Did I say "made whole again?" I don't think I said that. Is there a "whole" to get back to? Were we ever "whole" We can point back in history at points where we sold out and compromised our beliefs and our country. In some ways we were never "whole" before I was even born. Does that sound naive to you?

What is your definition of whole? What I am thinking is getting back to some semblance of sanity. How does one define sanity?

I think there is a way through this that doesn't involve violence, but do I think it is likely? I doubt it. I was wrong in 2020 when I thought cooler heads would prevail and that we would not succumb to the fear of fomented propaganda. At the same time Janaury 6th which I believe those behind this left/right thing hoped would lead to a more locked-down state did not. Cooler heads did prevail there, when there were hopes by the opposition that the "cathedral" would be defiled. I think the reaction to it which I believe had been planned looked ridiculous in light of the reality of what happened. And it looks ever more ridiculous now. They are holding American citizens in captivity for an unsanctioned tour of the capitol building?

I think they are still trying to figure out the right alchemy even as they desperately attempt to hold onto whatever power they have in order to incite those that desire freedom to violence. They are turning the knobs, adding and subtracting heat, seeing how the masses respond to the pressure and stimulus. There are still enough of us that acquit ourselves well. And never underestimate the power of apathy. Move along to get along goes a long way.

Whereas mockery will get us everywhere.

That we have remained restrained for so long is an indicator of the fact that we may continue to maintain such nonviolence. For people my age, in our fifties, we endured bullying and violence for years, learning and honing our abilities in regards to it, and seeking outlets to respond in other ways than in kind. When I was a kid, I did my fair share of running, in high school, I did my fair share of fighting. I prefer to respond to ad hominem with self mockery. Most people have Dunning Kruger when it comes to expertise concerning my many faults and flaws.

As far as "sane and rational" responses to this stuff, it already started yesterday. Ever see the Monty Python life of Brian skit where a man identifies as a woman? There is nothing new under the sun, and as long as there has been ridiculous notions, there has been mockery. Carlin mocked it incessantly, and now he would find the buffet of wokism to be a vault full of material to go off on.

There will always be the deluded among us. I could very well be one of them. Delusion is fine, rationalization is fine, as long as we do not coerce people to participate in it. I won't play the pronoun game, and you won't catch me saying something as a silly as a man can have a baby, or that the phantom pain a diabetic feels is a real leg, just one that exists in an alternate universe.

The way to stand against delusion is to simply ask them to prove it. Tell a diabetic without a leg to stand on his own two feet, and delusion suddenly crumples to the ground. Tell a man then to have a baby, and after nine months rolls into eighteen and there is no baby, that's a pretty good indicator that there will be no forthcoming birth.

Monty Python should really do a "Birthing Competition" sport and allow trans to enter.