Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman from Illinois, now residing in Texas, discusses the final polls on the eve of Election Day:
As far as I know, Kinzinger still identifies as a Republican, but not a MAGA man, and he despises Trump's political perversion and corruption. He was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for instigating the attack on the Capitol, and later was one of the two Republicans, along with Liz Cheney, to serve on the January 6th Committee that recommended criminal charges against Trump.
Kinzinger is a real man: he had the balls to go against his party and speak the truth, even though it cost him his seat in the next election. Whatever label he identifies with now, Kinzinger certainly talks like a sane and sensible Democrat. He endorsed Biden and later Harris in 2024, and this year endorsed Talarico's Senate bid.
What I Say: The Democratic Party needs more butch white men like Kinzinger, a lot more, if it wants to regain power and keep it. There, I said it -- a simple demographic truth, whether anybody wants to hear it or not.
Bonus: Kinzinger tells it like it is at the 2024 Democratic Convention. "Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong, a small man pretending to be big . . . ."
He had nothing to gain from this speech, but he made it anyway, for the love of his country. Goddamn, that's brave. To tell you the truth, I'd vote for Kinzinger for President any day of the week, if there weren't a better Democrat on the ballot.
What I Say: Trump and his deranged doppelganger Musk, and some other henchmen and hussies I could name, ought to be sent in a big, beautiful, gold-plated rocket to Mars, where they would have a whole planet to rule and ruin and fight over with robots. No return fuel, though, and no radio to disturb the rest of us with. Just eternal silence - no adoring audience - it would drive them both mad in no time.
Bonus: Obama provides some comedy relief and straight talk at a rally in Atlanta:
FYI: All 435 House seats are up for election every two years. Senators serve six-year terms, but one-third of the 100 Senate seats are up for election every two years. Here are two graphics showing the current membership of both houses of Congress, from Wikipedia:
The six non-voting delegates in the House (not included in the graphic) are from the District of Columbia and five overseas territories: Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas. They can participate in debate but cannot vote.
Adam Kinzinger, former Republican congressman and member of the January 6th Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol in 2021, throws down the gauntlet, calling Trump "the biggest victim, the biggest crybaby, the biggest sissy to ever exist . . . a corrupt, evil man . . . a disgrace to everything America stands for."
It does your Head Trucker's heart good to hear a real man, brave and true, call out Trump no uncertain terms. I hope there will be many more good men and women who heed the call.
Last Saturday in D.C. Goddamn, what a man. You go, Bernie.
I don't agree with some of Bernie's proposals, and he is wrong on a couple of points of history. But I endorse the main thrust of his message. There's far too much money in too few hands. Money = power, and power, as Lord Acton said, tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
That's why our Founding Fathers set up a government with three branches (divided power; checks and balances) and periodic elections, ensuring that power changes hands from time to time. They also endowed us with a Constitution that cannot be easily changed (the rule of laws, not men) and a free press that can expose the misuse and abuse of power to the attention of the people. But when 3 or 4 people own most of the wealth in this country, working hand-in-glove with a would-be dictator, you don't have to be a "communist" to see that means the end of democracy.
The system is not perfect, but then NO system is. There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be a Utopia where everyone gets everything they want when they want it. The best that can be done is to provide the greatest good for the greatest number most of the time. Capitalism properly restrained and regulated can be a good thing, bringing prosperity and security to many millions - with enough left over in the public treasury to provide a social safety net for the elderly, disabled, and unfortunate - as has been generally the case in the Western world for over a century now.
But unbridled, unregulated capitalism is simply the dictatorship of the rich, and profoundly un-American.
Unelected and unaccountable, the super-rich could buy and sell all the lawyers, judges, police, and politicians they need to get their way, immune from any and all consequences. They could control all sources of news and information, in print or online, indoctrinating everyone young and old with their corrupt wordview, and inciting the masses to fear, resentment, hatred, or violence against anything or anyone, as their masters pleased. And rhey could manipulate the price of all goods and services and housing to squeeze the last dime out of the propertyless common people, in effect making them serfs perpetually dependent on the goodwill of the overlords and their digital informers/enforcers. America or Soviet Russia? Who could tell the difference?
The super-rich could also dispose of whoever is president, if he doesn't do their bidding. There is an old saying that "there is honor among thieves." But who knows what might happen when thieves fall out with one another?
And by the way - don't fear what may happen one day. It has already happened. That little god-box in your hand that you just can't live without? That plastic slab you carry everywhere you go and use to do everything with? You do know, don't you, that it tracks every movement you make, 24/7, and they are recorded somewhere, as is every call you make and every word you type. So are all your purchases, all your bank and credit card data, the names and numbers of all your friends and kinfolks, even your casual hookups and favorite porn. It can all be used against you - and may well be. Don't fear the slavery to come - the chain is already around your neck and the knife at your balls. Resistance, I'm afraid, is too late. You have been assimilated. And paid good money for it, too, you fool. So enjoy it while you can.
But what do I know? I'm just a tired old man who has outlived his time, waiting for his flight to be called, that's all. Move along, nothing to see here.
French Senator Claude Malhuret tells it like it is in French, with English subtitles:
I'm impressed with how well he knows all the details of what's going on in the United States - and sees through all the bullshit. But I suppose our self-destruction is obvious to the whole world.
Bernie slams the Tyrant at a rally in Idaho yesterday:
At another rally, location not given, Bernie says "We are the 99 percent" and "we're scaring the hell out of Trump and Musk":
And Trae Crowder recommends empathy to all the rightwing voters who just don't give a fuck if innocent people are "disappeared" and sent to hell on earth:
Look who's sporting a new beard and stache. I'm lovin' it:
Revolting, absurd, utterly childish. Like something out of a cartoon or a cheesy sitcom - but this is the filthy, despicable reality of the new America.
Bernie Sanders tells it like it is. I wish this was required viewing for everyone in America.
And here is an excerpt from former President Obama's remarks on democracy, during a visit to Hamilton College in upstate New York two days ago:
One for the history books, and straight out of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) began a marthon speech on the Senate floor last night, and at the time of this post he is still continuing after 20 hours of speaking, with help from Democratic colleagues. What good it will do, I don't know. But at least he is one Democrat who isn't staying quiet. Here's the live feed from PBS:
Ya know, fellas, I can't keep up with all the bad news, even if I wanted to. Our national nightmare keeps spiralling further and further into polymorphic perversion and raving madness. And did I mention all deliberate stupidity with malice aforethought? Between bouts of nauseated disgust and horrified astonishment, I have to turn my mind to pleasant subjects before it goes right off the rails. So I intersperse my news & opinion posts with more inspiring thoughts, or pretty things, to keep myself calm and stable here in the happy little cottage M.P. and I share. Maybe you can relate.
A few noteworthy political items follow, just for the record.
Rachel Maddow reports: Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) last week loudly called out Republicans in Congress who are enabling the Trump-Musk attack on Social Security. Finally, someone in Congress got hot and bothered!
Moulton, you may remember, made an unauthorized trip with former Rep. Peter Meijer to see firsthand the conditions facing our troops during the Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021, which I blogged about here.
I could say more, but I cannot improve on the eloquence of the Blue Dot in Texas, who tells it like it is:
Fabulous, funny, and true: a Texas native tells it like it is, bitch. And I can tell you that everything he says about small-town Texas people is the God's truth.
By the way: As spot-on as this satire is, there is a greater point to be made here. It's not just about Texas, and it's not just about the South. I'll just say two words: Minneapolis. Brooklyn.
I have to come out of my lethargy to post this for the record: Actor Robert De Niro lays Trump on the canvas and tells it like it IS in this unused clip from a get-out-the-vote video recorded before Pussygate shocked the nation:
It's only tangentially gay-related, but I love this and had to share it with you guys. In the middle of a somewhat convoluted political uproar, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard lays it on the line for her sexist, mysogynist counterpart. You go, girl! Tell it like it is. President Obama should take notes on how to make a debating point here.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, harmony; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
and welcome to the Blue Truck, a blog for mature gay men with news and views on gay rights, history, art, humor, and whatever comes to mind. Plus a few hot men. The truck's all washed and gassed up, so hop in buddy, let's go.
CAUTION: For mature gay men only beyond this point. Some posts and links may not be suitable for children or the unco guid. You have been warned.
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My Story
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Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?
It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
