem in America these days isn't what we know.
The real problem in America is what we don't know about what we know, mostly in the form of what we don't know about what we don't know.
At this point, don't be confused or even alarmed that you don't know what I'm talking about. Even if you knee jerk to the conclusion that even I don't know what I'm talking about.
Because I do.
I know what I'm talking about.
And I absolutely know....what I don't know.
Hang in there with me. And shortly, you'll know, too.
What I know. What I don't know. And what you don't know.
Frustrating. I know, right?
Donald gave his national emergency at the border speech last night, complete with that wacky, zany, fun filled pretzel logic of his, chock full of misstatements, poor or incorrect information and, yes, always with a dollop or two of his very specially patented recipe of fear mongering and lies.
Not to be confused, of course, with Fear Mongering And Lies, the heavy metal duo that used to open for Metallica.
The Democrats response, of course, was "oh, yes we are, oh, no, you're not" with a sassy sprinkling of the predictable"I know you are, but what am I".
And the morning after reactionaries pretty much line up along the same, now well worn, now very much faded and fading faster chalk lines they've been toeing for nigh on coupla years now.
Donald can do no right. Donald can do no wrong. And, as per usual, this morning's tweet will brag about largest audience to ever hear a presidential address...ever.....and, that now most traditional of all traditional set in stone signs of the Savior and/or Apocalypse...
...but...but...her emails.
Meanwhile, our healthcare system remains at the shit end bottom of the world's list of healthcare systems, the irony of which seems to be lost on so many people, given that the wall/fence/speed-bump/badminton net, or whatever the fuck it finally turns out to be is going to ultimately prove to be not only impractical and/or inefficient, but, pointless. There's no need for you to worry about you or your loved ones being invaded, pillaged, robbed and/or raped by the swarm of different colored hoards pouring into the US of A, because long before that infinitesimal chance of happening ever happens, there's an overwhelmingly better chance that you and yours will be dead because you couldn't get the medical care you needed to stay alive.
See the irony there? But, what the hell, maybe the wall can be turned into one of those memorial dealios with the names of you and your loved one and the other 100 million or so people who will be dead because they couldn't get the medical care they needed to stay alive.
Names, of course, to be inscribed tastefully in small but legible print, just below the monstrous, terrific, just terrific, biggest ever letters T R U M P endlessly and repeatedly gracing the top of that sucker.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled litany of bickerin' and bitchin.
A lifelong brother from a different mother of mine posted his reaction to last night's Wallapalooza on his FB page this morning. We don't speak all that much anymore, but that's about time, distance and a sadly inevitable way life has of putting space between people sometimes. There's still a lotta love in the room, so to speak. One benefit of minimal contact is we don't risk damaging our relationship by gettin' down with Donald. Mostly, of course, since he seems to be pretty strongly down with Donald...while, here's a news flash, I'm fairly well known to be strongly down on, and pretty much done with, Donald.
My "uh, huh, okay...really?" switch was set off, though, by his posting. And his thoughts actually inspired my thoughts on the whole what we know about what we dont know that we think we know thing that started us off here this time around.
I know. You don't know what he said. Well, stay calm and listen up. Here's his unedited, unaltered post:
"When Schumer and Pelosi say the wall is too expensive, how is it OK to send foreign countries, as they voted to do this past week, 155 billion dollars for who knows what? The ONLY reason they really oppose it is b/c Trump's name would be on it and that would encumber their 2020 presidential bid. Those two hypocrites are the ones holding the hostage for the sake of their own political gain. They can try to move the blame on the president BUT when 79% of citizens side with their POTUS it's really the dems who are to blame for the shutdown."
First, here's what I don't know. I don't know where that "79% of citizens side with their POTUS" thing comes from. I'm only human, not infallible and do make mistakes or miss out on this intel or that now and then, but there's not a single poll I've seen anywhere from any side about any issues involving Donald in which 79% of those asked side with their POTUS....with the possible exception of the poll of all the voices Donald hears in his head every day and that number can't be right, because if he's polling all the voices in his head then you just gotta know that the most voices, the most voices ever, terrific, just terrific voices side with their POTUS on that one....I mean, it's gotta be, what 121, 136% easy.
But it's too easy to get tar pit trapped into the same hamster wheel of "I know you are, but what am I", so let me ratchet down the broad bed of gunfire and laser in on the two major reasons I started writing about my brother's thoughts in the first place.
The first is what I think is irrefutable in terms of definition.
The person having the ransom demanded of them cannot also be the person demanding the ransom.
Uh, that would have to be pretty much restricted to the person actually demanding the ransom.
Trump wants a wall.
He is demanding 5 billion dollars to pay for that wall (and we're going to take the high road just long enough to avoid getting even close to the "why isn't he demanding the ransom from Mexico instead of Democrats"?)
In this scenario, the 5 billion dollars is correctly defined as "the ransom."
To be paid in order to "free the hostage".
The hostage, in this scenario, is correctly defined as the livelihoods of the six or seven hundred thousand people who are not currently able to go to work.
The Democrats aren't holding anybody, or anything, hostage.
The attempt at selling that point of view is a very poorly played moment of "I know you are, but what am I?"
But I semi-digress.
Because even the "you're demanding ransom / no, YOU'RE demanding ransom" absurdity isn't what inspired my idea to share about this what you don't know business.
And, mercifully, for you, I'm sure, at last, here you go.
"....how is it OK to send foreign countries, as they voted to do this past week, 155 billion dollars for who knows what?..."
Gotta be honest. I don't know. But only because I don't know.
And neither do you.
More than a couple of times over the past year or so, that very seemingly logical train of thought has come on down the tracks and chugged into whatever discussion we were having on talk radio.
It's a deceptively obvious, even easy to answer, question.
And in the current climate, it's become a classic, frequently used, "go-to".
Why do we, in America, have to do without (fill in the blank with whatever gets you all panty twisted about what we have to do without) because it costs (fill in the blank with the cost of whatever gets you all panty twisted that we have to do without) when we send (fill in the blank of how much you hear, read, think, imagine or even make up we send to other countries)?
Yeah. How come. Huh?
Again, I don't know. And that's the answer you need to start trying to understand.
Let's break it down into easy to digest bits.
You belong to a club. The dues are ten bucks, payable in one dollar bills. You pay the dues without question, if for no other reason, because you have no choice if you want to remain in the club. As a rule you don't even think about where that ten bucks goes. But, today, you've decided you'd like to learn a little more about those dues.
So you discreetly follow the club treasurer as they carry on with their day.
The club treasurer, walking down the street, comes upon two people.
One is obviously homeless, malnourished, ill and in obvious need of medical attention, but also a seemingly good person, perhaps even very nice, deserving of time, attention, mercy, compassion, assistance. Maybe you can even tell that they are a military veteran, having served our nation with distinction at great sacrifice.
The other is reasonably well dressed, seemingly healthy, no apparent signs of distress, deficiency or need at all.
You watch very carefully as the club treasurer counts out each of the one's you forked over earlier...and hands all ten of them to the well dressed of the two, giving the homeless a facial expression of sympathy, even regret, but, with a shrug, turns and walks away.
Well, you gotta be outraged by that, right?
What reasonable, intelligent, decent human being wouldn't be incensed, outraged, mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore?
And so you reveal yourself to the club treasurer and offer up a snarly WTF?
The treasurer, to your surprise, isn't particularly rattled at your outburst and suggests a quiet sit down and a cup of coffee so you can be enlightened.
Yes, that homeless guy was malnourished, in need of medical attention and, yes, he is a military veteran, having served his country with distinction and at great sacrifice.
The other guy?
The other guy owns a piece of property that sits between the only water supply within a thousand miles...and a small town where hundreds of veterans, senior citizens, small children all live and the pipeline that provides them the water they need to stay alive runs.....do you see where this is going?.....right through the property owned by the well dressed guy.
The well dressed guy is a scumbag who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone or anything in this life except himself.
But he owns the property with the pipeline. And the price he charges to keep that pipeline open...is ten bucks.
Now imagine that the well dressed guy is another country. And America has, within the borders of this country, a military base essential to the well being of not only the thousands of personnel on the base itself, but thousands of Americans and American allies who travel, or even live, close enough to that base to need protection.
And the country's leader is a scumbag who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone or anything in this life but himself.
But he owns the country with the American military base. And the ten bucks he charges to allow that base to stay operational...adds up to 155 billion dollars.
The real problem in America isn't what what we know.
It's what we don't know.
And here's something you didn't know until today.
There's all kinds of ransoms being demanded of us at any given time.
And there's all kinds of ransoms being paid by us at any given time.
Why, just this past week, we paid out 155 billion.
And you were furious that we paid out 155 billion for God knows what while the "Dems" refuse to pay 5 billion for a wall that anyone with genuine credentials insists is an irrefutable waste of money.
Well, okay. You didn't know why we paid out that 155 billion.
But now you do.
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