We here at Monomakhos are nothing if not public-spirited. Think of it as a public service –Civics 101 and all that. As such, we felt the need to present to you the essence of the Democratic Party debates which took place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Here it is for your viewing pleasure:
If you want a simple encapsulation, you can’t do much better than Julian Castro’s brilliant observation that “trans women should be able to have abortions as well”. Literally, I can’t make this stuff up. Hunter Thompson on his worst acid trip couldn’t come up with this stuff.
One question: has the Democratic Party gone completely insane?
Seriously, something has happened to progressives. Orange Hitler is so deep in their heads that they will gladly commit political suicide simply because they can’t abide him in any way, shape, manner or form. If Trump came out against cancer, they would all volunteer to get stage 4 pancreatic cancer. If he washes his hands after going to the toilet they’ll stop using toilet paper.
I can’t figure these guys out. Do they honestly think that erasing our borders, confiscating our guns or giving millions of dollars of health care to illegal aliens is a winning strategy? They think this is going to turn Texas blue? At this point, they’ll be lucky to keep Illinois blue.
Regardless, for once Yours Truly agrees with our esteemed Punditocracy: The Golden Don was the winner. And barring a major military conflict or an economic crash, he’s going to carry 38 states. (By the way, his political instincts are great: he saw the trap that the Deep State laid for him with the mullahs in Iran and walked away from it, thereby saving his presidency from another neocon quagmire.*)
Anyway, grab some popcorn, salt, and butter as you wish, and enjoy the show!
*Next time the neocons want us to go to war “for IsrDemocracy”, I’d say we strap Bill Kristol, John Podhoretz and Ben Shapiro to the first salvo of cruise missiles. Just sayin’.
20 years ago. Michael Savage, Used to say and still says liberalism is a mental disorder. He also used to say that liberals would be more than willing to sacrifice their own children for the cause. I never truly believed nor understood what he meant, but after listening to those idiots at the debate, I now truly understand what he meant.?
Who would have thought that “The Life of Brian” would be so prophetic?
I endured just enough of the debate while channel surfing to hear one of the candidates suggest that doctors and nurses should be running to the detention centers to give aid to the detainees. While I am in favor of helping those in need, I have a problem with someone whose solution to a problem is to make it my problem. I’m sure the candidate has the ability and financial means to drop what he is doing, grab a case of Pampers and diaper wipes and fly to the detention center to render aid. Don’t need to be an MD or RN to change a diaper.
Liberal mindset- there’s a problem and it’s your fault. Liberal solution- you need to fix it. If you do fix it, I get credit for it just because.
In this edition of What is Hip? you say, “Don’t need to be an MD or RN to change a diaper.”
A 64-year old man from India, who was in ICE custody because he had been arrested for a misdemeanor possession of cocaine charge in his early 30’s, and who had been on methadone hcl for decades, was placed in solitary confinement because they intended to withdraw him. I don’t know what you know about methadone hcl, but without some significant underlying pathology, it is rare that anyone would die from withdrawal, even without any form of medical intervention. Do you sort of have an idea where this is headed?
The nursing staff notes indicate that he was “collapsing, vomiting, and calling out for help.” The nursing staff notes indicate that they believed he was “malingering” (i.e. “faking symptoms of illness with the express purpose of manipulation). I can tell you from experience, that once a custody patient is tagged as “malingering,” they are ignored and their complaints are ignored, no further questions. Or, like when he begged for a glass of cold water because the tap water available in his cell was always “more than lukewarm,” nursing notes indicate that he was told he was not “special,” and if they gave him cold water, they would be obligated to give everyone cold water. And in the classic response to “malingering,” he was told to “go lie down and be quiet.”
I recall walking into a prison “clinic” and immediately seeing a man locked in a cage a bit larger than an old telephone booth, agitated, complaining of claustrophobia, sweating profusely, but shivering. Custody staff saw me observing him, and going over and taking his pulse – his heart was racing. I felt his head and skin and he was burning up. They said he was “malingering” and just didn’t want to go to work. When I saw in his chart that had been prescribed bupropion (an anti-depressant that acts on serotonin) in two forms – Wellbutrin for depression & Zyban for tobacco cessation – I told them I believed he was experiencing “Serotonin Syndrome” and he needed to be taken to the hospital. They sort of said, “You don’t have authority on this unit to do that” as they walked away. I started to search for his doctor – found him – then heard the call for a doctor to come to the reception area. We went out to find that this patient had collapsed and was unresponsive, and they were bagging him as they put him on a stretcher and placed it on a golf cart to transport him. I looked at the officers who dismissed me, as they again they walked away.
The custody staff became very concerned about the detainee from India, even telling their supervisors that he was “suffering.” ICE says they always have a physician available during the day, and 24-hour coverage by phone. Because it was “off hours,” the nurses told the custody staff that it was pointless to phone the on-call doc because he never answered, and he had never setup the voice-mail on his phone. When the doctor finally showed up, he observed the nearly incoherent patient without even opening the cell door, and declared “He is faking symptoms to get what he wants.” Two days later, he was found dead in his cell from sudden cardiac arrest. The internal investigation concluded that “both medical and security staff acted properly and in accordance with policy and procedures.” In this much I can agree with you, Tanya: he probably would have received better care if Beto O’Rourke had dropped what he was doing grabbed “a case of Pampers and diaper wipes and [flown] to the detention center to render aid.”
Since December, 2018, 24 adults have died in ICE custody, 4 more have died in hospitals within 3-days of being released from detention, and of course, 6 children have died in ICE custody as well. Yesterday, an attorney representing the current administration argued in federal court that the government is under no obligation to provide children detainees with soap, shampoo, or a bed, even while admitting to the court that there are current “flu epidemics” in both adult facilities and facilities specifically for children.
I will say that I do not follow politics, I am uninterested in conspiracies, and I certainly didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton (I wrote in the name of John Kasich because I believe he is fundamentally a moral person; he loves his family and is faithful to his wife; and in Ohio, he accomplished everything he promised when he ran for governor). If I am not mistaken – and I assuredly am not – it is not politics but rather the 25th Chapter of Gospel of St. Matthew that makes this human tragedy your problem.
Kasich is a cuck.
Michael S. Your story is a microchosom of the tragedy of humanity when we allow ourselves to be submerged in ideological politics. As George’s myopic and frankly offensive comment shows even more graphically.
It is difficult to escape when one is, in fact, powerless. The urge “to make things better” comes out in most. Unfortunately, that urge is the central temptation of the modern project.
The commandments in Mt 25 contain nothing that indicates anything getting better
As an RN that works acute/urgent care in a maximum security men’s prison, I am on the front lines of ensuring my patients receive proper treatment, so you are “preaching to the choir”.
I simply expect a presidential candidate to have a more comprehensive and detailed solution to the problem. He never stated what he would do.
It’s all talk.
Love him or hate him, Trump said a lot of things, promised a lot of things as a candidate and so far has delivered on well over half. He has completely upset the apple-cart, a true agent of chaos; a disruptor if you will.
And the fact that he’s mass-hypnotized the Dems to say the most awful and ridiculous things is the icing on the cake.
Prediction: Hillary is going to have to come into the race, to save the Democrats from themselves. There, I’ve said it (I can’t believe it). As evil and corrupt a woman as she is, she would never go this far to the left, verbally at least. She doesn’t have Wild Bill’s political instincts but she does have access to them.
I’m not trying to be sarcastic or crass here but what are the percentages of the numbers of detained from 2018 with 24 adults and 3 children dying, compared to that of the general population with the same numbers? Also, it is a KNOWN RISK to travel so many miles and cross the border. This is not Carnival Cruise Lines. Statistics and anecdotal accounts can be manipulated and are. The point is, the thousands (millions?!) who CHOOSE to cross illegally across the borders have heard all the horror stories and STILL CHOOSE to attempt anyway! All of the horror stories are a billboard size Surgeon General Warning on a pack of Marlboros, yet some still choose to smoke cigarettes!
It seems from reports that the primary cause of death of detainees is from respiratory conditions, such as flu leading to pneumonia. The second leading cause of death among adults is suicide.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention report that in the 2017-2018 flu season, there were 186 childhood deaths attributable to the flu in the entire US. The CDC does not collect flu data for adults. To reach any sort of epidemiological conclusion about flu, flu complications, and death among detainee children, you would first need to know the number of child detainees in the context of a reported 73.8 million children in the US during 2017-18. From testimony in federal court, this administration (if they are being honest) indicates that they do not know the number of children detained. Some facilities are reported to be designed for adults, but now house children exclusively, and frequently at triple the capacity intended for adults. As I noted previously, an attorney for this administration argued in federal court this week that the government is under no obligation to provide soap, products for oral hygiene, or even a bed for children detainees. The signature on all my email says, “ALWAYS wash your hands” for a reason. It seems to me soap would be considered a public health “disease prevention” intervention, but that’s me.
Obviously, I view and approach this situation as a healthcare provider, not a politician. I fail to see, from the vantage of a healthcare provider, how it is helpful to concern myself with “known risks,” post fact. The bete noir of healthcare provision in the US is constantly telling people to loose weight, change diet, exercise, and to take medications for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes as directed, only to hear, “I know I need to do that,” and proceed to ignore any directive. I do not hear anyone bitching or promoting the loss of, say, insurance coverage for far too many who choose to ignore health directives. The costs incurred treating the consequences of patients ignoring health directives would pay for the “best healthcare ever,” for every illegal immigrant in the US for the next hundred years.
As a non american I just ignore the politics. As far as I am concerned., Denouncing neo liberalism etc and worshipping at the shrine of Donald and in Uk Johnson, is like diagnosing an illness and then taking the ‘ CURE’ of the first snake oil salesman that comes along. I have no time for Clintons and Blair and rest, LOATHE THEM AND ALL THEY STAND FOR, but by same standard, how can i with a shred of integrety respect the likes of trump. MCMUCHIN, KUSHNER ET AL?? Only when statements made re Greece or here in Bulgaria or uk do i comment on rest. But no I am TOTALLY NO TRUMP LOVER. I happen to be an Orthodox Christian. I leave it to others to align the two with their conscience. I am sure they easily can.
George, You’ve mentioned that you plan to write a post about antisemitism/Isreal and another about the witch hunts in early modern Europe. I’m looking forward to both.
Have a great weekend, Everyone.
Working on Part III of my essay on government. Then I’ll get to the Israel thing. Not so sure about witch-hunts though. Maybe I should, I’ve always wanted to set the record straight on the Inquisition.
You definitely should. Nobody will expect it.
You definitely should. Nobody will expect it.
GL Farmer,
I see what you did there. 🙂
OK, things are worse in the UK. But we’ll catch up really quick:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5341098/men-who-identify-as-women-are-invited-for-cervical-smear-without-a-cervix/
What is also telling is when Julian Castro made that insane comment, he was given applause with what seemed like the majority of the audience, and the moderators did not think to question Julian’s remark. Something like, “excuse me Mr. Castro, how as our President would you tell doctors to abort babies that don’t exist?” I guess that is too much to ask of the “reporters” on hand. Lock step without question to the mantra of the left. Men who might have be given a straight jacket 50 years ago for imaginary babies, and housed in padded rooms, are now applauded, and legitimate presidential hopefuls. The “Nut House” might be replaced with The White House.
Need we any more proof that the world has gone crazy? Any men here volunteering for the stirrups?
That comment just cracked me up!
Let’s hope this one doesn’t get pulled:
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/06/28/ozzy-osbourne-bans-trump-from-using-his-music/
For walled countries and cities, have politicians been known to condemn defense, period? Psalm 50 includes a petition for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt. It would be interesting to see which nominally Christian or Jewish public figure would refuse to say that verse on principal. I might ask anyone running for office on open border type issues if they lock their doors, windows or car, or if they keep their PIN number a secret. They do all those things because they aren’t stupid, as King David wasn’t (though a murderer and adulterer) when he wrote that psalm. If borders aren’t important a country could pay for truly wonderful healthcare by dismantling its defense altogether provided everyone else does.
Why the Orange Scumbag fandom? He hasn’t achieved his policy goals/campaign promises: Muslims can still enter the country, Mexicans and Central Americans are still pouring in, no wall has been built, Obamacare wasn’t repealed (even though he had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress his first year), his tax cuts rest on the backs of working people and we still have troops at risk in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s a failure. Sad.
You expect a dictatorship?
I’m voting for Tulsi in my state’s primary. She’s the least insane of all the Dems.
I’ve been furious with Trump and his failures for a long time, but these debates have driven me back into his arms. The state of the Dem party gives a lot of perspective.
I agree with Pat Buchanan, Trump should trade Bolton for Tulsi.
…and we still have troops at risk in Afghanistan and Iraq. More failure. Sad.
Like you, not happy with that. However, as a true conservative (as opposed to ideologues and cuckservatives) I’m a pragmatist and no that the world is a fallen place. Nobody gets 100% of anything. As far as Trump is concerned, he’s accomplished close to 80% of what he promised. Once the Wall is done, then I’ll call it a day.
P.S. as far as our military still being in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, he didn’t start those misadventures. And remember, for all his bumbling, Bush 43 only initiated two (2) foreign wars. St Hussein added another five. And he got a Nobel Peace Prize.
Totally off subject. Latest video (20 minutes) from The Duran on US Ambassador to Greece / Ukraine/ Patriarch Bartholomew/ Patriarch Filaret and the failed political – religious maneuver of Phanar acting on behalf of US.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sMHCyhc2aPE
I was particularly interested in min. 7 wherein we are told that “Patriarch” Filaret’s “church” has 700,000,000 million Euros in assets while Dumenko’s outfit has hardly anything at all. What really slayed me was min. 11, wherein we are told that the situation within the UOC has deteriorated so badly because of Filaret (gotta love him!) that Pyatt and Bartholomew are working behind the scenes to keep the schism-within-the-schism going, hoping that that will be what it takes to finally X-out Filaret and confiscate his assets.
See what I mean by “events! Dear Boy, events!”?
thank you, Dionysia!
And, George, all of this was evident BEFORE Constantinople granted autocephaly. What were they thinking? That Filaret and all of his followers would just go away if they allowed him to run around in his little hat as an honorary patriarch? They HAD to know what a mess this would turn out to be and yet they moved forward. One can only conclude they don’t care about Ukraine and never did. They certainly don’t care about the canonical Church. The only thing they care about is power and the ability to direct our energies toward global concerns like the environment. They are IN the world and more importantly, they are FROM the world.
There is this underground “church” in our basement. We hear all the noise and see all the dust, but we’re afraid to go down and look.
George said “Do they honestly think that erasing our borders… is a winning strategy?”
The short answer is yes, and it can’t be helped. The further humans go into satanism/gnosticism the more they have to try and destroy a creation which is made up of borders and limits and standards etc.
Where Christianity sees goodness in creation and the limits it sets, including the difference between God and man or good and bad, satanism/gnosticism sees only oppression.
I found a really really hardcore gnostic website years ago which, aside from being on a mission, even had some books its owners had written. One of them – in fictional form – outlined the need to put a bomb in the centre of the earth and blow it up, so as to put an end to the ‘evil creator’s prison camp’. If I could remember the name of the site I’d give it.
Anyway, this new age, social justice, progressive movement, in which the limits between men and women and men and abortions now risk being ‘blown up’, really takes its cue from this satanic/gnostic style of thinking.
The problem with it however is that it’s not dissimilar to the Buddhist notion that life is pain, which is wrong for the fact that life is life and pain is pain. Better then to work at separating life from pain or order from chaos rather than getting rid of it all together
Someday soon I’m going to speak about when the light went off in my head about the nihilism that is at the heart of Gnosticism and when it hit me over the head like a 2×4 some 22 years ago.
They have to learn God is smarter.
God already created bacteria to eat platic
https://www.popsci.com/bacteria-enzyme-plastic-waste/
Lon, it would not surprise me if the bacteria that eats plastic had that inherent in their DNA long before plastic existed. Just as bacteria from deep in the earth with no documentable contact with our environment prior to their discovery that have DNA pre-coded for resistance to current antibiotics.
I enjoyed reading your previous articles highlighting issues in the Orthodox Church, but this political nonsense is a turn off. Just the opinion of a casual admirer of your site.
Here’s something positive about Christians being rescued in Iraq by the Trump Administration:
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/07/18/hope-is-back-trump-helps-save-christians-yazidis-in-iraq-from-extinction/