Vox Populi, our weekly live chat about the week’s events begins tonight at 7:00pm PT. Hope to see you then!
AdLib3 hours ago
Hey Murph!
AdLiban hour ago
Howdy. Just us.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Yep! CL and TW kindly reached out independently to let me know they couldn’t make it tonight.
AdLiban hour ago
How are things with you?
AdLiban hour ago
Ah…….
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Well…..my efforts to create a place for the homeless where there was once a co-op has fallen to pieces.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
That’s a shame, you mentioned that you were being blocked last week. Little do some of the opposition to it know they’ll be begging for homeless shelters soon.
AdLiban hour ago
Good observation…..what has happened is that the church I am working with has now become our focus.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Hate to be waiting for the other shoe to drop but the clueless people out there, especially those in less affluent areas, are in for a very rude awakening as the country’s safety nets and economy recede from them.
AdLib44 minutes ago
We are looking to expand the church’s footprint.
MurphTheSurf3
43 minutes ago
That’s smart. Harder for RW politicians to say no to a church’s efforts to help the homeless.
AdLib43 minutes ago
Again…..good observation…..
MurphTheSurf3
43 minutes ago
The Church is located near to a major highway in a lower middle class area.
MurphTheSurf3
41 minutes ago
The pandemic of hate has so infected many in our country that the idea of helping neighbors or people even in their own community is harshly stomped on. Such a widespread lack of compassion, it’s awful.
AdLib41 minutes ago
Is that a good thing for the church?
AdLib41 minutes ago
What is interesting is that we are getting encouragement from those who were for doing this at my place until they were against it. Now they appear to be committed to the church location .
MurphTheSurf3
40 minutes ago
Hmm, why do you think it is that they turned against it when you were trying to do it at your place?
AdLib39 minutes ago
is that a good thing for the church? Well…in terms of mission and authenticity, yes. The congregation is activist and not that far removed from the troubles that t hose we are trying to help .
MurphTheSurf3
38 minutes ago
Then that’s good that the church is activist and involved with the community that needs them.
AdLib37 minutes ago
However it happens would be a good thing and your involvement will always be a valuable contribution to it.
AdLib36 minutes ago
The folks who turned against it were those on the country government who got a lot of flack from area folk who did not want “those kind of people” anywhere near them….my land is two miles from the next house.
MurphTheSurf3
36 minutes ago
As I mentioned, the irony for these compassion-deprived jerks is that by next year, they may be among those needing housing after they’ve lost their farm and home.
AdLib35 minutes ago
Those folks have told us that they could switch back to our camp if the location was more acceptable to residents in the area.
MurphTheSurf3
35 minutes ago
I fear that you are correct in that evaluation.
MurphTheSurf3
34 minutes ago
I can understand people being ignorant and fearful of homeless having a roof over their heads (miles away from them) but it is so cruel and selfish. And I imagine some of these hypocrites claim to be Christians.
AdLib33 minutes ago
Today’s development re. the economy are distressing….the facts are and T’s firing of the bringer of the facts is classic totalitarianism.
MurphTheSurf3
33 minutes ago
As has been said many times, if their dreams came true and Jesus came back, they would cheer his being brutally kidnapped by ICE and sent to a concentration camp in El Salvador.
AdLib32 minutes ago
The folks near me are generally decent people but the fear of “the other” is gospel among Trumpets.
MurphTheSurf3
32 minutes ago
One if the good things is that the church is anchored in Gospel principles that they really work to make real.
MurphTheSurf3
30 minutes ago
Yes, I think this was inevitable, that Trump would turn to committing the same kind of financial fraud and lying that he was convicted for, when it came to the government fact finders. Now, no one will have any confidence in the numbers that come out of the government and the risk of a massive economic crash, when the real status of iunemployment and inflation are leaked or figured out by financial professionals after a period of fraud and deceit, gets likelier.
AdLib29 minutes ago
The thing is, “the others” are likely fellow Missouians. Homeless people don’t have the money to travel and they have no incentive to go to MO from cities where they can get some support. They’re “othering” their fellow Missourians.
AdLib27 minutes ago
I agree, When the facts become impossible to ignore because they are made real by the pain of day to day life there will be an awakening but setting the ship of state back on course will be very difficult because all of the safety nets will have been cut away.
MurphTheSurf3
26 minutes ago
The church sounds ideal for this effort to help the homeless, sounds like they walk the walk.
AdLib26 minutes ago
Indeed…..the pastor often says that his church’s congregation are painfully aware of how close disaster is….
MurphTheSurf3
25 minutes ago
My British and Canadian friends write often….they are stunned that with the turn of events.
MurphTheSurf3
23 minutes ago
Yes, and states, especially the Red and poorer states will have an economic roof collapse down on them, without Fed safety nets, as more become needy, the states won’t be able to provide for them and all the disasters such as starvation, crime, drug use, villence will all rise. Then I suppose those ICE concentration camps will be spreading like Starbucks.
AdLib23 minutes ago
Our new governor Kehoe is trying to raise awareness of all of the course we are. own. Without much success. But he can read a speed sheet and knows how dependent Mo is on federal assistance and programming.
MurphTheSurf3
21 minutes ago
As flawed as our democracy is, an you and I have chatted about this many times, it is not constructed to prevent a malignant tyrant from being a dictator as long as his party holds Congress and the SCOTUS. I don’t think The Founders imagined that such a huge portion of the American population would be so ignorant and immoral.
AdLib21 minutes ago
Kehoe, like other Repubs, know they have made a deal with the devil for their own selfish greediness for power and money but like the rest of them, they feel helpless to do anything because holding onto their positions is more important to them than any responsibility to the people.
AdLib19 minutes ago
It is important to remember that the Constitution was designed to maintain the slave economy of the south….by establishing a government structure easily tripped up by a wealthy and well placed opposition.
MurphTheSurf3
18 minutes ago
They know they have chosen to subject their people to enormous suffering in exchange for having the power and wealth they have. They areimmoral but delude themselves that they couldn’t do anything to stop this oncoming economic disaster anyway so why not just go along with it from the governor’s mansion.
AdLib17 minutes ago
Would you agree that The Constitution built in these aspects because the Northerners couldn’t see how to keep the Southerners on board with being a United States without accommodating their corruption? If so, corruption was protected in The Constitution out of what they saw as necessity to have a country. The Civil War was the result of that wrong-headedness as is the tyranny we’re living in today.
AdLib14 minutes ago
The kind of government that Trump is spearheading stands in the shadow of the dictator states that have arisen in the past.
MurphTheSurf3
14 minutes ago
That is precisely what I believe.
MurphTheSurf3
13 minutes ago
There was one crisis after another reflecting the brokenness of the nation split between slave and free.
MurphTheSurf3
13 minutes ago
And a big difference is that the billionaires who have taken over the media do not want their outlets reporting on the dictatorship we are in as being here. The press was envisioned by The Founders as the safety net for the people but with MAGA billionaire owners, corrupt and slanted social media, they are aiding and abetting the overthrow of our democracy because they like the greater power and wealth it brings them.
AdLib11 minutes ago
And the post war reconstruction was short lived with a virtual slave society reinvented in the South with a North unwilling to challenge it effectively.
MurphTheSurf3
11 minutes ago
Any system that allows big money to run unchecked inevitably leads to the outcome you lay out.
MurphTheSurf3
9 minutes ago
Very good points. But one important takeaway from that, it was unsustainable as is the current fascism in this country. The majority of Americans ARE turning against Trump in a big way and once the destruction of Medicaid, SNAP, ACA helath insurance, quickly rising inflation, widespread unemployment really hit the people, there will be such a massive pushback against Trump and Repubs. This dictatorship is unsustainable.
AdLib8 minutes ago
I agree that there will be the desire for such a push back but will the instrument of government still function in such a way that pushback will be effective.
MurphTheSurf3
6 minutes ago
Yes. While even Dem leadership is opposed or won’t support Mandami, he has nailed what people really want. Whoever wants to win the Dem nomination for president in 2028 needs to connect with the majority on taking money and power away from the wealthy and restoring a federal government that serves the people. If we get a “moderate” Dem as the nominee who just wants a return to the status quo pre-Trump, that candidate could lose despite the disgust there will be against Repubs.
AdLib5 minutes ago
A friend pointed out how Trump is MiroLoging the WH….the Presidential Palace will be ready for. his next term.
MurphTheSurf3
4 minutes ago
Your analysis is spot on.
MurphTheSurf3
3 minutes ago
Good question. I would say that if the country is sinking into poverty and chaos, even Trump’s ICE Gestapo won’t be enough to stop the masses from fighting back.
AdLib3 minutes ago
What kept the populace from standing up against the fascist leaders was a mythology that most brought into …the same can happen here but if it does not then the Trumpistas will face real opposition.
MurphTheSurf3
a minute ago
Yes, at the same time Trump cuts cancer research, health care, education money, etc. for “the little people”, he Marie-Antoinettes the public by having a guilded $200M “ballroom” built on the WH and hides nearly $1B to refurbish the jet he was given…that he gets to keep after his presidency. Let them eat cake, right?
AdLiba few seconds ago
I hate to cut this short….but I have an early meeting and at 75 early is the enemy
MurphTheSurf3
a few seconds ago
Okay, have a good meeting tomorrow and get some good rest! You’re doing a lot of good and important work!
AdLibin a few seconds
“Marie Antoinettes” a new verb…..
MurphTheSurf3
in a few seconds
Really!
AdLibin a minute
Thanks Ad…best to you. Yes, really!
MurphTheSurf3
in a minute
Thanks! Night!
AdLibin a minute
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