The Mason Moment, July 29, 2024

I speak about the freak-out of evangelicals over the Dionysian tableau at the Olympics, and their self-centered attitude in general.

The Mason Missile, July 26, 2024

Greetings, Americans! On August 1, I celebrate my birthday (I won’t tell which one). Hopefully I’ve learned a few things along the way to this point. I still have many miles to go along my way. Age? That’s supposed to be a disease? If it is, I’m not feeling any symptoms. Ageism, the assumption that a person is good for nothing after a (ahem!) certain age is a real form of discrimination; at my “age” I feel youthful, more so than when I was in my 20’s. I commend President Joe Biden for doing something that trump would have no comprehension of—cancel his campaign, for the good of the party and the nation. I was SO sick of hearing all this talk about Biden’s age and mental acuity, but with this unselfish act, Biden has ended all that nonsense talk, so that we can discuss some REAL issues. Thank you, Joe, for everything you’ve done for this country. The Republican National Convention, held in the “horrible” city of Milwaukie (trump’s word, not mine), was nothing but a freak show; instead of former Presidents, community leaders, or other statesmen (and women), the top speakers were Amber Rose, Only Fans model and former wife of Kanye West, and former wrestling mega-star Hulk Hogan, tearing off his shirt like he was in Wrestlemania ready to take on Andre The Giant; with Kid Rock lip-synching the entertainment. Other speakers included Lara Trump, Co-Chair of the Republican Party—oh, did you know she’s married to trump’s son Eric? Also there was Nikki Haley, who ran against trump in the primaries and spoke out against trump, but now she’s praising him to the skies. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31bx-QanaIM) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbzNiwRz4gU) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPKRmk0wqI) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lb6LZwiHdU) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfoOhq4kwu4) JD Vance, Senator from Ohio and author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, is trump’s running mate, and another “champion of the little guy.” But please don’t take the memoir too seriously, as it is full of stereotypes of low-income whites as alcoholic, drug-addicted, welfare-leaching, and lazy, not wanting to raise themselves out of their poverty, like, presumably, Vance did. (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-07-15/jd-vance-hillbilly-elegy-book-trump-vice-president) (https://www.npr.org/2024/07/20/nx-s1-5043772/appalachian-writer-revisits-j-d-vances-hillbilly-elegy) (https://www.dailykos.com/story/2024/7/19/2255717/-JD-Vance-Scorns-Hillbillies) The reason trump selected Vance, who has served only a year and a half in the Senate, is that Vance, once a severe critic of trump, has now become one of his devotees. It’s the pattern in the Republican Party; anyone who has spoken against trump, or have been insulted by him—like Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz—have now turned around and kissed his ring (and other things). (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/23/2257403/-Trump-reveals-the-pathetic-reason-he-chose-JD-Vance?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email) Plus, Vance has called for a nationwide abortion ban (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jd-vance-national-abortion-ban-soros-1235062748/) and has called for making divorce, even from abusive spouses, more difficult, saying people shouldn’t “shift spouses like they change their underwear.” (https://www.vice.com/en/article/93abve/jd-vance-suggests-people-in-violent-marriages-shouldnt-get-divorced) This, I assume, is a sop to the evangelical “Christian” Right. (https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2024-election/jd-vance-comments-violent-marriages-resurface/) And, again, we have his interview with Tucker Carlson, then on Fox “News,” whereby Vance babbled about the country “being run by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives and the choices they’ve made, so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” (https://www.msnbc.com/chris-jansing-reports/watch/-jesus-did-not-have-children-jd-vance-ripped-for-ridiculous-childless-cat-ladies-comment-215684677984) Vance defiantly has traditional ideas about the role of women, that they should just stay at home and crank out babies; and it has sparked a whole slew of a-MEW-sing memes of the internet. (I couldn’t resist.) And what’s a Republican convention without some good ol’ fashioned racism? Vance’s own wife, Usha Chilukuri—who is of Indian descent, works for a big San Francisco law firm and no trad-wife—has been hit with racist attacks, as was Harmeet Dhillon, a prominent figure in the Republican Party in California, who is also Indian and of the Sikh religion of India—opened the convention with Ardas, a traditional Sikh prayer. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdWWigkAuoM) (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vances-wife-faces-racist-online-backlash-social/story?id=112096897) THIS is where the Republican Party is at now. Their candidate is a fake billionaire (who keeps finding some scam to soak his followers for money), with a fake hillbilly as a running mate, praised by a fake wrestler, and serenaded by a fake rocker. I hope the Democratic Convention, to be held in Chicago next month, show WAY more intelligence and dignity. Now, set to take on trump is Vice-President Kamala Harris, who has had vast political and legal experience, as a Prosecutor, US Senator, and current Vice-President. (Did I mention she is Vice-President?) Let’s give the Harris campaign our 120% support, and keep reminding everyone of the danger of Project 2025. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! Am Yisrael Chai! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, July 23, 2024

I speak about Joe Biden's leaving the presidential race, and of how Kamala Harris can and will defeat trump.

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, July 2, 2024

I speak about the ridiculous panic over Biden’s performance in the debate, and how we must remember how awful trump was, is, and will be.