https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m48xii7ndcg

Well, I have obviously missed something.

AMDG

I wasn't thinking as grimly as genocide, but the thinking can certainly point that way. So, Janet, while it may be ok by us to be shut out of something we no longer feel a part of, we may not be left alone.

The thought was prompted by the same-sex marriage thing. I see it as a logical absurdity, like saying that a circle can have corners. It's other things too, but to me that's always been the fundamental problem. Yet not only do large numbers of people not see that, but there is a strong impulse to drive out of society those who do see it, at least if they say so.

Whether or not your society is sliding into soft totalitarianism.

Yes, exactly. I'm only a few years from retirement myself and plan to move at some point to a small town in the country and live out my days with books, music, and a garden, with family not too far away. But I truly grieve for what the world is rapidly becoming, and this will affect not only my daughter and any potential grandchildren, but other people's children too.

St. Polycarp was martyred when he was 86!

Rob G,

You have basically described my life, although one if my kids is way too far away. I just wanted to say that when you get that house in the country, make sure it doesn't have too much grass. ;-)

This is the voice of experience.

AMDG

All of a sudden, I feel so much better about my yard, Maclin. Thank you.

Actually, please pray for my family. We have had a lot of difficulty in the last three years and things seem to be getting worse, although I seem to see the hand of Providence in our latest situation. All the same, I had hoped to have a restful couple of months and that may not happen now. This is pretty upsetting tbh.

Thanks, Maclin.

I wouldn't call these people conservatives.

I didn't know what y'all were talking about till I looked at Facebook. God help us.

Stu, agreed

Can't help thinking that if Trump had won in a close election the extremists on the other side would be doing something like the same thing. In some ways this is like the lead-up to the Civil War. The extremists on both sides were, as always, the squeakiest wheels and the voices of those calling for moderation were lost in the din. Here's hoping that the coolest heads on both sides will prevail.

The one good thing that might come of this is that those clowns in Washington may finally realize that lots of people are not happy with their governance. For all the negatives of the DT presidency, one positive thing it did was to bring to the surface middle America's disenchantment with current economic, cultural, and foreign policy trends. Trump's "populism" was no doubt widely overrated, but at very least it did hit upon some important truths. As the saying goes, even a blind squirrel, etc.,etc.

"Trump Did This"

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trump-did-this/

And he did it in more ways than the immediate ones mentioned there. When he won in 2016 I held out some hope that he would rise to the office. That hope didn't last long.

Actually they were, but they were fairly small potatoes, and not the president. And the riots were constantly ignored or excused or downplayed by the Democrats, which now includes most of the press. But that doesn't in any way justify what happened yesterday.

As you may or may not remember, one of the first things I wrote about Trump back in 2016 was "Donald Trump is not right in the head." I can definitely see an argument for invoking the 25th, but I see that this morning Trump is backing off, saying that there will be "an orderly transition of power" on the 20th. So let's hope the frenzy is over.

And then, from the left, also on Facebook: a picture of protesters lying on the floor of the capitol at police gunpoint, with the caption "Shoot them."

Thanks very much, Janet. It’s pretty dire.

And about the election: I think it's likely there was some fraud. But it's a long leap to claim that it was enough to swing the election. Several pro-Trump people, like Andrew McCarthy of National Review, have pointed this out. And I really doubt that there's a reasonable basis for Trump's claim he actually won in a landslide. That's just more of the b.s. that helped make him so popular with some and so hated by others. I hold him fundamentally responsible for his loss. I think he could have won, in spite of all the media distortions etc., if he could have stifled his inner jerk more often and more successfully.

And I've had the impression all along that the one thing he cannot endure is losing, which makes his self-sabotage ironic. He will most likely never admit that he lost the election.

I tend to agree with you about the significance of the same-sex marriage thing. Not so much the thing itself, but what it says about the state of the culture. But I felt pretty sure that battle was going to be lost long before it was, fifteen or so years ago when even Christians were saying "how would it hurt my marriage?" In my experience if a person doesn't see the fundamental contradiction in saying that two people of the same sex can be married, then he or she has lost sight of the basic concept. If it only means that two people love each other, then sure, anybody can "marry" anybody. (And why should it be limited to two?)

Yes, that’s the same period I was thinking of. He was right of course. I remember specifically reading Amy Welborn’s blog one day and seeing comments from practicing Catholics saying they didn’t see any objection, and thinking “we’re going to lose this argument.” More like “have already lost.”

Change that to"sexist"

This is the sexist sentence. "He was right of course."

I didn't say that.🙂

Ha! I remember how bizarre it was back in the 80's to see George Winston's disclaimer on his "Christmas" record December: "The inclusion of religious works on this record do not imply the acceptance or endorsement of any religion." That's not verbatim (I don't have the album handy to look for it) but it was something to that effect. I can remember being both annoyed and amused the first time I read it.

Or swim where there were man-eating sharks.

I played that George Winston album sometime during the holidays, and said to my wife that the disclaimer you mention was the first occurrence I remember noticing of the squeamishness about the association between Christmas and Winter Holiday.

By the way, my pronouns are "mac" and "mac".