The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Richard Day's picture

    I BE MAD AT GOD!

    By Richard Day on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 4:50pm |

    (JOB)

     

    I have been viewing West Wing again. (Season 2, Ep 22)

    In this episode Mrs. Landingham purchases a brand new car. And yet, as she drives this automobile home, she is killed when a drunk driver misses a light and runs right into this brand new car.

    The episode goes retro and sends us to the fifties or sixties when President Bartlett is either in prep school or college. It was during his youth that our fictional President first met Mrs. Landingham.

    In the ancient scenes, Bartlett's pop is a prick and is dean of his son's school. Pop introduces his son to Mrs. Landingham as some sort of supervisor. Pop is a prick and played by Lawrence O'Donnell. 

    Flash backs persist but we are eventually brought back to the future as Our President attends Mrs. Landingham's funeral.

    Many issues face America at the time of this diva's death.

    But our President must be taken back to the old times when this early female suffragist first attacked the boy on his assumptions.

    But following the funeral, there is a fine soliloquy

    Bartlett screams at Our Lord & Savior for being unjust.

    Bartlett screams at Our Lord & Savior in Lingua Latina.

    Later, some Hurricane hits the East Coast and douses the White House in rivers of rain.

    Our President ends up in the Oval Office and, alone, finds himself as a Hamlet questioning his own existence and purpose as the ghost of Mrs. Landingham appears to him and chastises him for his inability to make the prime decision.

    The appearance has nothing to do with the specter ordering the death of her killer, but the issue has to do with whether or not Judd should keep on keepin on and enter the campaign for re-election.

    Mrs. Landingham tells Our President:

    GODS DO NOT MAKE CAR CRASHES!

    CONCLUSION?

    I posit that we all become angry at God.

    Yeah, that is right. 

    Christian, Muslim, Hindu...or even Atheist.

    MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?

    But there is a segment of our society that takes this idea to the extreme. And, obviously, this is not the first time.

    America has been guilty of many, many sins. Just like any other empire.

    I was six years of age when it hit me that WE dropped the first atom bombs.

    Not them, but WE did this.

    CONCLUSION?

    I believe that the American Right is angry with God.

    We represent the greatest country on earth and our own citizens will attack our history?

    Why cannot we skip over the issue of slavery for chrissakes?

    Why cannot we skip over the Jacksonian example of slavery as well as the destruction of an entire 'tribe'?

    Why cannot we skip over the WWI encampment of American Germans?

    Why cannot we skip over the WWII internment of American Japanese and American Germans?

    Why cannot we skip over the branding and exiling of over one million Mexicans prior to WWII?

    (We also took their property and 60% of those exiled were AMERICANS! )

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Repatriation

    Germans exiled and exterminated 12 million people (at least); half of them were Jews and the other half were Gypsies and Catholics--not to mention the mentally deficient.

    Hitler, after all, was a Roman Catholic. He spoke of God during most of his speeches. He called for freedom and justice all the time during his reign. Adolph just wished that the Good Lord could free the Germans from foreign influences.

    Jews ended up being 'branded' with the Star of David. But it appears that Germans had been branding Jews with this Star decades prior to WWI. ?

    Now Christie would 'brand' all immigrants with some Fed-ex computer scan.http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/31/opinions/reyes-chris-christie/index.html

    Trump would round up 11 million folks and send them South for good following the construction of the Great Wall of America.

    Trump even appears on a radio show that espouses the induction of these immigrants as slaves to help us build the Great Wall of America.

    Walker would now interpret if not abolish the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/19/republicans-wan...

    I will attempt to edit more.

    I just believe, that there is a certain segment of our society that IS MAD AT GOD.

    This segment is angry about 'how things have turned out' and demagogues would point the finger of fate at other groups and races.

    If my fate is not the fault of these 'others' then my fate is the fault of the GODS.

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    Comments

    Thanks for this great post. Attempting to understand Conservatives can be frustrating. We tend to look for facts to rationalize our observations. For Conservatives, facts don't matter.  In "The Reactionary Mind" political scientist Corey Robin notes that most modern Conservatives are actually reactionaries. They believe in a hierarchy. Any fact that doesn't not aid the hierarchy is rejected. William F. Buckley said that a Conservative was a person standing athwart history yelling "Stop!". Reactionaries loves the status quo because they are at the top

    Slavery was no problem, because those on the top benefited. The fact that black people suffered and white workers were not paid a living wage was unimportant. The elite thrived. Denying women the right to vote and shoving women and children into unsafe factories was not a problem. The hierarchy thrived.

    Government programs that aim to helping the working class and the poor are a threat to the hierarchy. If the poor and working class have money, that is less in the coffers of the elite. Reactionaries try to prevent others benefiting by defunding government. The fact that this failed miserably in Kansas only causes the reactionaries to double down on tax cuts. They fear government having money. The rate of increase of healthcare has slowed, the number of uninsured people has fallen, and the number of families facing financial ruin because of health care issues is down these are good things for the masses but less money in the banks of the reactionaries.

    Addressing climate change means oil companies and other industries have to retool. This means less profit for the reactionaries, thus climate change can't be real.

    Donald Trump has multiple marriages and rarely attends church, yet evangelicals love Trump. Right wing Christianity is all about a hierarchy. The wealthy are chosen to lead. Trump is rich therefore he must be blessed by God.Trump is telegraphing to the masses that under his rule you'll still be a serf, but those dark-skinned folks will know that they are on the lower rung of the ladder. America will be great again  They will have "their" country back.

    Krugman wrote of Robin's theory in two recent articles

    The first dealt with why we use the wrong term when we call reactionaries Conservatives and why they really hate government.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/opinion/paul-krugman-hating-good-gover...

    The second dealt with Trumps appeal to evangelicals

    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/the-reactionary-soul/

    These articles may help explain why facts don't matter because the goal is maintains the hierarchy.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 5:45pm

    BTW Richard

    God is not angry at you

     


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 6:00pm

    I keep going from Chrome to E. hahahah

    I hereby render unto rmrd the Dayly Line of the Day for this here Dagblog Site, given to all of rmrd from all of me. hahahah

    Of course, this is all self serving. BUT WHAT IS NOT? HAHAHAHHA


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 3:18am

    Please don’t say it is so

    The coveted honor of receiving the Daily Line Award , can be gained by flattery?


    by Resistance on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 8:30am

    Shameless, is it not? hahhahaahahah


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:23pm

    Thanks Richard


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 9:02am

    I have probably read 100 links on this subject recently, but you do a fine job citing just a few of these links.

    I am having trouble scrolling without my mouse, old folks must learn new things.

    I was going to add that:

    We do not like all these new immigrants.

    We do not like all these new immigrants that do not look like us.

    We do not like the fact that a world trade situation hurts our domestic manufacturing.

    We do not like the fact that anyone can have access to all information.

    We do not like the fact that there are as many Muslims in the world as Christians.

    We do not like the fact that our income has come down as members of the middle class--whatever the hell that means.

    We do not like the fact that we have 320 million people in this country (as opposed to 150 million when I was born) and that, therefore, we need more government.

    We do not like the fact that white women date black and Hispanic men?

    We do not like the fact that 1950's bathrooms on sitcoms did not even depict toilets and now we have Viagra commercials.

    We do not like the fact that our Founding Fathers owned slaves (for the most part) and now we ARE SUPPOSED TO READ ABOUT IT?


    by Richard Day on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 6:09pm

    The GOP didn't care that they were feeding red meat to the bigots and racists. They are now being labeled the "white people's party. This is a slander because most white people do not agree with Trump, Limbaugh, or the other bigots. We. Should use the name the Reactionary Party.

    NBC led the bigot Trump keep a show on their station and only let him go when Trump formally announced that he was running for President. Trump asked for Obama's long-form birth certificate. He is a birther and NBC had no problem. That is disgusting.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 7:29pm

    We do not like the fact that our Founding Fathers owned slaves (for the most part) and now we ARE SUPPOSED TO READ ABOUT IT?

    (Snark alert )

    NO! You are supposed to remove all statues or paintings of Washington and if you don't want them destroyed, KEEP THEM IN THE CLOSET .   

    Rename the City of Washington, to reflect the new political correctness. Washington was evil, because he owned slaves, so remove and tear down anything that  might reflect an admiration or appreciation of the inhumane Washington.. , 

    For Washington must be dishonored and denigrated, in order to keep some folks happy.


    by Resistance on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 1:07pm

    Many have changed little since the 'halcyon' days of the South. Just read Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South about the British envoy in Charleston, SC pre-civil war. The British were strongly anti-slave and anti-slave trade.

    These are a couple of excerpts from period British archives circa 1850's sent often in cipher communication from the Brit in Charleston to the Brit ambassador in Wash DC, and then usually sent on to London.

    Brit envoy Mr. Bunch on dealing with the slave holding aristocracy of the South:

    "conciliation or generosity....is of little assistance in an encounter with a bigotry and a fanaticism unparalleled, I hope, in any other section of the civilized world."

    Remind anyone.....of the GOP....compromise with Obama? Trump, Fed Ex tags etc...?

    and pre-war on the South forming an effective government:

    "Why, I do not believe that any three southern States could be found to agree upon any one simple point, except perhaps that every man has an inalienable right to wallop his own n%$#%r."

    The GOP caucus, candidates, they do agree at least on the wallop of 'illegals'....?


    by NCD on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 7:29pm

    That is a great book. The description of the arrival of the "Echo" into Charleston is disturbing.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 7:31pm

    And the SC federal judge enjoyed flaunting federal law by letting the slavers off even though they were caught with the 'goods' without a doubt.

    Just like they like to do today whenever they can, it's OK for them to flaunt the law whenever they please.


    by NCD on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 7:34pm

    it's OK for them to flaunt the law whenever they please.

    You don't see they are flaunting the laws today, by allowing a new slave class, to come to America,  to do the jobs Americans wont do?  (That cheap)
    Leading to the enslaving and pitting of the working class to fight amongst themselves, for the crumbs. 

    by Resistance on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 8:46am

    I read a long review of this wonder of a book at New Yorker?

    A fascinating read.


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:20am

    Is ISIS in Syria  a model.  

    Image result for pictures of the temple ISIS destroyed

    ISIS in America, has taken down the flags and statues of American history. 

    So which PC God do they serve? 


    by Resistance on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 8:11pm

    Resistance has finally verified that he is a complete wack job. I saw the same 'taking the Confederate flag off SC State grounds is like terrorists blowing up architectural treasures from ancient civilizations' at another website. The confederacy was not the Roman empire, it was not France or Britain, it's flag is not a 2000 year old stone temple and you can still buy one and fly it from your home, your pickup truck or sleep with it at night.

    This absurd analogy must have been planted in the heads of hate radio/Fox News pinheads as they are too dumb to concoct such nonsense on their own.

    Yes, nutty Fox News for nutjobs, Todd Starnes was a source on this lame propaganda.


    by NCD on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 4:27pm

    you can still buy one and fly it from your home, your pickup truck or sleep with it at night.

    How nice of you, to allow people free choice, to venerate what they want.

    Personally, I don't interfere with what idols, others revere.

    Apparently you find no problem forcing others to believe as you?  Tearing down anything you find disgusting? 

    That sounds like a teaching of radical ISIS to me and those who subscribe to such intolerance are the dumb ones.


    by Resistance on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:55am

    ^^ Totally... gone ^^

    . . . . .

     

    ~OGD~


    by oldenGoldenDecoy on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 2:29am

    HI Ducky

    Always good to see you again. hahahahah

    Maybe we are all tangled up in blue or red or....

    At least you assure me at times that you read me. hahahah

     

     


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 2:43am

    The SC legislature voted to remove the flag and the Governor signed the bill.

    The Board of Regent at University of Texas Austin voted to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis from its location on campus, 

    The flag is intact and in a museum on state grounds.

    The statue is intact and will be placed in a museum on campus.

    There is no connection between these actions and ISIS.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 8:54am

    The use of the ISIS comparison would be more compelling if in addition to lowering the rebel battle flag from seats of state government we hunted down and killed people who had a problem with that.

    If you are actually trying to defend the practice of waving the confederate flag, your argument is not the best thing that ever happened to the cause.


    by moat on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 8:58pm

    .


    by Resistance on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 11:44pm

    Confederate statues and flags are tributes to childish things. The nation is putting away childish things . They are being placed in museums along with other relics


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 6:14pm

    The problem Job had to contend with is that all his friends were telling him that he was suffering the awful things he was suffering because of stuff he did or did not do. Well, Job did not accept that because he claimed for himself the knowledge of where he stood before his Creator. That response was what Satan was betting against; someone keeping their eyes on what is going on when it would be so easy to say something else is happening and thus lose all connection with the source of righteousness.

    So the reluctance to accept responsibility on the part of those who claim moral superiority is not so much an argument with God as a plan B that is activated when God has been presumed to abandon the former believer despite every attempt to prove their worth.

    Read Kafka for details.


    by moat on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 9:41pm

    YES!!!!!!!!

    I swear to Almighty God Moat, you sometimes read my friggin mind!

    The fault my dear Moat lies not in our Gods or THE OTHERS but most probably in ourselves!


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:17am

    I hope I do this right?   I think this is significant.  Listen to what he has to say. 

    Why America Needs a Slavery Museum

    Aug 25, 2015 | 18-part series 

     

    Video by The Atlantic

    The Whitney Plantation near Wallace, Louisiana, is the first and only U.S. museum and memorial to slavery. While other museums may include slavery in their exhibits, the Whitney Plantation is the first of its kind to focus primarily on the institution. John Cummings, a 78-year-old white southerner, has spent 16 years and more than $8 million of his own fortune to build the project, which opened in December of last year. 

    http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/402172/the-only-american-museum-about-slavery/

     


    by trkingmomoe on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 1:20pm

    WOW!!!


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 1:36pm

    Thanks for this post.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 2:37pm

    I have to make supper so I don't have time to write about this article from Vox.  It gives you an in sight to people's reaction to slavery during museum tours. 

    Up until a few weeks ago, I worked at a historic site in the South that included an old house and a nearby plantation. My job was to lead tours and tell guests about the people who made plantations possible: the slaves.

    The site I worked at most frequently had more than 100 enslaved workers associated with it— 27 people serving the household alone, outnumbering the home's three white residents by a factor of nine. Yet many guests who visited the house and took the tour reacted with hostility to hearing a presentation that focused more on the slaves than on the owners.

    http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8847385/what-i-learned-from-leading-tours-about-slavery-at-a-plantation 

    We have a long way to go to educate white people about slavery.


    by trkingmomoe on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 3:20pm

    Great blog, DD.  ... and while we're on the subject of Americans being inhumane to immigrants, how about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
     


    by MrSmith1 on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 3:26pm

    You betchya! And that is where we got the Supreme Court decision regarding Natural Born Citizens.

    1898, if I recall correctly. A strange decision from a time when the 14th Amendment had been attacked in so many decisions like Plessey.

    Even in that not so golden age, a principle was established.

    Now we have an entire slew of GOP 'leaders' who question this principle.


    by Richard Day on Tue, 09/01/2015 - 3:48pm