If Democrats lose to loose cannons like this guy, well then, bring on the apocalypse. (Photos credit: WGN)

Not on our watch

Anyone familiar with the movie “Apollo 13” recalls the scene when flight director Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) delivers the memorable line, “We never lost an American in space, we’re sure as hell not going to lose one on my watch. Failure is not an option!”

That approach applies to what we now face, the real possibility of becoming an authoritarian, fascist country. (Truthfully, due to a Republican Congress stocked with flunkies and six corrupt Supreme Court justices, we’re already floating somewhere between democracy and authoritarianism.) So, we must act accordingly: We’ve never lost American democracy under prior generations and we sure as hell aren’t going to lose democracy on our watch. Losing democracy is not an option!

The pivotal moment in “Apollo 13” happens when NASA engineer John Aaron (played by Loren Dean) says convincingly, “Power is everything. Without it [the astronauts] don’t correct their trajectory.” Ditto America. Power, politically speaking, is everything. Without regaining power, we cannot correct the democracy-killing trajectory we are currently on.

The victory recipe

Thankfully, the power to regain power is in our hands. It could not be more straightforward. No coveted invitation is required. There is no secret password or special sauce. However, voting does require us to act, either by early voting (in-person or mail-in) or election day voting in-person. Voting is everything. Without it, MAGA Republicans retain power and Trump’s Project 2025 will finish the job of killing American democracy (and possibly everyone on the planet).

Undoubtedly, Republicans are making it harder to vote. But the stakes are too high to allow cheaters to stop us from voting. And when Democrats turn out in big numbers and vote, Dems win. Toss in independents and… you get the picture. There are still way more sensible people in this country than not. American Research Group conducted a poll September 16-20 that reveals Trump’s job approval has sunk to 29 percent. Nationwide, Republican Party approval is staggering, too, with GOP candidates unmercifully ridiculed by regretful MAGAs at town hall meetings.

Think about it. Most Americans know what is happening is wrong, that the system is rigged. OK, then do something about it!

Voting, like Apollo 13 battery power, is everything. There’s only one reasonable choice. (Photo credit: The Weekly Opine)

Cray crazy in Illinois

The Republican candidate for Illinois governor is on record saying it’s possible humans were living on Earth at the same time as dinosaurs, even though dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago. Science long ago proved humans did not live concurrently with dinosaurs. Homo sapiens didn’t appear until around 300,000 years ago in Africa.

Think about it.

Darren Bailey is the MAGA Republican candidate for governor in a state that is home to stellar higher education schools like Northwestern, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and others. When reminded by a WGN-TV reporter that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says Bailey believes humans were on Earth at the same time as dinosaurs, Bailey responded, “Was he there?” Bailey repeated this kookiness by asking the reporter, “Were you there?” When pressed to acknowledge scientific fact that humans were not around during the dinosaur age, Bailey tripled down saying, “I wasn’t there.”

Previously, Bailey founded a school whose curriculum teaches that our ancestors roamed the planet while avoiding getting stepped on by T. rex. It should be disqualifying that Darren Bailey is pushing such nonsense. But in today’s America there are plenty of voters dumb enough to support Bailey. And there are MAGA Republican candidates throughout the country who, like Bailey, favor crazy backwater lies over scientific fact-based truths.

It should come as no surprise Commander of Ignorance Trump recently endorsed Bailey. Darren Bailey, another self-reported Christian, is as phony as a mirage, proving so when he said Trump is a “smart individual and a good man.” If a supposed Christian does not recognize that a 34x felon, rapist, almost-for-certain pedophile is not a good man then the “Christian” is a fake Christian humbug.

Bailey is among the poster people for how unapologetically dumb many Americans have become. MAGAs display their stupidity with hats, flags, lapel pins, yard signs, etc., worn like a badge of honor shouting “Look at me! I’m a dumbass!” They ignored signs as obvious as big red Stop signs with reflectors. Signs about Trump were there from the beginning: claimed Mexicans are rapists, Access Hollywood video, mocked a disabled reporter, accused of sexual assault by two dozen women, the bankruptcies, corrupt charity, lies and broken promises (e.g, Mexico would pay for the wall.)

MAGAs, including popular manosphere podcasters, made an ignorant choice and now must own it. No wiggling out of accountability by pretending they didn’t know. We all knew.

Meanwhile, a failing economy, climate change, spreading wars, genocide, famine, disease, unfair healthcare system, increasingly unsafe food and unrestrained artificial intelligence threaten all of us.

Shaq flunked the “Should you have your picture taken with a fascist?” test. (Photo credit: The MIrror / X)

Trailer Shaq

Then there was the spectacle of Shaquille O’Neal accepting an honorary award from the FBI’s corrupt director, Kash Patel. Known for admiring law enforcement, Shaq has a YouTube show called “Shaqtin’ A Fool” and he played one when photographed with Patel (who committed serious ethics violations using an FBI airplane to take his girlfriend on pleasure trips). Records show Patel has not named any other honorary FBI agents. It appears Shaq was used as a prop to make Patel look hip. So, in the time it took him to walk across the stage to shake hands with Patel, Shaq went from cool to uncool fool.

Not on our watch will the Republican disaster be allowed to continue. Losing in November is not an option.

Think about it: https://youtu.be/_U3cCFRFX08

FAILURE'S NO OPTION