Wednesday, September 30, 2020

anarchy: last night's presidential debate

I felt when I turned in last night that today's blog post would be private Facebook Messenger chat with my gypsy van dweller friend featured in the last two posts at this blog. The chat began during last night's presidential debate. However, my dreams last night were not kind to my using that chat in today's blog post. In fact, the dreams left me feeling I had missed the entire point of watching the debate last night. 

It is a lie to call it a debate. It is a lie to say I liked watching it. It is a lie to say I wanted to keep watching it. In fact, I started playing chess online, but left the debate on, even as I kept chatting with my friend on Facebook Messenger.

I told my friend numerous times that the moderator, Mike Wallace, a FOX anchor, lost control of the debate. 

Perhaps that was a good thing, for it allowed the viewing audience to see both candidates through whatever lenses the audience wore. However, I ran for public office 10 times in Key West and the Florida Keys, and I know what campaign forum and debate moderators can do to control the candidates and help provide what the viewing audience are entitled.

I told my friend that the point was reached during the debate that Wallace should have caused the mic of the candidate not having the floor to be turned off, so that the candidate with the floor could say what he wanted to say without interruption from the candidate not having the floor. 

Had that been done, President Trump's mic would have been turned off a whole lot more than former Vice President Biden's mic would have been turned off. 

I told my friend that Trump railed about law and order, and Biden refused to say, after being asked point blank by Trump if he supported law and order, while Trump refused to say he was against White Supremacists. 

I told my friend that Trump has no respect for the rules to which he and his campaign staff had agreed for the debate, particularly, not interrupting the other candidate when the other candidate had the floor. 

I told my friend that Trump's constant interrupting of Biden, even while being repeatedly asked by Wallace to stop doing it, showed how Trump really feels about law and order. It showed Trump is an anarchist. It showed how he will behave if he does not win in November.

I read several articles online this morning about the debacle, which I doubt changed one Republican, MAGA or Democrat mind, left undecideds undecided, and left me feeling once again that I am a disenfranchised voter 

There was talk in some of the articles of the next two debates being cancelled, even though Biden was reported as saying he will do the next two debates.

Here's my suggestion, if the next two debates happen. Give the moderator a kill switch for both candidates' mics, and the moderator agrees beforehand to immediately kill the mic of a candidate who interrupts another candidate - zero tolerance. If the moderator does not do that, the debate is immediately stopped by the network - zero tolerance.

Last night, Trump repeatedly said he paid millions of dollars in income taxes for the years he was reported to have paid $750 or nothing in income taxes. Neither candidate offered any intelligent or reassuring plan for dealing with the coronavirus. Perhaps those two topics, and Trump's Russia and Saudi Arabia connections, and Biden and his son's Ukraine and China connections, should be the topics of the next debate, and any wandering off topic be met by the kill switch.

sloanbashinsky@yahoo.com


Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Hey, life begins at conception Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, have you ever read Genesis 2:7 KJV: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Parts of a much longer often acrimonious Facebook discussion spawned by:
Image may contain: text that says 'If a mask mandate is an infringement of rights, why is controlling a uterus a function of government? Asking for a friend.'

Comment

  • Wondering.if.you support late.term abortion until they are.5.minutes.old? Asking.for.me.not a friend!
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       Do you mean -5 minutes old?
      First of all, that seems like total misinformation. I’d love to know what the statistics are on fetuses that are aborted 5 minutes before their natural birth times.
      Second, it really isn’t very germane to the point being made, which is the hypocrisy of Right To Lifers who are putting others at risk of death by refusing to wear masks.
    • Anthony V Antich
       um killing babies was brought up #uterus. Second fuck your mask!
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       Oh, you’re a right wing Christian Trumptard who’s pretending to be a Freedom Fighter.
      Thank you for clearing that up. 😎👍🏽
    • Anthony V Antich
       you might want to watch who the hell you are talking to. Call your local crack head when you need assistance. Jackass. I'll be your huckleberry. I live in Biloxi, MS. All you have to do is ask for me, baby killer.
    • Anthony V Antich
       ps get off of my page before i.wastw.my time doing it for you.
    • And that's an easy one. The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms when life begins. In Genesis, chapter one, God answers that question himself. He forms a figure from the Earth, but it does not become Adam ("man" in Hebrew) until God "breathes into him the breath of life, and he became man.”
      Clearly, life begins when you draw your first breath. That is when God places your soul in your body. Your soul enters your body with your first breath and it leaves with your last. The body is just a vessel — your being, your humanity, is your immortal soul. That's what the Bible says, and for the life of me I cannot understand why so many people, especially supposedly religious people, get this wrong. There is no question, no moral ambiguity. Abortion destroys an empty vessel, it does not kill a human being.
      That is not to say that a fetus isn't alive, because it clearly is. So is a cow, or an earthworm, or a tree. However, simply being alive does not make something a human being. Having a soul is what sets us apart from other living things. Otherwise, every farmer and every lumberjack would be a murderer. And so would all of the rest of us who eat living things. Even the hardcore vegans would be murderers since they eat plants and plants are alive too.
      So really, there isn't any difference between killing a person and cutting down a tree. And that sounds like a pretty stupid position to be arguing. But if you follow your religious beliefs, the answer to the abortion question is crystal clear to anyone who can read. Abortion is not murder, as it does not take the life of another human being. It isn't any sort of moral question at all, it's simply a medical issue. I'm just mystified why the Pope doesn't get this one right. I'm sure he has a Bible kicking around the Vatican somewhere. If only he would take the time to read it.
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       Your page? Really? And here I thought I was on 
      Larry Baeder
      ’s page. 🤔  Are you angry because your mommy told you she wished she’d given your daddy a bj instead?
    • Anthony V Antich
       actually.you prick I have no parents. So.thanks for.the.reminder. the only thing I can say to you, is I wish you peace. And thanks for the reminder, not everyone.loves the.unwanted babies.
    • Genius. Wanna give me one actual example of someone you personally are aware of (with proof) who had anything like this done? Oh, you can't? That's because late term abortions are so exceedingly rare that you don't know anyone or about anyone. And no, Q Anon conspiracies do not count.
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
      , it only happens to save the life of the mother. Or if the baby is dead or unviable. Not for shits and giggles. It’s a false divisive narrative. Get educated!
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       I have yet to meet an pro-lifer who adopted an unwanted baby to prevent an abortion, or offered to do that.
    • Craig Burroughs  people like Anastacia can never be educated, they have been brainwashed their entire lives . And Anastacia What‘s up with all you vile hateful words. You have ben sowing on Larry’s page . Grow up...
    • I don’t believe that the human soul starts at conception. There certainly isn’t any proof it does.
    • Genesis 2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. King James Version.
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       So, if you had no parents, you were an unwanted baby and you want every unwanted baby to be born and deal with being unwanted by its mother and its father? How do you suppose mothers forced to have unwanted babies treat their babies after they are born? Did you ever adopt, or try to adopt, an unwanted baby to prevent an abortion or for any other reason?
    • Anastacia Geaux Saints
       just a thought exercise for you. Let’s suppose this proven lie were true. 99.4 or 5 (forget) abortions are performed in the first trimester when the fetus is a small clump of cells. If we banned this already non existent procedure would you be ok with the other 99 percent?
    • How about sharing this  below on Facebook, perhaps someone will give it to the Roman Catholic U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee, who believes life starts at conception:
      Genesis 2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Anastacia did not respond Craig Burrows' comment, nor to any of my comments.

Might be interesting trying a when human life begins case in a U.S. District Court, say, in Texas? I would call Christian-right Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz as the first witness. After Senator Cruz puts his hand on a Bible and swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God, I ask him if he is an attorney? He says, Yes. I ask him if he is a Christian? He says, Yes. I ask him if he is familiar with what's in that Bible? He says, Yes. I ask him if the Bible is literal the Word of God? He says, Yes. I ask him to open that Bible on which he swore and read to the Court, Genesis 2:7. After he reads "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" to the Court, I ask Senator Cruz if he cares to contradict Genesis 2:7, God's Word?

Rafael Edward Cruz is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator for Texas since 2013. He was the runner-up for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 election. Cruz holds degrees in public policy and law from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, respectively. Wikipedia

sloanbashinsky@yahoo.com