June 13, 2020

The code of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” 

Then why in hell is “General Bone Spur” allowed to give the Commencement Address at the US Military Academy this morning? The West Point cadets were summoned back to the campus, where 15 of them tested positive for the coronavirus, because tRump wanted to plow ahead with the ceremony irregardless of the pandemic. Days ago, a group of several hundred West Point alumni sent a letter to the 2020 graduating class blasting Trump’s politicization of the military. I have not watched the address, but read summaries of it and, as usual, it was pretty much a “me, me, me” speech. From the guy who has been working his “tail off” to divide this nation, especially in the past few months, he says to the Cadets, “The class of 2020 come ‘from every race, religion, color, and creed’ but must be ‘one team’ as they graduate into a ‘crucial time in American history’.” He went on to vow that the US military will not be the ‘policeman of the world,’ congratulated himself with a list of investments he had given to the military over the past 3 years, and then attacked China over the coronavirus pandemic. While he was giving his speech, demonstrators lined the streets to protest against him, and protesters in sailboats and kayaks were out on the Hudson River outside West Point holding up banners with his picture alongside slogans, like ‘unfit’ and ‘fascism.’ The cadets had all been sent home in early March as the coronavirus outbreak spread across the US and they had not returned to campus since, but tRump wanted a photo-op, so they were all summoned back. Senator Tammy Duckworth, an army pilot who lost both of her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the Iraq war said, ‘Trump’s reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk – all to stroke his own ego.’ Also, mention of George Floyd or the protests going on across America were absent from his speech. Notable in the above picture showing his salute was how dark his orange facial makeup was compared to his lily white hands. I hope someone points that out to him so he can fire his makeup artist.

I have been a student of psychology from the time I began college in the 60’s and continue to study the field. In 1999, long after I graduated, a psychological phenomenon called the Dunning-Kruger effect was developed, coined by the psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger. This psychological effect is a cognitive bias in which poor performers greatly overestimate their abilities. The research shows that underperforming individuals “reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it.” This incompetence, in turn, leads them to “hold inflated views of their performance and ability.” Do ya kinda see where I’m going here? This theory along with the Peter Principle of “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence” is illustrative of the “stable genius’ who holds the position of the most powerful person in the world. Scary, ain’t it?

It is now 3:30 pm. It has just hit 50 degrees after sitting around 48.5 most of the day. The missus is in taking a nappy poo. I look out the front windows and it looks just like winter, without the snow. Oh, I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post. We had a thunder and lightning storm the night before last that was unbelievable. It started at 9:50 pm, when the entire inside of the house all of a sudden was lit up by lightning and about 2 seconds later came thunder that literally shook the entire house. If not for seeing the lightning, I would have thought it was an earthquake. The storm had to have been right on top of us since the thunder came right after the lightning. It went on for about 15 minutes then came back about 2:00 am, though not as forceful. I loved it!!

Enough rambling for today. Have a nice evening! I guess the missus and I will have to watch a movie tonight since A&E has cancelled Live PD amidst the protests related to police actions across the nation. Probably a good decision. Ramble at ya soon. Ziggyman