EXEAT – The Planet’s Narrow Escape

Knock! Knock!
Who’s there?
B’bye!

When I was a young lad in an English-style boarding school (of course!) we were permitted, once a term, to leave our prison to spend a day with our parents. In order to do so we had to complete a small, desperate ticket imploring permission. This was known as the “Exeat” which we understood—as Latin was compulsory for the intelligent—to mean “he may go out”.

I never thought I would ever want to use this word again and yet today Exeat brings me unbridled joy. 


HE CAN GO! 

He’s been fired.

It’s a relief and laughing at him is fun in a way and the world needed to be able to take a long deep breath, and dance, for a moment at least.

We have after all, as a planet, escaped the worst imaginable scenario.

The outlook for the climate, for democracy, for international harmony and stability, for global health, for escape from poverty and even for simple decency, all and more were, as they say in the US, ‘on the ballot’.

All and more were at stake worldwide if the Orange Genius had been allowed another four years.

The USA and Australia do share many values, like the idea of democracy, freedom, free speech, the rule of law, government “of the people, for the people, by the people”, the value of science. All these, as we’ve seen have been, to at least an alarming extent, debased, debauched, defiled, depraved and desecrated by Trump and his enablers. If Trump had succeeded—assuming he doesn’t succeed—in gaining another term other people in countries like Australia would have seen it as permission and opportunity and the delicate fabric of global politics would have begun to crumble.

It was, in fact, really scary; really close. And the people who enabled him? The people who couldn’t see through the most transparent con-artist in American history? The people who bought his poisonous snake-oil? The charlatans who used him? They’re still around, still busy, still fighting for this toxic  but useful idiot.

 


The USA’s problem is, at its heart, religion. And at the historic heart of American religion is Calvinist protestantism brought to the east coast by the Puritans. The Puritans came to America to escape religious oppression, seeking religious freedom. But freedom only for themselves. Freedom to tell others what to believe. But others liked the simple idea of freedom. And so America has long had an anomalous culture in which puritanism and hedonism have grated against each other. This friction has caused sparks to fly but full of colour and noise like never-ending New Years fireworks. The astonishing creativity that results is staggering, and not only in the arts and science but also in the art of scamming, especially scamming religion.

But. Of course there’s a “but”. The power of religion in the US has never waned. In fact it has ballooned.

“The fact that stares one in the face is that people of the greatest sincerity and of all levels of intelligence differ and have always differed in their religious beliefs. Since at most one faith can be true, it follows that human beings are extremely liable to believe firmly and honestly in something untrue in the field of revealed religion. One would have expected this obvious fact to lead to some humility, to some thought that however deep one’s faith, one may conceivably be mistaken. Nothing is further from the believer, any believer, than this elementary humility.”
— Hermann Bondi

 

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.

— Bertrand Russell

The incongruity between the freewheeling willingness of Americans to believe absolutely anything with total certainty without evidence or logic and the strict (almost puritan!) scientific method of American scientists of sceptical, careful gathering of and testing of evidence to arrive at an acceptable level of “confidence” in the result, this is mind bending.

So Americans are better trained to believe falsehoods and fantasies—like “angels”—than almost anyone else. They are probably the world leaders in believing things that are not true, and falling for conspiracy theories.  Certainly they are leaders in generating religious scams. Like Paula White who frankly commands “god” what to do:—

 

I have just watched this video and I am now magically converted to the wrath of god. Strike and strike and strike and strike. This woman, this saint, is the real deal. She is not a massive huxster, hoaxster, grifter, con woman like people say. She can talk in tongues so – Here is my creed:

I believe that Paula White is a bona fide living saint who of all the billions of those who have ever lived on earth has private meetings with god. I believe her when she says that god spoke to her, saying he was making Trump win. I believe her when she says angels are coming from Africa and South America to help Trump win the election. I believe she is right that Trump has been sent by god. I believe that the White House is Holy Ground because wherever Paula White goes is holy ground and wherever is holy ground god rules.

I do not believe that Trump has ever been sexist, has never had sex with underage girls, has never met Jeffrey Epstein, that he has never grabbed pussy, or wanted to have sex with his daughter. I don’t believe that Trump’s business model was to systematically stiff his contractors. I do not believe that Trump is a grandiose narcissistic sociopathic. I believe he has improved the unemployment numbers, returned workers to the coal seams and factories and that the farmers who are suffering from the trade war with China should stop blaming Trump.

I believe that Trump has never lied, that wherever he goes he is the least racist person in that gathering. I believe he doesn’t know what the KKK is or who David Duke is. I believe that some white supremacists are good people , that there is not a fascist bone in his body, and that all community-minded compassionate people are evil, anarchistic terrorists.
I believe that he did have bone spurs (which are now, thank the lord, miraculously healed) and if not for that he would have been a great General and would have won the Vietnam War. I believe that Trump is the best negotiator there ever has been and that he would have actually written The Art of the Deal by himself if he had had time. I believe that Trump is admired and loved by all leaders in the world. I believe it has never been his fault and that he has never been responsible. I believe that he always pays millions in taxes every year.
I believe that he is a stable genius, that he has the best memory ever, I believe he knows more about everything than anyone ever, including the scientists and the generals.

I believe that he has all the words, the best words.

I believe that Trump’s handling of the coronavirus has been better than any other country has achieved, that drinking Clorox can kill the virus, that testing increases the number of infections, that 100,000 new cases and 1,600 deaths per day “is what it is”, and that all of this is evidence of his superior leadership and that America doesn’t appreciate and love him enough for all his genius and unequalled skills.

And I believe that he is a loving, compassionate man golfing tirelessly to improve the lives of every single American billionaire.

Thank you for reading this far!  You might think producing a post like this takes a bit of work. 
It does! If you’ve appreciated it you might consider encouraging me. ( We all like validation! )   

Buy Me A Coffee

All posts

Categories

You might also like:

The Ancient Marinara

  He's a Legend, and our friend   e wish he wouldn’t describe himself as “ancient”. That tends to put us at the edge of a category we fiercely resist. Richard Neville, one of the founders of homepagedaily.com, was the infamous, notorious...

‘this pathetic bleating for shelter from skepticism’

Atheists need a little woman to calm them down   es, we know it is a bit late in the day to be discovering Pharyngula but we did and there is nothing to be done but fall down and worship. No, we mean sit down and learn. PZ Myers is a prolific,...

Loose Ends, Bad Ends

   Loose ends:   ‘Lying’ Downer, the Minister for opening his mouth and seeing what comes out, denying everything on principal and making it up as he goes ”  has rejected claims of a major connection between opium production in Afghanistan and funding of the...

UK’s ‘Morale Muscular’ Withdrawal

' “…under no circumstances should we allow ourselves to lose morale muscular and to step back from this…"  [Brendan Nelson]   alues Australia, in partnership with the Ministry of Mateship, notes the recent declaration by the British Government...

Afghanistan Photos

Bad Apples? or Bad Apple Tree?   hen will they get it? Or do they get it and try to hide the truth about the Afghanistan photos before anyone notices they’ve got it? First the disclaimer: To gloatingly photograph yourself with a slain enemy...

The Undertaker’s Tally

  Son of Leo Strauss   n his extraordinary article, The Undertaker’s Tally, Roger Morris1 chillingly, and deeply disturbingly, lifts the veil on the life, times and evil mind of the real Donald Rumsfeld. Morris begins with Rumsfeld’s...

Let Them Eat Yellowcake

Carlo Bonini           STATE OF THE UNION 2003: " Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of Uranium from Africa." Or not ...   Well, as Bill Moyers reminds us, it wasn’t true. It was all a forgery, perpetrated in Rome. And Carlo Bonini, the Italian...

Hypocrite, Sociopath or Fool?

Almost Human? n her column explaining 'the key to understanding the Prime Minister,' Anne Summers offers an explanation for the Groveller General’s attitude towards Iraq, terrorisim and Barack Obama. But it is just not good enough, says our...

“Visa Bob”‘s Dept Ruins Yet Another Life

Oh Dear ... DIC's 'Very Bad Event'. Again Mr Bob Correll, Deputy Secretary, Department of Immigration, Citizenship and Wrongful Detention Shit, Bob, (You don’t mind me calling you 'Shit', do you Bob?) You and I go way back, Bob, and I know this will seem out of...

Where Do They Get These Ideas?

Dang Me If Its Not From Richard Perle!   alues Australia provides the following information to help Australians understand some of their Australian values, especially to understand where our values come from in relation to Middle East policy...

A Moron in a Hurry – Part 1

Send out the Pages WARNING: POLITICAL DISCUSSION PROTECTED BY SECTIONS 7 AND 24 OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION.    S ir Roger (or at least his amanuensis) was harried recently by the legal department of a minor university which happens to accommodate a “controlled...

Kevin Andrews: Farewell

& Good Riddance So, great news this week in Australian politics!   At least and at last some of the scum has begun oozing out under the parliamentary doors. Important slime in this case. But why is it that the "Father Of the House" is always the worst of the...

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

  ... This was a lie and we could not let them publish it ...   e keep thinking of Jack Nicholson's character's justification for the secrecy that governments and their institutions maintain over their citizens – that is to say, their...

On War: Notes For My Son

  …and for yours, and for all of us.   ir Roger is currently in the land of the poppy (the other one) but not near Flanders fields. Yet there are poppies here in the South of France and the whiff of war and bloody conflict is inescapably,...

…But We Weren’t

Moe Keelty - yet again   et's not mince words about Indonesia. While most of its ordinary people, at least the ones we have met, are in the range from friendly to wonderful, it has seemed to us, looking at reasonably recent history, that for...

Howard ‘Fundamentally Evil’~MP

  Throwing people into the abyss   “spat” occurred this week when the Groveller General broke with longstanding international convention to meddle in the domestic politics of another country, saying that if he ran Al Qaeda, he would “put...

Disembowel the Leader

Lord Water Cunntiham in High Spirits!   We have received news from our Dear Leader, Lord Water Cunntiham, that he is in high spirits today. Very high spirits indeed! There is a definite spring in his trackie-suited step today! Yes, girls and boys, the Labor Party...

The Ancient Marinara

  He's a Legend, and our friend   e wish he wouldn’t describe himself as “ancient”. That tends to put us at the edge of a category we fiercely resist. Richard Neville, one of the founders of homepagedaily.com, was the infamous, notorious...

Keelty

  Gone at long last   ow much time should one spend on this slug? We don’t even feel like woo-hoo. Just “at last” and “good riddance” and “what took you so long”. One of the things we really dislike about (not exclusively-) Australian...

The Nation That Hangs Together

The Nation that Hangs Together Hangs Together   The glorious lynching of Saddam was not meant to be “unprofessional", and "disgusting". No, no! According to Iraq’s National Security Adviser, the noted humanitarian, Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie: “This was supposed to be a...

Just a Question

   When menace lurks behind every door    f the Israelis approached civilian craft in international waters with the intention to – and in fact did – board, take control of and then tow, or with armed force cause, those craft to land in an...

Such Is Life

"Unemployed at last!"    e think this is the best Australian novel ever written. Yes, we know there are many contenders and perhaps The Tree of Man comes a close second. But to us, at least, Such Is Life by “Tom Collins” (Joseph Furphy),...

Life in Australia

One word: Durian   obert – a self-styled “foreigner” to our shores – is most upset to have been hoaxed by the false promise and dashed hopes of life in Australia. A few days ago Robert commented on an ancient post here at Values Australia and...

Pardon Us – We Missed the Logic

We’re just a bit confused    r Haneef has been charged with recklessly providing resources to a terrorist organisation (to wit, a sim card). The alleged recklessness occurred in the UK. It did not take place in Australia. There is no...

We Came For Peace

“We came for peace,” said the commando, one of the first Israeli soldiers to board the Mavi Marmara. ”They came for war.” ow you can tell "we came for peace" is that we came in the dark of night in warships and armed rigid-hulled inflatable boats,...

A Troll! A Real Troll!

C  Values Australia is proud to welcome its very own new pet Troll!   ur new Troll is very sophisticated. It can even fill out a Contact form! Here is its latest message: you are a dickhead You are a fucking gronk go home outrageous lefty [Not...

Dear DIC

The Ultimate Dreamcometrue  I n the heat of the 2006 Spring Offensive over Australian values Values Australia was born in response to the cynical and ignorant way real Australian values were being abused by politicians and the sycophantic, right-wing media echo...

Bhutto

t wasn’t such a surprise, we suppose, but Benazir Bhutto’s reported assassination, while it saddens us as another display of humanity’s inability to grow up, confirms our contempt for religion in general and that one in particular. Let those who...

Lord Roger Migently?

Back to the Regency Future   ir Roger Migently, as you must surely realise, has been quite unwell. He has been managed like an unlucky skier in an induced coma these many months since September 2013, when the floor of the Migently Mansions...

‘this pathetic bleating for shelter from skepticism’

Atheists need a little woman to calm them down   es, we know it is a bit late in the day to be discovering Pharyngula but we did and there is nothing to be done but fall down and worship. No, we mean sit down and learn. PZ Myers is a prolific,...

0 Comments