July 12, 2020

Did’ja miss me? I didn’t have time to post the last two days because I was working hard on the outdoor table the missus wants me to finish sooner than later. I’ve finished the construction phase and am now on to the sanding and finishing stage. The frame is old lumber we had milled from trees on the property and the top is fence boards I ran through my planer. It should look good on the deck and will seat 6 – 8 people in normal times when social distancing isn’t an issue.

We’re #1! We’re #1! Unfortunately, this #1 is really “last place” in the worldwide standings. Pretty pathetic and totally unavoidable if we had the leadership in this country to deal with a crisis situation like the leaders of Taiwan, Germany, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Denmark have done. One interesting note, each of those countries are lead by a female. I have talked about the leadership of German Chancellor Angela Merkel several times in previous blogs and compared what she has done during this crisis to that of our ‘leader.’ The other day she subtly ripped Trump, Putin, and Brazil’s Jair BolsonaroI for their handling of the pandemic, saying the pandemic has exposed the limits of “fact-denying populism” and criticized world leaders who promoted “lies and disinformation.” She didn’t name the three in her speech, but there was not perception check needed. I just don’t understand the lens that tRump’s supporters are looking through when they continue to think that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I guess arrogance, ignorance, and hate define it.

Another thing I don’t understand about these Trumpanzees is that many are military veterans who do understand the meaning of honor and the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity and personal courage. All of which are antithetical to their hero in the White House who can hardly complete a coherent sentence, but sure knows how to commute one (Roger Stone). Why do they continue to support a guy who likes to play like a patriot, but did everything possible to stay out of the military? A guy whose bullying and retaliatory behavior caused Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman to retire early because of the White House attempting to block Vindman’s upcoming military promotion to the rank of colonel. A guy who, along with Foxster Tucker Carlson, questioned the patriotism of Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq war. Her response was beautiful, “Attacks from self-serving, insecure men who can’t tell the difference between true patriotism and hateful nationalism will never diminish my love for this country — or my willingness to sacrifice for it so they don’t have to. These titanium legs don’t buckle.” A guy who has done absolutely nothing to sanction Russia for placing bounties on the lives of American troops in Afghanistan.

That’s enough rambling for today. Enjoy your Sunday and get ready for summer to finally arrive here in Oregon. Weather report is lookin’ good, comrades. You know the drill — it’s the only way we are going to take control of the virus in the near future. Ziggyman.