Superman: Woke Since 1938!

 

Sometimes, I really hate what we've become. I'm a fan of the website IMDb. We love to know about what we're watching. We see a familiar actor, and Alison and I will research to find out who they are and what we've seen them in.

There is an unpleasant aspect to IMDb, and that is with the unwoke army that comes in and corrupts their ratings. They will diss any show or movie that their right-wing nut job influencers have told them to mark down to 1s and 2s, bringing down the average score. For example, the lowest-rated episode of the new Quantum Leap series dared to feature a transgender athlete. I thought the story was beautiful, and the only episode of the series that brought me to tears.  

So, who is the unwoke army's newest vendetta? The latest Superman movie. Why? It glorifies an illegal immigrant (spoiler alert - Superman is not from around here). He's too soft. He's too kind. He takes the side of a weak nation about to be pillaged by a much stronger one. His opponent is a villainous stereotype of a billionaire. He takes the time to save a squirrel, for God's sake!

Did none of these mooks actually read Superman? He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish high school students from Cleveland. Almost like a Golem, ready to defend the weak and powerless. Superman was an alien, rocketed by his parents from the dying planet Krypton, landing in a Kansas cornfield, raised by two loving, caring farmers, and endowed with a tremendous sense of humanity. He chose as his alter ego, Clark Kent, to be a reporter, putting himself in a position where he could discover social ills and the problems of everyday citizens and address them. Some of his first cases involved confronting a husband who was abusing his wife, defending and revitalizing an area that was exploited by slumlords, and yes, intervening in a war involving Boravia and arms dealers profiting off of it.

That is from Superman #2, published in 1939. So much for Borovia just being an invention of Dorector James Gumn,

Any character that is almost nine decades old and has been written/drawn by dozens of comic book talents is bound to have reboots and reinterpretations. It's not always a straight line.

But I know what the core of Superman is. I've been reading Superman comics since the early 60s, and yes, I still read them today, both the classics and the newest issues. And what James Gunn has done is a perfect capture of the essence of Superman and his world, as I have ever seen.

This is not a review per se. But I do feel every character in it is a home run. There are no false notes. Much of it left me weeping with joy, as I feel blessed to have seen this movie.

I had a slight difference with my son, Benjamin, who also saw the movie. He said it was the best Superman movie he's ever seen. I slightly disagreed, in the sense that I thought it was the best movie I've ever seen.

As I come down from my high, that evaluation may change. But right now? It is the best. It's one of the few movies I've seen in my life that I immediately wanted to go back and see again.

Sorry, unwoke army. Like it or not, Superman is the epitome of woke and all the good things that it represents. I love him! Superman! Woke since 1938!

What Were They Thinking?

 What was MAGA thinking? What did they think was going to happen if the Epstein files were released?

It's hard for me to picture this. Did they really think that the Epstein Client list was a who's who of Democratic politicians and Democratic friendly billionaires? That this would expose the Democratic pedophile ring that looped in Pizzagate and Hilary drinking baby's blood?

The most logical implications of Trump and Epstein's friendship completely elude them.  

They hung out all the time. They were best friends (as much as two narcissists can be friends). And you think even though everything in Trump's life is cold-blooded and transactional, somehow Trump was entirely ignorant of what Epstein was doing.

Trump? The man who bought teen beauty pageants because it gave him an excuse to hang out in their dressing rooms? The man who had worked with modeling agencies that took advantage of foreign models, some of whom were very, very young? A man who coveted his own daughter, implying he would "date" her if she weren't his daughter? A man who tells preteens he might be dating them when they get a few years older? A man accused of sexual misconduct by over two dozen women? A man CONVICTED of sexual assault, whom the judge said that what Trump did was, in essence, RAPE? A man who bragged in the infamous Access Hollywood recording about how he could take advantage of women because he was a celebrity, even grab them in the nether regions?

He's on the flight logs. He gave Epstein a clever birthday card, implying deeper secrets. His wife, Melania, has ties to Epstein, and they are all connected to Ghislaine Maxwell.  

And yet...MAGA thinks that Trump is going to fulfill his campaign promise and release all the Epstein files and client lists...all UNREDACTED.

You were played, MAGA. He would say anything to get reelected. He hoped you would forget all about it.

What are liberals thinking?

They think that whatever Trump reveals will be the truth?

That the files won't be sanitized, leaving only Trump opponents exposed? Oh, look! One of the few pages not to be redacted reveals a Democratic icon!

You can't trust Trump to release anything incriminating about himself. Look at the moves he's made so far - they are discussing the release of some selected and redacted grand jury transcripts, colluding with Ghislaine Maxwell, exchanging information that only names Democrats, offering her limited immunity, and eventually a pardon.  

Trump and Maxwell were good friends. And now that he is President again, she knows her quickest route to freedom is by serving his interests.

What am I thinking?

I'd rather this all come out. I'd rather anyone involved, regardless of party, be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  

I just don't see that happening, at least anytime soon.

There are too many roadblocks to a true release of unredacted information.

On the other hand...

This isn't a vast mystery. The circumstantial ties between Trump and Epstein are overwhelming. And even without the Epstein files, you have dozens of women who were abused step forward and have TOLD us what was happening. But do we ever believe the women? Why don't we check in with Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh about that? Hell, Trump has been convicted, both civilly and criminally, for how he treated women, and many MAGA still choose to believe Trump.

Stop acting like he couldn't do it. Of course, he could. It's well within his personality's wheelhouse.

However, be aware that he may not be on the Epstein Client List.

That's because he wasn't a client.

He was a partner, a co-conspirator, a beneficiary of special favors.

He wasn't paying. He was collecting both women and money.

Sorry, MAGA. The Epstein files aren't what you think they are.

Sorry, liberals. It may not be until 2029 that we get to see what the files really look like. You're in for another 3+ years of gaslighting and false finger-pointing.

But you don't need all the files to see the truth.

The truth is already out there.

A Well-Traveled Park

I may have used this picture in an earlier blog story, and am now repeating it here.  Oh, well. That kind of repetition is a hallmark of aging.

I went to the doctor for a checkup.  At 70, that's always a scary adventure. Especially when reviewing blood work from the previous week.

It was a mixed bag.  Most of the results were good.  There were a few things I need to be careful with and follow up on.  

I've fought some things for a few years now, things that were marginal and felt that I could control myself.

Finally, my age gave me a new perspective, and I realized I had to accept who I am and that I may need some help in combating health issues.  The biggest one was admitting something that is hard for me, because I, for better or worse, view it as a personal failure.

I am a diabetic.

My numbers are not that bad, just over the line, but I have pretended for too long.  I must admit that I have it, and I cannot delay any longer.  So, I'm going on medication to control and reverse it.

I know that a balanced diet and regular exercise, along with weight loss, can help with this.  And, with Alison's help, I think I can get better.  

Whether I'm on medication for a few months or a lifetime, it is now something I'll always have to think about, monitor, and consider.

I realize I'm not alone in this.  Many go through this, including a lot of my friends and family. I know that's partly cultural, a result of our lifestyle and the prevalence of processed foods. And I've seen the results when diabetes is ignored or handled poorly.  That is not a path I wish to travel.

I prefer to do those things I need to do to minimize the harm this disease causes, so that I can keep traveling in my well-worn park, and continue to enjoy life - time with Alison and my children and grandchild, reading, writing, performing, attending church, loving pets, binging scripted shows, supporting public libraries, fighting the Trumpocalypse.

Here's to many more adventures - just with a little less sugar!

Alligator Alcatraz: A Concentration of Evil

 

Alligator Alcatraz is a concentration camp. To pretend anything otherwise is a willful reflection of callousness and uncaring. To feign ignorance is a high level of ostrich-like head-in-the-sandism, as it defies all reason and logic.

An article by an expert in concentration camps, Andrea Pitzer, their development and history - her words, from an article entitled Don't Call it "Alligator Alcatraz" Call it a Concentration Camp - 

This facility's purpose fits the classic model: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed. And its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.

The overcrowding in inhumane cages, without privacy, without any respect for people, stacking an estimated nine bunk beds and eighteen people per cage.

Air conditioning? Maybe. Different sources say different things. Running water and bathroom facilities seem limited at best. 

Alligator Alcatraz has already been subject to flooding.

The Miccosukee Tribe, which lives near the facility, is very concerned about its environmental impact, as are others. I know -they make it sound like it's completely isolated - I guess it only counts unless it's conservative white families living nearby.

Much is made of it being surrounded by alligators, pythons, and other predators. Maybe. The worst part of that is having to listen to MAGAs gleeful at the prospects of people at the camps trying to escape and being eaten by gators. To further enhance their cruelty and inhumanity, they are snapping up Alligator Alcatraz merchandise! They want to display and wear their cruelty for all to see. How has this country fallen so low? At least Germans, for all their monstrosity, didn't wear t-shirts celebrating the ovens at Auschwitz.

But the alligators are not the biggest threat. The heat, swarms of mosquitoes and other insects, and the potential for exposure to storms and flooding all make this a perilous environment for housing detainees.

And remember, the detainees, brought in without due process, will often NOT be the hardened criminals you think that they are. ICE, so far, has shown an infinite capacity to sweep up the wrong people, and then has a hard time letting them go. Trump has even talked about revoking citizenship and sending those he simply does not like to places like this.

And the cost is horrendous. 450 million dollars a year for a tent city? And where did the money come from? It's money reallocated from FEMA. You know, the agency that's supposed to help with things like the flooding in Texas? Instead of saving lives, the money is going to be used to destroy lives!

But have no fear. The ICE budget, in the most recent Big Ugly Bill, is receiving dramatic increases, over $100 billion, a larger budget than most other countries' military budgets, and bigger than the budget for the US Marine Corps. It includes $45 billion for the construction of new facilities. Alligator Alcatraz times 90.

"Oh, Tom!" reich wing friends tell me. "It's only a temporary holding! They'll only be there a few days until they're deported!" 1) Deported where? Who's agreed to take them? El Salvador? Some other country that is not their country of origin? So they'll just be transferred to other inhumane facilities? 2) I don't believe for a second that many of them will be there just for a few days. That's not usually the experience with concentration camps. 3) I don't care how long it is. I don't care what the crime or civil offense is. This is NOT the way to treat people. You're trying to turn them into animals that, in your mind, it is ok to treat inhumanely.

Is this Alligator Auschwitz? No, not yet. But the German concentration camps did not start out that way either. The gas ovens were not there at first. But listen carefully about how the MAGAs talk about this - the glee over the potential alligator meals, the delight in the cruelty of it all. The fairest thing to say is we're on that path, but we're not there yet.

Which is why we have to speak out. Many of the German people knew what was coming, but out of fear, acquiescence, or complacency, did not speak out.

We cannot be quiet. Many of us are taught by our faith to care about all people, and that everyone deserves to be treated as we would treat ourselves.

I don't know how much of this nightmare we can stop.

But let's not be silent about it.