The Wicked and the Weak

 Don't trust either of these two men. Ever. 

One, Putin, is pure evil. I feel bad for the Russian people even though they have allowed him to hold power so long he's nearly impossible to remove.  Besides, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.  Whoever takes his place may be even worse though it's hard to imagine.

The second, of course, is our current President. A man so ensconced in corruption for the past 50 years it's hard to imagine why the people of Delaware kept returning him to the Senate. Now he is President. Another big why. His mental faculties are diminished at best, but as his Vice President recently said, we got what we voted for.

Wake up, people! For now, however, we are stuck. We're stuck with his utterances.  I do understand he could have been genuinely outraged by what Putin is doing to Ukraine. Somehow, though, due to his previous performances, I'm inclined to think it was off the cuff theater. Putting a voice to it could and should have been more politic, but with diminished capacity that's a lot to expect.

So we suffered through a lot of weak explanations and walk backs and the war rages on.  It was suggested today that this administration really doesn't want Russia to lose.  If true, why not? Is it a conspiracy theory that Putin has so much on Biden, Biden dares not push too hard? I think that is within the realm of possibility.

Otherwise, why are we still dithering over military aid to the Ukrainians and why don't we give them the planes they so desperately need? We're still urging Ukraine to make a settlement just as things have shifted slightly in their favor. Such actions do exactly instill confidence that the U.S. has their back. We don't and never have.

I'm wondering who would have our back if we needed it.  It will take years to rebuild the trust that has been squandered - if ever.  We've become so driven by hatred of the opposing party that every action of the presiding administration is to destroy everything the preceding one did whether or not it was good for the country.

This has to stop. The politicians aren't going to be the ones to do it.  We the people will have to step up to the plate and get it done. The politicians who hedge their bets, in both parties, lest they antagonize their campaign contributors, need to be removed from office.  Bye, bye. Retire.  Smell the roses.

The Democrats are mean-spirited and power-hungry and totally absurd.  The Republicans go along to get along and are afraid of their own shadow. It's losing those campaign funds that do trickle in even though they do little to deserve them.

Neither side has done much to help our country.  Biden has one of the most amateurish and incapable Cabinets I've ever seen. Trump had some outstanding people in this Cabinet but they tired of his mercurial moods and methods and left.

Both Biden and Trump have indicated they would like to run. Both would be lame-duck presidents.  Get some new, younger blood in there!

And Putin? If he wins this one, he'll still be lurking around the edges waiting for an opening.  He'll be licking his wounds, but they'll heal and he'll be ready to resume his initial and only goal - to re-create Mother Russia.

If that happens the carnage will not stop. For the love of decency and humanity, give Ukraine the planes and the weapons they need. They aren't asking anyone else to do the fighting for them, they're just asking for what is needed to get it done. Defeat Putin.

What Am I Missing Here?

This is a woman - just ask her

This is a woman yet she cannot define herself

 That certain men feel they are, at heart, women is one thing. That they go to the extent of having body parts added and removed to reinforce their feelings, well okay.  They're the ones who have to live with it. Hopefully, they are happy with their choice.

I covered the subject of them competing in sports with genetically true women in a previous post so I won't go there again.

Today, I'm concerned with those among us who are women not being able to define just what

 

that means. Have we become so enslaved to wokeism we can no longer speak the truth?

Actually, it is the everyday woman who is saying, that's not a woman, that's a man! Period. Discussion ended. I so admire them for their courage, but then I don't think they give a hoot about being canceled.  They're much too busy trying to live their lives and raise their families.

 

 It is disturbing that a woman, who is a woman, a supreme court nominee no less, cannot bring herself to describe just what a woman is. It seems to be if you can't make a decisive description of what you yourself are, in actuality, you have no business sitting on the Supreme Court. How are you going to make a decision on anything?

Funny, when I was a little girl, I was what was called a Tomboy. Mostly, I think, because most of the neighborhood kids were boys and that's with whom I played. I loved sports far more than baby dolls. I preferred blue jeans to frilly dresses. Yet somehow, I never thought of myself as a boy.  I know, I know. I just haven't been there.

What I do remember, though, is when I discovered boys as being something other than an irritant or a playmate. I also remember times when I deeply idolized older girls. There was no label for any of that at that age.  It was called discovering who I was and what life was all about. Confusion wasn't a consideration.  It was just me becoming myself. I didn't need to talk to teachers about it nor did they suggest I do something without telling my parents.  It would have been unheard of.

So I grew up from adolescence into a teen and onto adulthood. I am a woman. I am married to a man. We don't describe ourselves with pronouns any more than we do by race or religion. Neither do we fear being canceled. We are who we are and aren't afraid of offending anyone. I'd like that from the people we look to place in power.

Maybe it's time to revisit the old Helen Reddy hit from the '70s - I Am Woman - I am woman, hear me roar...

Don't remember it? Google it.

What Exactly is a War Crime?

 Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine there has been a lot of terminologies tossed about, much of which has little meaning.

Now that Biden is in Brussels for some face-to-face encounters, I'm wondering if there will be any meat to the rhetoric that will emerge.

I doubt it. I'm convinced that Russia, China, and Ukraine all have something on Joe he does not want to be revealed.  To find out what I guess you'd have to ask Hunter.  Or actually investigate what is on his laptop.

That's the reason I've come up with to explain Biden's reluctance to give more help to the Ukranians. One of the terms bandied about quite a bit is that "it may lead to world war three" or another favorite, "It might be considered escalatory".  This is why we've been slow to provide the aid needed and have stopped members of NATO from picking up the slack. I do wonder why Biden has veto power over the other member nations, or are they just hiding behind his reluctance so they don't have to act? Who knows. War makes strange bedfellows.

I see all of the finger-wagging and foot-dragging as war crimes too. Think about it.  The Ukrainian people did nothing to invite the demolition of their country.  Is not sitting by and letting it happen not a war crime?

The most recent term is that Putin has committed war crimes by targeting civilians, civilian structures, and aid routes.  What do you think? Of course, he has.  But, wasn't the invasion of a sovereign nation also a war crime?

Words and finger-wagging while innocent people are being annihilated is a war crime. Period.  Full stop. The only innocents in this atrocity are the Ukrainian people.

Winning Regardless of Cost

What do Lia Thompson and Vladimir Putin have in common? No sense of fair play whatsoever. If Thompson would turn out to be the best swimmer in the history of the world there would be no respect coming from me. I can't even address Thompson as she, because to me she is a he. Period. And not an honorable one at that.

In doing a minimal amount of research for this post I've found that there are supposedly 7 genders. Minimum. Wrong.  There are two. DNA will prove this and DNA cannot be altered. The others are wishful thinking. Sort of like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It still started out as a sow's ear.

Understand, this post is coming from an elderly woman who grew up in the day when men were men and women were women.  Yes, there were those who thought themselves something other than what they were. It was an issue they would have to deal with, to be sure, but not foist it upon the rest of the world to the point we're expected to bow to it. Accept it, perhaps. Bow to it. No.

Lia Thompson

I am not unsympathetic to the plight of the LGBTQ+++ community. As the cliche goes, I have members of my family who are gay, and yes, trans. The situations have been handled very differently and I daresay the state of mind of each is very different from the other.  

I do know they had no one trying to give rise to the issue from kindergarten to 3rd grade or for several years beyond for that matter. Each lived what would be considered a loving, normal, and happy childhood. 

Back, for a moment, to Thompson. Some of what I read tells me that over time some characteristics might fade. Muscle mass, body hair, etc. I daresay Thompson is not yet to that point and that is why allowing competition with genetically authentic women is just plain wrong. And selfish.

There is a simple solution to the problem of trans athletes.  Let them have competition among themselves. Think of the boon to collegiate sports.  A whole new category of competition from which to raise revenue.  If anyone would watch.

Of course, that would level out the playing field they so want to tilt in their direction. It also would stir up a whole new set of issues, like could trans men compete against trans women? But wait! Isn't the fairness of competition what this whole issue is about in the first place?

What Manner of Men (and women)

 I keep hearing that Biden is leading from behind. It may have come before, but I first heard the phrase during the Obama administration.

It is murky at best.  To me, the phrase is an oxymoron.  To lead means to be out front.  To be behind is just that.  Being behind.

With this administration, it seems even worse. Leadership is an illusion. I have never in my life seen so many in leadership roles, of both parties, deny to the country that which has worked well because they so hate the man who held the presidency when put in place.

This is more than petulant, it is sick. How can all these elected officials march in lockstep?  Surely, there are a number of them, again on both sides, who know how wrong they are and what damage is being done to the country. Why do they not step forward and say, "Enough! This has to stop!" What manner of men and women are they?

This goes far beyond the decisions about Ukraine that are dithering in the netherworld of Washington. It goes to the elimination of the Keystone pipeline in favor of reinstituting the Iranian Nuclear Deal which will give Iran a free hand in their pursuits while we get nothing. Having Russians as mediators, to boot. 

This has to do with pushing the Green New Deal when the technology is nowhere near ready for prime time. 

This has to do with allowing an egomaniacal and corrupt Agency head to dictate policy that has destroyed lives, physical and mental well-being, and economic stability for over two years, and who would still be doing so had not the war in Ukraine taken front and center.

This goes to the open border policy in our own country with everything from drugs to children and sex traffickers, to gang and cartel members, and who knows who else, free entry. And I mean free for we, the taxpaying citizenry, are footing the bill for all of them.

 It's sad. It's disheartening. Whatever happened to the swinging pendulum? If it's still out there, the time is past due for it to start swinging back.  If it's going to get hung up, let it be in the center.