It has been a weird, nightmarish, week. One filled with so much stupidity, callousness, and extreme criminal behavior one can justifiably doubt the entire process of natural selection.
By now everyone with a TV, or access to the internet knows the details of the horror in Nice, where Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel jumped into a rental truck and rammed through a massive crowd gathered to watch fireworks on Bastille Day. At this hour French authorities still haven't connected him to any organized terrorist group. As time passes, it increasingly appears he was the classic angry loner, a psychopath who took out his inner frustrations on innocent people, not for a particular cause, or religion, but rather his own demented need to avenge imagined wrongs.
Bouhlel's crime was so gruesome it caused Donald Trump to temporarily postpone announcing he had chosen Indiana Governor, Mike Pence as his running mate. Trump initially tried to leave the impression he was doing so out of respect for the dead and wounded. However the money here says his motive had more to do with coverage than sympathy. Trump, the master manipulator of all media, knew the events in France would completely overshadow the splash he wanted to make in the press by naming Pence.
Unfortunately for El Don, things continued to steam roll overseas when elements of the army attempted a coup in Turkey. By this morning he had given up on any more delays and held a press conference to tell everyone what we already knew, Governor Pence was his choice for vice president.
As Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan begins to take names and kick ass it might be worth noting that last year, Mike Pence proposed the establishment of a state owned and controlled media outlet which would be known as JustIN. The alleged small government advocate wanted to pay the two guys who would be in charge of the operation $100,000 apiece per year. Pence's idea was met with wide spread loathing and derision by legitimate news publishers and editors throughout Indiana.
Previously, Mike Pence--a 12 year veteran of the U.S. House, before becoming governor--had claimed in op-ed pieces that the earth is now cooler than it was 50 years ago and smoking tobacco doesn't kill people.
Hey, given the evidence, it sounds like Brother Pence will fit right in with the Trump campaign.
Meanwhile, on Friday the New York Times reported some of the pieces of art which had been looted by the Nazis in World War II, then recovered, had been sold for pennies on the dollar to the families of the very people who stole it. The list of post war buyers included the widow of Hermann Goring.
The artwork had been seized by the Allies toward the end of the war. By the late 1940's, as units such as the Monument Men were deactivated, the treasures were handed over to a Bavarian commission. The theory was the commission would do the right thing by returning the paintings and such to the lawful owners, or their survivors.
Silly us.
Then we come to Brittney McCoy of Greenbriar, TN. When Ronald Lewis Clinard was involved in a terrible auto accident near her home she ran out to see what she could do. It turned out what she could do was steal the severely injured man's wallet and credit card. After doing so she promptly went to a local store where she used it to buy cigarettes, beer, and a soft drink.
Police say others might have been involved. A gun the victim carried in his car, presumably for protection, is missing and has yet to be found. Clinard died before he got to the hospital.
Finally we come to the latest world wide craze called, Pokémon Go. It is a game which can be played for free through a smart phone app. While the game characters are virtual reality--an oxymoron if there ever was one--they are found in very real locations.
This causes hundreds of Pokémon fanatics to invade places like historical buildings, cathedrals, and war memorials in order search for them. The game has been lauded by a few medical professionals as a way to improve the mental health of some players--who are obviously in dire need of it--and the physical fitness of everyone involved.
Yeah, well maybe. What we do know for sure is that many times the game causes herds of phone tapping goofs to stampede into places meant to be held in awe, reverence, and respect--something very few of them show when they're on the hallowed grounds. It has gotten so outrageous the caretakers of places like Arlington National Cemetery and the National Holocaust Museum have asked the designers to remove their sites from the game.
Yes, there we have it on a sweaty day in Oklahoma City. There was yet more deadly madness in France. Trump found someone who looks to be as bat shit crazy as he is. Bargain hunting Nazis scored another steal years ago. There was a Tennessee Samaritan of a different sort. And, lastly, idiots are trampling through tombs and history with utter disregard to the sacred places they are violating.
Ladies and gentlemen, can there be any doubt the bar is open?
I didn't think so.
7-16-16
I truly do not wish to sound moralistic, but that in itself may be part of the problem. The world's moral fiber seems to be unraveling and many people are not even aware anything is out of whack. I have a very strong fear that something severely shocking will be needed for the world to return to its senses. Used to be, the USA was that Shining City on the Hill for the desperate, huddled masses to flock to. Now, we have to worry about those huddled masses concealing terrorists, and our time to be an example to the rest of the world ended with the Vietnam war. But, all of this may be coming to a head, when our presidential choices are people which have both made their own poor choices. Pray for the peoples of the world, we all need it, and hope the bar delivery truck does not break down.
ReplyDelete