In Plain Sight
We naturally assume we would know when evil exists amongst us. We’ve spent an entire lifetime watching crime drama and law procedurals on television. We watch as master criminals and intuitive investigators battle it out in 42 minutes (not counting the commercials).
We pride ourselves in figuring it out before the actors reciting a script. Occasionally even we are fooled and we chalk it up as another great show and another lesson learned. The clown is never the guilty party. The red herring is exactly that. It can’t be the red herring. That would be too easy.
Except someone has spent their entire life as the red herring. He struck again and told you just enough to land himself in hot water. He disqualified himself again. He openly admitted to crimes in his business and crimes against humanity. He couldn’t be guilty. We’re missing something. It can’t be that easy. It doesn’t follow the right story arc.
In many ways, Mitch McConnell represents the evil we readily relate to. He makes you work a little harder. You have to go back into the recesses of your memory to prove it. In this case, McConnell used the reflexive “blame Biden” approach. It was his fault we left Afghanistan. Except it really wasn’t. We all know that, but we have to work a little harder to get there.
Unfortunately, not all of us know it. Some have the memory of a gold fish. They just keep swimming. There is always a subset that never will remember these things. Trump made the deal that Biden executed. He even openly bragged at the time that Biden wasn’t going to be able to get out of the deal. Just keep swimming.
Maybe these things are just too easy to track. Maybe our minds are just too trained to follow the 42 minute story arc. Maybe we are just too used to working at finding evil that we just ignore it when it is standing in front of us. Maybe we are just trained not to trust the words of our leaders.
It is more likely that it is the story of the frog in a boiling pot. The idea is fairly simple. Throw a frog into a boiling pot and it immediately jumps out. Slowly turn up the heat and it will comfortably cook. While some debate the analogy, there is some thought that humans are no better than the common frog. It goes back to the theory of sunken costs. If I bail now then I somehow have to explain to everyone and myself that all of the stuff before was apparently okay.
So, either I am somewhat deplorable or I’m all in. I have a pair of fours in my hand, but I’ve already thrown twenty bucks into the pot, so what the hell? When you are all in you never have to admit the obvious. You can claim it was all fake news anyway. So, when the evil that tempts all mankind announces himself again you just keep whistling by the graveyard.
the people of kentucky must be freaking stupid
1Nick, some say numbers don’t lie. To them we say, “allow us to introduce you to TFG, his crime family and their accountants.” That’s the gobsmack. Criminals ‘hiding’ in plain sight, while there are those who refuse to “see.”
2In yesterday’s Andy Borowitz New Yorker column, he ran the headline: Republicans Support Democracy in Ukraine as Long as it Does Not Spread to the US. It’s kinda long but it sums up our GOP wannabe overlords.
3To adapt a story from DFW(allace):
Two Republican goldfish swim by a Republican frog in a pot. The frog says “how’s the water boys, does it seem a little warm?”
The goldfish swim on for a moment, then one asks the other “what’s water?” The other replies “no such thing, just a liberal Democratic plot like Critical Race Theory.”
4Something else now coming into plainer sight, gaaacck:
More of Guv Greggy Abbutt’s [sixpagestringofobcenities]…
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-chief-abbott-direction-power-outage-storm-16941019.php
https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/former-chief-of-texas-grid-says-greg-abbott-made-the-call-to-keep-power-prices-high-during-freeze/Content?oid=28283172
Greg Abbott ordered electricity prices to remain at maximum after ice storm, then lied about it–
Mark Sumner
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday February 23, 2022 · 2:41 PM CST
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/23/2081918/-Greg-Abbott-ordered-electricity-prices-to-remain-at-maximum-after-ice-storm-and-lied-about-it
“– There’s too much in there to quote, just read them… –”
[We were lucky here in the boonies. Our municipally-owned power company/provider had very few small outages, I had none.
5All our electricity is bought wholesale from a big city municipal power company, which did have some problems up there in SA; the local powerco just distributes it.
I just paid my months bill today, urk, well over $400 clams, had some cold fronts last month, brrr.
The next bill will be at least that, ’cause we’re freezing our asses off today and the next few days [36 degrees outside now… yesterday and before it was 70-89…]. ]
I should mention this about my comment on our municipally owned power company [~four little towns run it together, biggest, county seat, is around 5K pop, others 800-1.5K]:
WE collectively OWN this NON-PROFIT power company. [it now costs a $chingo$ to buy a new service hookup [, and I have multiple ones]
I’ve recently started looking at our local “Nextdoor dot com” website [you will have one for your place].
There are a bunch of locals who have been whiningpissingandmoaning about OUR power company on the Nextdoor forum/blog.
THEY want to SELL IT OFF to any entity that will buy it. As in some giant profit-seeking capitalist ‘lectric company.
Why you wonder?
!! Because we’d be treated better and the electricity would be cheaper !!
Did I mention that the locals vote ~nearly 80% Rethuglikan here? You had no idea, right?
6You CANNOT Fix Rethug Stupidity..
I do hope there are a few savvy individuals on the coop’s board, ones willing to figure out a way to “benchmark” what prices can be charged and make that a part of any RFPs or negotiations. See if there is interest from companies willing to insure electricity would be cheaper.
You know and I know it isn’t likely — but I suppose there could be a small company with equipment to direct the hot air escaping from the Texas legislature, Agriculture Commission, Railroad Commission, and a fair number of county commission meetings.
7Russia has invaded Ukraine. A solution for global warming will soon follow: Nuclear Winter.
8Problem is, right wing *news* viewers are brainwashed by right wing *news* .
9