Category: Media

I Finally Have A Stable First Act For The Third Draft Of My First Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going so well with the first act of the third draft of my first novel that I’m seriously thinking about developing the three scifi novels I have rolling around in my mind.

I just need to stretch my legs creatively. I need to have the option of thinking about something other than this same novel. The goal is that the overall product will be better for all the things I’m working on.

I find myself thinking about querying and reading books to “comp” my book to. At the moment, all I have is pretty much just Stieg Larsson books, the originals of which are about 20 years old now.

But I think once January 1st rolls around that I’m going to get a lot of work done. Watch me say that then something happen to slow me down significantly. I’m kind of falling apart physically and I’m a little worried that Something Bad will happen big enough to force me to either pause writing or change the context a great deal.

Ugh. N+1 and all that.

We Need An Era Of Accountability

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I talked to a conservative relative recently and they said they will “never” trust the CDC again — ever. They are still seething over the perceived errors and missteps of the COVID era. I keep asking this person what exactly they want from the CDC and usually it boils down to they want liberals, in general, to take a long walk off a short pier.

And things get really wild when I note that if they get the solutions they want for the “border crisis” that the same dynamic they so hated with COVID could apply to that particular situation, too.

The issue is, of course, that there will be no “era accountability” unless, well, we break a few eggs — probably some combination of civil war / revolution. We would have to have a Second Reconstruction whereby there was some sort of “reset” where we all got a little bit — but not all — of what we wanted.

And if you throw in WW3 happening during an American civil war / revolution, then during the process of putting everything back together — if the liberal Good Guys win, that is — we might start to address global issues like global climate change and AI, too.

But that is really speculative. And things could go any number of ways I just can’t predict.

The Question of 2024

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The question of 2024 is, of course, how bad will 2025 be? As of now, late 2023, it seems within reason that either Trump loses and we have a civil war, or Trump wins and we have some sort of revolution then civil war in 2025.

And, yet, as 2020 proved, no one can predict that future.

So, it’s very possible that through some unexpected twist of fate, Trump will no only lose, but fade into political oblivion in some non-violent way. That’s all we can hope for at the moment.

But who knows. I know I don’t. It could really go either way. One reason is, Trump has made it clear that he will only accept his victory as legitimate. Meanwhile, he is a vessel, and avatar for a lot of bent up rage among white Christian (men).

So, I just don’t know. It really could go either way. And if we punt our problems down the road again, I will be very grateful.

The Thing That — Thankfully — Hasn’t Happen Yet

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

A number of things haven’t happened yet as we potentially careening towards a civil war / revolution. Among them is two Congressmen haven’t hurt each other in any significant way within the walls of Congress. The other is any sort of coordinated mass casualty event inspired by our political divisions.

It could be that we will avoid either one of these dark events and STILL have a revolution / civil war type situation. I’m really worried about places like New York City should Trump get re-elected because there are so many Red media outlets based there. If things really got hairy, I could see mass chaos on that front.

But, like I said, maybe we can avoid that type of thing from happening. No fate but what we make and all that. Yet it is clear that the bolts continue to pop off the United States at an alarming rate. The big question is how bad things will get.

Remember, if Trump loses, that, unto itself, might evoke some of the political violence I’m afraid might happen. And if things got really bad, Trump could rant about a National Divorce to the point that Red States take him up on it and start to leave the Union.

Trump is just a human chaos agent and we have to prepare for the greater-than-zero chance that he will, unto himself, cause some sort of mass political violence no matter what happens.

‘Show Your Papers’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely seems as though if Trump becomes POTUS again that the issue of proving citizenship will become the central issue of the day. If you’re actively trying to deport 20 million people — many of them with American children — then you find yourself in something of a quandary.

What is going to happen is Birthright Citizenship will be abolished one way or another and then things will only get worse. The greatly expanded ICE infrastructure will be used for not just rounding people up — which is popular with the MAGA base — but also coming after, well, people like me. I’m a drunk crank who occasionally writes that Trump can suck my cock.

Just like how we built the A-Bomb to go after Germany, only to use it on Japan, so, too, will we build out this massive Gestapo to kick undocumented people out of the country, only to go after Jews, gays, the mentally ill and drunk cranks. It’s the oldest story in the world — the law of unintended consequences.

It definitely will be interesting to see how everything works out. I can still see a revolution then civil war happening in 2025 if Trump goes “full tyrant.”

The 20 Million Body Problem: People Are Not Thinking This Through

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a long conversation with a conservative relative of mine (whom I love dearly) who is all-in when it comes to deporting 20 million undocumented people the moment Trump is POTUS again. And, yet, when pressed, it was clear that he had not through through the implications of doing such a thing.

It was all very curious to me for a number of reasons. He wanted a simplistic solution to a very complex problem. The issue is of course, — bigotry. That is the core of the issue. He is so wrapped up in hating the browning of America that he has a very poor grasp of what it would mean in real terms to get rid of all the undocumented people in the United States at the moment.

He finally said, “I don’t know the details, but all I know is I want those people out of the country.”

Talk about a “Not great, Bob,” situation! You would be ramping up the existing ICE infrastructure to the point that it could be used as a national police. And, what’s more, the whole issue of “show me your papers” will be introduced and that is a whole new level of complication to our lives.

And, yet, here we are, zooming towards it being huge part of the national agenda to round up and deport 20 million people — many of them could be American citizens under a traditional interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

Not Great, Bob

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve decided that tonight will be my New Year’s Eve and I’m quite intoxicated. It seems the issue of the moment is the 14th Amendment says what it says.


And, yet, we all know that ding-dong Trump is going to weasel his way back on the ballot on all 50 states. So, lulz? I don’t know what to tell you. There are no easy answers — apparently even, “What was the Civil War about” is no longer an easy answer.

I have to go back to how totally fucked up the whole situation is. We all know that Trump should be banned from the ballet given the wording of the 14th Amendment, and, yet, here we are, having a pissing match over the exact wording of the words that clearly say ding-dong Trump should not be allowed on the ballet.

Whatever. No one listens to me. Barring something pretty astonishing, we’re going to have to deal with two old guys fighting it out in 2024.

Nikki Haley Has A Problem

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


That this is such a big issue in modern day America says a lot about how fucked up everything is. The Civil War was about slavery. And, yet, here we are — fighting over it and relitigating it because, I dunno, modern Republicans are cowards who want to pretend the Civil War was about anything but slavery?


The question is, will this really matter? I have my doubts. When the Republican front runner is a fascist, it’s possible that this gaff on Haley’s part won’t really mean anything. And she did escape giving the type of answer that would hurt her in the Republican primaries.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

The 20 Million Body Problem

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I totally validate the idea that there is a “crisis at the border,” I do have a problem with anyone who suggests we try to deport all those people en mass overnight. Not only would you would have to spend billions to build out the existing ICE infrastructure, but you’re setting yourself up for a huge amount of abuse by doing so.

There are just a huge number of problems with trying to deport 20 million undocumented people. You thought tearing families apart at the border was bad, just wait until its 20 million people who have contributed a great deal to the country over the last 20 or more years.

And I simply don’t believe people who scoff at the idea that the new, greatly expanded ICE infrastructure would not be horribly abused. You would have to be prepared to “check the papers” of people on a regular basis. That would be a fundimental change in how everyday Americans interacted with the government.

The whole endeavor would make the country a lot — A LOT — more unstable. The economy would collapse and the fabric of the country would be torn to shreds. And, yet, here we are, with ding-dong Trump seriously talking about deporting 20 million people.

Like I said, I accept that there is a crisis at the border, but I would prefer to come up with some solution other than destroying our freedoms to address the issue.

Are We Totally Overestimating Trump’s Political Viability?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I only write any of this because, well, no one can predict the future. But it is at least within the realm of possibility that Trump’s moment has come and gone and, as such, he won’t even be the Republican nominee.

Now, absolutely nothing points to this at the moment other than Nikki Haley surging in the polls. And, really, it definitely seems as though no matter what, because of the cult-like obsession with Trump on the part of MAGA that even if she over performs in Iowa and New Hampshire, she would crash and burn once we reach Southern states.

And this doesn’t even begin to address how Trump will probably run as a third party candidate if somehow, miraculously, Haley manages to be a political giant slayer.

But, as I have said — I can’t predict the future. And while Haley is Not Great relative to my political POV, she at least seems like someone who will stay within democratic norms.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

For the time being, it definitely seems as though it will be Biden versus Trump again and, well, Godspeed.