Darkness Falls

If you’ve been disturbed by the news the past few weeks, do not read this post. This is your Trigger Warning.

This post is bound to be depressing. I’ll sprinkle cat pictures throughout to break up the sadness.

So much happened since two Wednesdays ago.

Alton Sterling

Philando Castile

Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa

Others that didn’t make it in the media

Nice

Turkey

It’s no wonder no one wrote for Wicked Word Wednesday; nocturnal seems so inappropriate now. The world is dark enough without writing more darkness into existence.

And, things are bound to get worse before they get better. They always do. There has to be a turning point somewhere, right?

And Now, Some Thoughts on America Politics.

Here in the USA, the one of the last attempts to stop a Trump candidacy has failed. The Republican National Convention Rules Committee (RNCRC) voted against allowing delegates to vote their conscience, effectively binding delegates to their state results for only the second time in history.

I suppose delegates could vote their conscience anyway, but I don’t know what that would do to the convention. I have the feeling the outcome would be threefold:

The vote would be symbolic; since delegate votes are bound to the state, it would make no difference who they actually voted for – the state winner(s) would get the votes no matter what the delegates say on the floor.

Those voting against would likely ruin any standing they had within the GOP for flagrantly violating the RNCRC. One must ask themselves if this is necessarily a bad thing.

It would give the media more Trump antics to cover. I hate to think of people voting for him based on entertainment value.

I personally know at least one delegate to the RNC who is #NeverTrump. He has received accusations of betrayal, treason, and even death threats – and those from party “leadership”. I have seen many delegates express disgust and mistrust of Trump. I feel their pain. As a Republican-leaning Independent, I cannot stomach the thought of Trump as the nominee. I will not – I cannot – vote for him in November without compromising both my political and religious beliefs and violating my conscience. For that matter, I cannot vote for Hillary for the same reasons.

As the delegates gather in Cleveland, they’ll be threatened to support the candidate or else  motivated to support both Trump and the increasingly reactionary RNC platform. Plenty of other GOP candidates offered alternatives to demagoguery; voters refused. Now, they’re left with this:

^ I made this image! You can save & share it if you so desire.

It’s the start of a new week, perhaps the very week things start to turn around.

Chin up, right?