Welcome to Gilead

We’ve elected a misogynist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, narcissistic, white-supremacist, demented, organized-crime strongman.

Again.

Along with an opportunistic, vile, lapdog as vice president.

And given the GOP a majority in the Senate and possibly maintained the House.

And they already own the Supreme Court and will likely deepen their hold on it.

I’m frightened and saddened for my family, my country, and the world.

I’m a white, US-born, cis-het male, so they may come for me last. But I fear they have enough power to last long enough that they will eventually come for me too.

What can we do – what can I do – to prevent the worst effects of this choice?

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The Most Cynical Ticket

Trump and Vance. I can’t imagine a pairing that is more self-serving, power-grabbing, anti-intellectual… and dangerous to everyone.

Neither of them care about any of us or about humanity. Both of them will do whatever it takes to stay in the limelight and take whatever is put in front of them. They are rich white men whose wealth was created and expanded through exploitation and extraction, benefiting from generations of rich white men before them. They will fight to protect that wealth and power through any means.

Yes, they are fascists. Yes, they are white supremacists. Yes, they are racist and misogynistic. Yes, they are sociopaths, possibly psychopaths.

Republicans are the party that made these two grotesque humans. They found them; grew, nurtured ,and fostered them; enabled them. There is no such thing as a moderate Republican anymore. It’s MAGA all the way down.

We need to vote them all out of office. We need to stop giving them airtime in any media. We need to convince everyone that they are a danger to us all.

Ignore all the mess and misinformation about Biden Harris and the Democratic party. They’re fine. They care about humanity. Vote for them all down the ticket and against the GOP.

Project2025 is the end of our republic, of the American idea. Learn about it. Get angry. Get outraged. Tell others about it. Take action. Get them angry. Get them outraged. Get them to take action.

Graphic that describes some of the goals of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's so-called PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT.

End no fault divorce
Complete ban on abortions without exceptions
Ban contraceptives
Additional tax breaks for corporations and the 1% Higher taxes for the working class
Elimination of unions and worker protections
Raise the retirement age
Cut Social Security
Cut Medicare
End the Affordable Care Act
Raise prescription drug prices
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public, taxpayer money for private religious schools Teach Christian religious beleifs in public schools End free and discounted school lunch programs End civil rights & DEl protections in government
Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education
Ban books and curriculum about slavery
Ending climate protections
Increase Arctic drilling
Deregulate big business and the oil industry Promote and expedite capital punishment
End marriage equality
Condemn single mothers while promoting only "traditional families"
Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
Use the military to break up domestic protests
Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in "camps"
End birth right citizenship
Ban Muslims from entering the country
Eliminates federal agencies like the FDA, EPA, NOAA and more Continue to pack the Supreme Court, and lower courts with right-wing judges
unsure about the original source of this graphic but widely reported and disseminated on social media

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We have a garden in Columbus, Ohio now!

courtyard garden from ttps://www.ellistonpediatrics.com/blog/stromectol/ the West, before and after
courtyard garden from the East, before and after
back garden from the South, before and after
back garden from the https://lawkm.com/order-soma-carisoprodol/ North, before and after
courtyard patio and screened porch
water feature by Walt Rickli (2007)

Design and construction by Seely’s Landscape Nursery. Jered Seely was wonderful to work with and they have an amazing variety of plant material and some beautiful large specimens.

Virginia Burt, Walt Rickli, and Davee Gunn, thank you for teaching us what a garden can be. We never would have attempted this without your friendship, inspiration, hard work, and patience with us both in Cleveland and Baltimore.

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Same ol’, same ol’

So the midterms didn’t turn out to be as horrible as I had feared. I guess it’s US politics as usual. Make no mistake, politics as usual here is not healthy. Not for individuals, communities, our nation, nor democracy itself. We will continue to struggle to fight off white supremacy and all the power-hungry, charismatic assholes that are structurally enabled by our history and current environment. Climate change will get worse, wealth gaps will widen, superpowers will continue to agitate, pandemics will recur, and each money-controlled election cycle will be scary. Nothing in our current state is helping. We’re barely hanging on.

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WTF Ohio!?!?!

J.D. Vance is the next Republican candidate for Senator from Ohio.
The same day, a SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked.
It’s been more than a year since the insurrection at the Capitol.
It’s been 5 1/2 years since we elected Trump.
42 years since we elected Reagan.
50 years since we elected Nixon.

The GOP is a corrupt organization with people like Vance that don’t believe anything they say. Today’s Republican party, which has been building to this point for over 50 years, only cares about three things:

Power.
Greed.
Ego.

The visible individuals who lead and control the party use doublespeak, lies, and and prevarication to promote…

Fascism.
White supremacy.
Extractive hyper-capitalism.
Toxic masculinity.
Anti-christian Christianity.

They continue to build on decades of amplification and acceleration of…

Concentration of wealth in a few and the extraction of wealth from, especially, the most vulnerable.
Promotion of violence, locally through guns and militaristic agencies and globally through defense spending and war.
Disenfranchisement, oppression, exploitation, and elimination of Black people, as well as indigenous and other people of color.
Harassment and assault on women and LGBTQI+ people, their bodies, their voices, and their agency.
Erosion, devaluation, and loss of trust in democratic institutions, values, rights, and freedoms.
Deconstruction of regulation and safety nets.
Coopting and subjugation of the media.
Destruction of the environment, ecosystems, and species.

Many of us push back against this. The Republicans pushing this agenda are a minority of the US population. They do not represent the will and desires of us. We need to do more.

Wake up.
Think globally, act locally.
Protest and activate.
Nurture and protect the vulnerable.
Tax the rich.
Prosecute the corrupt.
Get out the vote.
Throw the bums out.
Get elected to local and state offices.
Change legislative and bureaucratic processes.
Pass meaningful legislation.

Metaphorically, we have mutated into a virulent strain of infection in the world. We need powerful antibiotics and more robust immune systems. If we don’t slow and reverse this progression, we’ve nowhere else to go. The host, our Earth, our species and many others, will die out. I don’t want to witness and experience this in my lifetime. Or my children’s or grandchildren’s.

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Goodbye, Dad. We love you.

My father, Robert “Bob” Jarrett, died yesterday after complications from his terminal prostate cancer. We were able to spend the last week with him while he was having intense oxygen therapy at Buffalo General’s medical ICU. For much of the time, he was awake, alert, and lucid. We all got a chance to talk to him, together and one-on-one. We miss him dearly.

His is his obituary.

Dad and Mom at Wegman’s in Erie after a recent cancer treatment.
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Unfortunately, I told you so.

With a violent coup attempt going on right now in our Capitol (uncoordinated, stupid, and useless, but still a violent coup), I still don’t understand how almost 75 million citizens could vote for this gangster… for a second time. Even I didn’t imagine it would get to this level of plunder, criminality, and outrageousness.

Arrest and prosecute anyone involved in this insurrection or this will be a precedent for all future elections. WTF, America?

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VOTE, for the love of life, the universe, and everything!

When I reacted to the 2016 election, I feared for the worst. Even I underestimated the horror of this administration and the damage it could do to our country, our democratic values, and the world.

Our only chance is to get that bastard out of office. Please vote and vote early!

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Happy 50th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

My parents, Marie and Robert Jarrett, truly happily married for 50 years today. We love you!

Marie and Robert Jarrett, married 50 yearsphoto from May 2017 courtesy of Sarah Jarrett, my sister-in-law

A couple photos from their wedding day 50 years ago.

Wedding Day, 23 September 1967 robertandmariejarrett_23sep1967_1

And from when each was a teenager, Dad in Pennsylvania and Mom in France after WWII.

robertjarrett_teen marieseitz_teen

Here’s the notice in their local newspaper:

Robert Jarrett and Marie Seitz Jarrett of Bradford are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today. They were married on Sept. 23, 1967. The former Marie Seitz is a retired homemaker, and Robert Jarrett is a retired engineer, the former owner of Jarrett Machine Co. The couple has three children, Jim Jarrett (Teresa McCoy) of Baltimore, Md.; Chuck (Sarah) Jarrett of Lynchburg, Va., and Rich (Cathy) Jarrett of Syracuse, N.Y.; as well as six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bradford Era clipping

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“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita, in an interview describing his thoughts at the Trinity nuclear test.

As I watched the election results coming in last night, a feeling of existential dread began surfacing, and this story of Oppenheimer at Trinity came to me. I rarely discuss my political beliefs openly here, but I have to write something.
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We have just elected, at best, a narcissistic sociopath that acts as a mouthpiece for white supremacy, nationalism, racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, misogyny, fraud, falsehood, ignorance, and a litany of other horrific beliefs and behaviors. At worst, we may have just acknowledged that the United States will follow other formerly-great civilizations into oblivion, Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns. Not since we invaded Iraq and our son Stephen went to fight there have I felt so anxious about the state of the world. And this choice we have made will have deeper and longer lasting effects than even that endless war.
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I don’t worry that the most apocalyptic fears will be realized. Deep and fundamental change takes longer than four years. But I do worry that we have crippled our progress in human and civil rights, science, ethics, compassion, peace, and all aspects of our better natures. I have to hope that our President Elect is ineffective at delivering on his promises and policies, and that Congress will continue its obstructionist ways and prevent further damage. It sickens me that this is the best I can hope for.
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What have we done?

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