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Inauguration Day

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Four years ago I wrote about inauguration day. I wrote about looking for hope even if you didn’t like the person being inaugurated. I think the last four years have been even more disastrous than I expected. The news has been worse and worse as the yeas have gone by, ending in the midst of a pandemic.

Looking back at my post from four years ago I see I had too much faith in other politicians. I should have known better. No one stepped up, No one in the president’s party spoke up against him until it was basically over. Politicians did what politicians always do – care more about power and reelection than the people they represent. It also seems hard to think about finding hope in each other. Try to remember that there is much more good than bad out there. The bad gets all the press, but the good is out there. Continue to find hope in the thought that our children can make the world a better place than we have left it. We can still work to become the hope in the world. Spend more time working to make the world better for others instead of arguing with each other on Facebook. Volunteer. March when necessary. Be a light in the darkness.

Today is a day of hope for the future.

We have a new president who is much more stable than what we have had for the past four years.

We have the possibility of leaders from both parties finding common ground.

We have hope that the vaccinations will ramp up and we will finally emerge from the darkness of the pandemic.

We have hope that we will go back to working with the rest of the world instead of distancing ourselves.

There will still be bad out there. Things won’t magically get better at noon today. We won’t magically live in utopia because of a change in leadership. The hope doesn’t fall completely on one man. The hope falls on all of us. Turn off the news. Stop arguing on social media. Start becoming the good you want to see.

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Watching the Attack on the Capitol

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I’m glad I decided early on yesterday that I was going to get nothing done. I expected to read my book while keeping an eye on the certification vote. As is standard thee days, instead of reading my book I was scrolling through Twitter. As CNN was still on the speeches Twitter was reporting that a couple of buildings in DC had been evacuated. Then I saw a reporter tweet that people had breached the Capitol grounds and were trying to get in the building. It took a few minutes for CNN to switch coverage from the speeches to the events outside. Soon after it was reported that the hearing was paused. I watched stunned as the rioters broke into the Capitol building. I was seeing pictures from inside of guns drawn. I saw the woman who was shot being taken out on a stretcher. I couldn’t believe this was happening, but in some ways I guess I wasn’t shocked at all. We’ve had four years of a president who encouraged the worst behavior from his supporters. They threatened violence on the streets if he lost. I expect this is not the end. I expect more riots and violence in the days to come. I expect disruptions at the inauguration. I will not be shocked if someone attempts to assassinate Biden. Thats where we are as a country.

On Facebook I called it what it was – an attack on our country. I said the military needed to be called in to drag the rioters out in shackles. It is appalling that these people were allowed to wander around the Capitol doing what they wanted. It is appalling that there is video of them walking calmly out while a police officer holds the door open for them. No one should have let the building not in cuffs. Every single person who entered the building should be in jail and they should be in jail for a long time. An attack on our country should not be met with politeness. The president who incited this should be removed from office and indicted for treason. Allowing something like this to happen with no repercussions is damaging to our country and our elections.

This was not a protest. This was a riot. This was an attack on democracy. It should be treated as such.

I noticed today that a friend from high school unfriended me on Facebook after my post. I’m actually surprised it was only one. I saw before I was unfriended that she was going to unfriend anyone who called out this but was too silent on the Black Lives Matters protests. I’m not sad at all that she is gone the same as I’m not sad at people who unfriended me because I’m not “religious enough” for them.

I am who I am. Take it or leave it.

The New Evangelical Values

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An added bonus second post today before I forget to talk about the above tweet. Robert Jeffress talks about impeaching Trump being the same as impeaching Christian values. He holds says Trump embraces these values. Let’s take a look and see what these new evangelical values might be.

Multiple cases of adultery.

Paying off a porn star to cover up more adultery.

Sexually assaulting women and bragging about it.

A long history of fraud in business dealings.

Stoking and normalizing white supremacy and hate.

Over 13,000 documented lies since taking office.

Separating children from their families and locking them in cages.

Mocking people with disabilities.

Enabling discrimination and hate for the LGBTQ+ community

Turning your back on allies and embracing dictators

That’s a weird list of values for a pastor to embrace. It’s no wonder young people are turning away from the church. The church has turned away from what it’s supposed to embrace to instead embrace power and political clout.

 

 

 

I’m Done: A Tater Rant

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I had a nice long rant in my head in my car today. It won’t be nearly as good now that I’ve had time to decompress. I still feel the need for the rant.

There will be profanity so I will start there. I’m sick and fucking tired of people clutching their pearls over the language people use. Kids are in cages, people are being killed on a daily basis, things are terrible and people are worried about the people saying fuck? The worst case of this? When Marco Rubio tweeted about how terrible it was that they didn’t bleep the word fuck on TV in a story about a mass shooting. Apparently, using the word fuck is more of a sign of the loss of decency than mass murder. Gotcha. If this offends you then go the fuck away. I’m fucking done with pretending I’m not going to say fuck. A lot.

I’m also done with self-centered assholes who are either oblivious or apathetic to how their actions affect other people. I’m tired of pretending it’s not a problem and dealing with the fallout. I’m done with the pretending and being miserable. If you are an asshole and doing asshole things that make life hard on others I will call you out. I don’t care about the consequences. I’m done with letting the fucking assholes rule the world. I would rather suffer whatever consequences there are than stand quietly by while people walk all over others.

I’m done with people who post racist shit on Facebook and get mad when people don’t like it. I’ve already unfriended a few people and that will continue. I don’t care who you are. I’m not going to be connected to you if you are a racist asshole. I’m especially done with the people who alternate between the “I’m such a good Christian” posts and “Racist shit” posts. You can’t be both. It doesn’t work that way. At least not the way I read it in the Bible. The sad thing is that these racists probably think they are a better person than me because I used the word fuck multiple times. See above re Marco Rubio.

I’m tired of mass shooting after mass shooting followed by assholes who care more about guns than they do about people crying about the 2nd amendment. Amazingly, many of these same people claim to be pro-life. Apparently, that only applies until you are born and then no one cares anymore. Once you are born your life is less important than gun ownership. It’s also less important than people’s hate for people who don’t look like them. Pro-life is not really pro-life. It’s pro-birth and then you are on your own. I’m fucking done with people like this.

I’m done with people who say they are Christians and fully support a president who foments hate against others. A president who has cheated on wives multiple times. A president who bragged about sexual assault. A president who encourages racism because it excites his base. You might worship power, not God.

I’m done with pretending to be something I’m not because it’s easier than dealing with how people feel about the real me. If you can’t deal with this leave now. Unfriend me on Facebook. Unfollow me on Twitter. Stay away from me in real life. Brace yourselves. Tater’s mad and he’s not going to take it anymore.

A Quick Tater Note on the News

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I’ve run out of time to write this morning as I actually slept to a reasonable time instead of waking up way too early. My planned post for today might come on Saturday now that I will be sitting on the couch instead of outside due to rain.

Yesterday, I wrote about the explosive devices being sent to various locations while watching the breaking news. When Trump finally spoke about the situation he called for unity. Anyone who believed he really wants unity is the voter who will go to the polls and vote R no matter whose name is on the ticket. They are the people who yell “Fake news!” whenever there ate negative stories about Trump(an everyday thing). If he really wanted unity, he wouldn’t be tweeting now about how the “fake news” is to blame for the situation. The people he calls fake news were one of the potential victims. Now, the president of the United States is blaming that victim for the situation. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. He will never admit that it’s possible that his calling the media the enemy of the people and encouraging violence at his rallies could possibly be part of the problem. Unfortunately, his supporters will never believe this either. It’s no longer a political party. It’s more like a cult.

It’s very important for reasonable people to take the time to vote this year. It’s time to take our country back.

We Are Getting Dumber Every Day

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I saw a headline today that YouTube was going to remove all videos of people eating Tide Pods because people are apparently still eating Tide Pods. I used to laugh about all of the stupid warning labels on products. I thought “Do we really need to tell people not to eat the silica gel packets?”  or “Do we really need to tell people not to iron their clothes while they are wearing them?” Apparently, the answer is yes. We now live in a world where people are eating detergent pods and YouTube is forced to remove videos because. despite all of the warnings, people are still eating Tide Pods. We are now a people who are too stupid to not eat detergent.

It shouldn’t surprise me. We are going on a year of the presidency of a Cheetos colored reality TV star becoming our president. His base believes his “Fake News!” claims and believe that everything negative about him is a “vast media conspiracy.” Our president just spent an evening handing out “fake news” awards. We are a stupid people. Another TV star recently spoke at an awards ceremony and people want to vote for her to become president. “I saw her on the TeeVee! Let’s make her president!” The ruler of the free world has become a reality TV show. More people would vote if they just did away with the election process and had a season long TV show where a potential candidate is eliminated each week based upon a vote on social media. We are all worshippers in the cult of personality. Public service and intelligence is no longer what we desire in a leader. We want tweets and a TV presence. Popularity and fame is all that matters. Our net president might be the person who ate the most Tide Pods.

Of course, I might be part of the problem. I write this blog in the hopes of getting people to read it. I would gladly accept a world where I got paid to post stupid stuff online. Maybe I should eat a Tide Pod…

Tater’s Late Weekly Wrap Up

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This was sitting in my draft box. I added a new one and decided to post it. I will try to be better about getting these back to Friday with more takes on current events. I know y’all are very excited.

 

The Today Show – The Today Show announced on Tuesday that Hoda Kotb would be the full time replacement for Matt Lauer. I was surprised by the news. I thought for sure they would hire a man for the job. I was expecting Craig Melvin or Willie Geist.  I like both of them, but I think going with two women anchors is a good idea. I’m just not sure how I feel about Hoda Kotb. My only reference for her until recently is what I’ve seen of her with Kathie Lee on the 4th hour of Today and I was not a fan. I wonder if CBS will go that route as well or if they will hire another male anchor.

Logan Paul – I will admit that I know nothing about Logan Paul. I’ve never watched one of his videos and I’ve only watched and read what the news is saying about the latest video. I think it is in bad taste to go and film in a place known for suicides and extremely bad taste to film the body and post it.  I think YouTube should suspend his account for a period of time and rethink what they allow people to post. Do I think Paul should be banned forever? No, I don’t. We need to get out of this habit to want permanent repercussions for wrongdoings. There should be repercussions, but I don’t think a lifetime ban is warranted. EDIT: I wrote this before the other video from Japan surfaced. It prbably is better that he not post anymore.

I Have a Giant Mental Stable: I jokingly say that I am a genius all the time. If you feel the need to announce that when you aren’t joking, odds are you are not one. If you feel the need to announce that you are known for your mental stability, you might not be mentally stable. If you feel the need to announce that you are not a racist or a homophobe, odds are you are saying that in response to someone catching you being racist or homophobic. But I really do have the biggest mental stable in the history of mental stables. Just ask me.

Tater’s Take on Flake

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Everyone is talking about Flake’s speech about Trump. Flake even wrote an op-ed against Trump for the Washington Post. While I’m happy whenever someone speaks out against Trump, I’m not impressed with Flake for  couple of reasons.

  1. Flake has voted with Trump 90% of the time. He’s not against Trump policies or political stances.  He’s only upset that Trump’s abrasive personality is damaging the Republican brand.
  2. He only did it when he’s quitting. Is it really that brave to stand up to the president on your way out the door? Wouldn’t it be better to stand up to him and also seek reelection so you can do it from a position of power?  If you work for a toxic person and you are silent until you are walking out the door and then you make a big speech about how you always hated the boss, that’s not brave. Brave would be standing up to the boss while you still have something to lose. Sure, it’s better to say something on the way out the door than to say nothing at all, but I’m waiting for the person brave enough to take a stand when they aren’t walking out the door. Maybe Flake’s speech will empower someone to do this.

Too Much

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I keep trying to decide what to write about, but there’s just too much going on right now to settle on a topic.

Do I write an angry post about Trump? His attack on the first amendment and freedom of press? His threats to pull FEMA out of Puerto Rico? The fact that he is, in fact, a moron? I feel like I could post every day about him and his poor decisions.

Do I write about Harvey Weinstein and the years of people covering up his crimes? Do I write about the fact that too many powerful men(and plenty of men with little power) think this is OK behavior? Do I write about how we elected one of these men president? Do I talk about how sad it is that some men can’t seem to not grope or otherwise assault women and that this is a sign that we need to do a much better job in raising our sons?

Do I write happy news that the Nats once again imploded in the playoffs and will be sitting at home the rest of the postseason? Have I mentioned how much I despise that team?

Or do I go with the option of boring you about my personal stuff? If I do this, do I try to find some funny or do I go with the deep, introspective type of post?

Maybe I can just write a post with a bunch of questions about what I should write about. No, that would be stupid.

Tater’s Weekly Wrap Up 8/24/17

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Eclipse2017 – This was the week of the eclipse.  I had the option of going to the area of totality with a free place to stay. I didn’t do it. That was a mistake. There was no reason besides laziness and that is a poor excuse to not do something like that.  I was fortunate that I had decided a couple of months ago to take the day off in case I decided to drive to Kentucky and to just enjoy the eclipse away from work. Working at a place that had eclipse glasses for the public threatened to ruin the experience for all of us. I see posts on Facebook where people say they wish people would prepare for the second coming of Christ the way they prepared for the eclipse. If they did that a good portion of them would be at their local library demanding to know if he was there. Regardless, it was nice to sit on my porch and watch the eclipse. The weather worked out and we had plenty of clear skies.

America’s Got Talent – My daughter and I still like to watch the show. We enjoy the audition phase much more than the live shows, but we still watch and vote for the acts we like. It is very frustrating to watch these days for a couple of reasons. I hate that once we get to the live shows and the public starts to vote the majority of the acts going through are singers. There are so many singing shows around. It would be nice to see people with different talents going through. We enjoy the magicians and a good stand up comic and get bored when the entire shows is people singing. The other frustration is that the judges can’t really give a contestant constructive criticism, especially if they are a kid. Last night Mel B tried with a kid singer and the crowd starts booing her and the other judges and the host jump in to stop her and keep talking about how she’s only 9 years old. If she’s too young to hear constructive criticism she’s too young to be on a talent show with such a big prize. I miss the days when they had a mean judge.

Louise Linton – The Treasury Secretary’s wife posted a photo of herself getting off a US government-owned plane. She was dressed in really expensive clothes and tagged the designers in the post. Some random woman commented “glad we could pay for your little vacation #deplorable” which led to Linton going off on a rant about how much more she has contributed to the country via taxes and service.  It seems everyone is against Linton on this one, but I have a different take: 1. It likely cost no more for her to be on the plane than it would have if it was just her husband. I have no issue with her traveling with him. I travel with my wife when she goes to conferences. If she were flying on a government plane and I was offered a seat, I would not say no. 2. She’s rich. She will wear nice clothes. Everyone posts stuff online that makes them look good. 3. She’s right in her response in saying that maybe responding with positive message would be better, but I disagree that the positive would get more traction. People who post negative comments in situations like this get more publicity and I’m sure that’s what the commenter wanted. 4. I agree that the wife of a government official should think before responding to the public. It’s probably a good thing that she set her account to private now.

ESPN – ESPN has made the decision to move announcer Robert Lee from the UVA game to another game because his name is too similar to Robert E Lee. I don’t know what they think is going to happen. Do they really think people are too stupid to know that he has no connection to the statue? Especially since he isn’t white? Would anyone even notice? Half the time I don’t even know the names of the people announcing the games. When they put them on screen when they show them during breaks I will likely forget them when play starts(unless they are famous). This was a non-issue that ESPN decided to make an issue and all they’ve done is make themselves look stupid.

Weekly Trump Check – Still a horrible human being? Check. Still a bad president? Check. Still lying? Check. Still attacking the media? Check. Still an embarrassment to the country? Check.