Headline in The Guardian, today: ‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans.
One outrage after another, each incrementally worse, and when will we have had enough? Did you join a No Kings protest on Saturday? We talked about going to one here in Tucson, but with temps forecast to go above 110°F, decided to stay home. Friends braved the heat and turned out; shame on us.
Can’t help wondering how many of these armed and masked ICE agents are just Proud Boys playing dress-up, taking Dear Leader’s anti-immigrant rants to heart and acting on their own? Clearly some are, and now we have a Trumper who drove what looked like a police cruiser, wore a fake uniform and carried a phony badge, who knocked on Democrat politicians’ doors and shot them and their spouses when they answered. Author Joyce Carol Oates, on Twitter, shares my concern: “[Trump] is a joke but also wields the power of a psychopath in high office. Any whim of his will be expedited by someone—a cabinet member, a staffer, a sycophant, a deranged zealous MAGA. A mere hint, & a Democratic leader could be assassinated. (plus, the psychopath has unlimited powers to ‘pardon’ anyone he wishes.)”
Two dozen USAF aerial refueling tankers departed U.S. bases last night for forward locations in Europe. Guess we’re going to support long-range Israeli strikes against Iran after all. Our tanker force, to my mind, is at least as important as our aircraft carriers. And we’re the only nation with enough of them to make a difference.
The Army put on what appeared to me to be a half-hearted show for Trump’s birthday. Yes, I know that officially the parade was in honor of the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, but we all know it was really for Trump, who’s wanted a big military parade in Washington DC since his first term. Waiting to see which heads will roll … I expect Pete Hegseth’s will be one of the first. No, make that “hope.”
The kids remembered Father’s Day. Polly made me a pot of gumbo with crab meat, andouille, and shrimp. Gregory sent an Amazon gift card, enabling me to indulge my fetish with a new Casio and a manly strap for the Apple watch I still wear under protest but which I’m coming to like. Also on Father’s Day: Greg’s wife, our daughter-in-law Beth, put up a nice post on Facebook thanking him for the love and guidance he’s given their children, our grandchildren, and I was all like “Guidance? Damn it, I knew there was something I forgot to do for Greg and Polly!”
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Even though I no longer ride, I remain concerned over the dangers careless cagers pose to riders and bikers. I nurse a theory, partially based on observations made during the years we lived in the Netherlands; to wit, that motorists who grow up on bicycles, mopeds, and scooters … as do the Dutch and the Danes … are more considerate of bicyclists and motorcyclists than those who don’t. I’m probably as wrong as wrong can be, but it is a cherished belief. I certainly try to see and avoid riders and bikers, because I’ve been on the other end.
As hot as it is today, you’d think my thoughts would be fully cooked, not half-baked. But there you go. More soon.