Pic: Happy Rumble Day
After watching Trump's inauguration speech and ABC interview this week I finally understand what Hunter S. Thompson meant by "fear and loathing". This isn't snowflake 'this guy scares me' stuff. I know who Trump is. He's the east coast bullshit artist he's always been. Problem is, he's gotten old and angry. And he's been utilized by truly shitty people to win the White House and begin a nationalist era this country has never seen. If he gets a second term this nationalism will turn into true militarism. Now the United States has been militaristic since the end of WW2. Because of the Soviet Union is was a matter of survival. To what degree I'm not smart enough to know. But that world is now gone, no matter what boogeymen they try to scare us with. Now I'm aware of the pitfalls of comparing America at it's founding to today. But every Founding Father was leery of standing armies. Of course we need one today, but we should still remember 'why' they were against such things back then. Shit, this is a topic Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton agreed on.
But in a country, where the perpetual menacings of danger oblige the government to be always prepared to repel it, her armies must be numerous enough for instant defence. The continual necessity for his services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionably degrades the condition of the citizen. The military state becomes elevated above the civil. The inhabitants of territories often the theatre of war, are unavoidably subjected to frequent infringements on their rights, which serve to weaken their sense of those rights; and by degrees, the people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors, but as their superiors.
My monkey brain is going to try to break down what Hamilton was saying here, and rememeber, he was a soldier.
"perpetual menacings"- This is the boogeymen I mentioned earlier. Obama called ISIS the 'JV team' once and his enemies never let it go. I agreed with him, and I think if we really wanted ISIS gone it could've been done in a few months. Up until recently the American public had no more stomach for active war and ISIS actually doesn't pose a direct threat to American soil. But war is good for business and we all have to pretend ISIS is bigger then it is. That boogeyman is running out of gas though. Trump's is squeezing it's last drops. All that 'the world is a scary place' talk and repeating 'they're chopping off heads' (which they've been doing the whole time) in the ABC interview was just keeping the American people, and more importantly his base, in constant fear. Scared people don't ask their leaders questions.
"The necessity for his services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionably degrades the condition of the citizen."- I'm the son, brother, grandson and nephew of a veteran, but I don't like the 'hollow platitudes' we ply our veterans with. And it's more to make us feel good then for them. After WW2, soldiers came home, got jobs and moved on with their lives the best they could. I suspect most of them didn't want to look back. If we really cared about veterans we wouldn't have all these charities that have to take care of them (When they aren't stealing the money. Wounded Warrior execs were caught having lavish "meetings" at resorts). If we really cared we would rarely put them in harm's way and make sure the VA department was well run and had everything it needed to take care of them. We shouldn't celebrate the soldier, we should appreciate them. There's a difference.
"unavoidably subjected to the frequent infringement on their rights, which weaken their sense of those right"- The most disturbing line from Trump's interview was "fight fire with fire" as a justification for torture. I'm not the first person to say that by using torture we lose our identity. It might not be as abstract as that. If you're willing to violate the human rights of foreign enemies, you're only a stones throw from violating the human rights of fellow Americans you consider enemies. And lets not act like this hasn't happened plenty of times already.
"people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors, but as their superiors."- This is the endgame. The citizens, We The People, must always remember they are the sovereign of the United States. They always have the right and duty to ask questions. They must hold people accountable. If the government ever forgets that, then they are duty-bound to burn it to the ground and start over. In America, no title is above Citizen.
I didn't mean to go off the deep end with today's GCBC. But it's Rumble Day and I'm ready for a fight. I'll just close by saying there's only one group that can save us the next 4 years: Women. They are the only group large enough that can organize and bring the government to heel. We fucked it up ladies, it's time for you to rise and take your government for the first time ever. In 8 years you could have a House and good chunk of the Senate filled by women. You are the majority, you should be the majority of government.
Enough 'doom and gloom'. Time for cards. I asked for nominations from the 50th anniversary set and got mixed responses. Then I posted a poll and solved half the job. So let's see what the people had to say, hopefully not as long-winded as my previous comments.
Why: I didn't agree with this pick, but this was the winner of the poll easily. My thinking was, if it was so good why didn't I see anyone play it at Nationals, in Lexington KY, at the end of last year? Maybe I should just chalk it up to laziness. I'm willing to give it Good Card status for the image alone. The Enterprise flying into V'Ger's butthole is pretty cool. But let's get to what the card is. We got a 3-cost space wall. Separating this from Gomtuu Shockwave (beside dual-integrity requirements) is you're switching out one less skill requirement for +3 on the attribute requirement. Ok, but then you're really just making the skills an afterthought. You're not going to bother skill tracking, like Gomtuu, and just get them down 5 or less personnel and bask in the knowledge that they're not getting any attribute over 35. Good for gameplay, but it diminishes the skill involved playing the card. But let's get to the sexy part. We have a revolutionary game effect for the damage marker: "You may not play interrupts". That's pretty strong. That's a deal-breaker for some decks and they'll have no choice to go back home and repair.
Why: This card was tied with the dilemma Logical Solution for Bad Card. That dilemma suffers from the Design mistake, made before, of letting the person facing it choose an all stop. Meaning you can only play the dilemma last. That's just sloppy design. Now let's get to Practical Evidence. Man, they've put out some stinkers as Q cards the past few years. Somebody had a plan when making this card, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is. Am I trying to screw over my opponent? How many strength based decks are out there? Klingon, Dominion Crom or TNG Bluegill. All solid decks, but they shouldn't be keeping you up at night. Am I playing this on my own mission? That seems like a bad plan. Plenty of missions out there to choose from. No need to get cute. As of right now, the only scenario I play this card is in a Maquis Indian deck. Just to get another event on it. And Q running around harassing Indians ain't Story Mode so this card is a solid turd all around.
