27 Comments

I personally think we would have to be pretty arrogant to assume we are the only intelligent life that exists. It is all very intriguing. BUT if these aliens are watching the support for Donald Trump, our intelligence may be questionable.

Expand full comment

I agree 100%, Barbara! There is no way that we are it, and nothing else exists.

Love the comment about trump! 😂😂😂

Expand full comment

Well played.

Expand full comment

I think people are absolutely naive' to think we are the only civilization in the universe. There has been discoveries of organisms and new species of animals discovered right here on this planet! I have seen some UFOS over my 69 years of life! The possibilities ARE endless!

Expand full comment

E'lies' is dumber than a box of rocks! She is proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that her elevator DOES NOT go to the top floor! I wonder if she is as devoted to her husband as she is trump.

Expand full comment

Not dumb, just immoral.

Expand full comment

Good point.

Expand full comment

They are out there, but they may not be (have been) here. Given the difficulty government operations have keeping anything secret, this story seems a pretty long putt. I’d love there to be proof...I think we need a good shot of anti-hubris meds...but until then, I’m skeptical.

Expand full comment

I recall an interview with the woman who starred SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and she was asked what she thought she would feel if we found evidence of another technically advanced culture and her answer was that she would be comforted by the knowledge that a civilazation could achieve tehnical proficiency and survive. Good answer. Republicans refuse to confront the problems that are here and solvable in order to go after flying saucers and Hunter Biden . Climate change is made up, the Justice department is weaponized, UFOs are a problem, and the government of the country they love is totally corrupt. How about fixing phone spam? Our debt crisis is a crisis of untaxed billionaires. Oh I could go on, Great post Ken!

Expand full comment

While the concept of aliens from another universe may seem unbelievable, I also find it odd given how extraordinary our own space exploration travel is today, the amazing photographs and information we got from Voyager I and II (although I understand II has lost contact recently) and our efforts with NASA, that it's not a real and viable possibility. How is it that we would think that we humans on Earth are the only form of intelligent life in the vast and endless universe. If some aliens landed here and were in a remote region of one of our continents and found a primitive tribal society then landed in Silicon Valley at Apple headquarters what would they think? When you think of concepts like a billion light years away (a light year is roughly how far light travels in one year--almost 6 trillion miles times 1 billion) you get a really, really, really large number. If we consider the concept of time travel (think Back to the Future), should we figure that that out, I suspect any type of travel in the universe might be possible? Anyway, I think it's highly likely we have been visited by other intelligent forms of life. To not be open to that concept is a bit arrogant in my mind.

Expand full comment

Considering a person innocent until proven guilty is fundamental to a just legal system, but the general public is under no obligation to be stupid. Donald Trump has been found guilty of other crimes - violent sexual assault and defamation of the woman he assaulted. Yet he continues to insist he is innocent of those crimes and even repeated the defamation immediately after a jury’s considered judgement that he is guilty.

Donald Trump and his business entities have been involved in over 4,000 federal and state legal cases, more than 100 business tax cases. No reasonable person could believe he is anything but a persistent criminal of epic proportions. He defines that as being a smart businessman.

He is quoted (not verified by a jury, but you decide) as saying to Vice President Pence, “You’re too honest” when Pence would not agree to an unlawful scheme to violate the Constitution.

Trump twists the legal system in ways that no honest or ethical person would conceive and he was elected to a position for which few laws were written - because no decent person with any sense of personal honor would believe they needed to write laws that only applied to the one person who they assumed would be of good character based on the judgement of the electorate. So there is no law, for example, that says a president can’t proactively pardon himself for crimes he has or intends to commit. It would be illegal on the face of it, yet in Trump’s mind it is wholly Constitutional.

Trump is a cheat, a tax cheat, a fraud, a grifter, a convicted rapist, and sexual assaulter, a pathological liar and probably more. He deserves no presumption of innocence except in a court of law.

The sad thing is, he will likely never spend a night in jail. He will drag the cases out until he dies and like with Ken Lay of Enron his crimes will disappear, as if he is innocent.

Expand full comment

Mike Pence seems to be getting more and more honest by the day. Glad to see it. His testimony and his notes are going to be killer in the trial. I remember Trump castigating one of his lawyers for taking notes. I think he told that Roy Cohn wouldn’t have. 🤣

Expand full comment

If you look around us here in our neck of the woods you notice proof that we are surrounded by the the ill-informed, indeed “stupid”. Our next door neighbors fly a very faded and sad Trump flag. No American flag, just the sad Trump flag.

We have to be honest with ourselves that some people just won’t pursue facts.

Expand full comment

“Our next door neighbors fly a very faded and sad Trump flag. No American flag, just the sad Trump flag.”

Look at that from another angle. That’s something I’ve taken heart from. In my daily travels, walking or driving, I used to pass probably at least a half dozen houses flying the sedition flags. I can barely tell you where there’s one now. Also, I love the irony that his chintzy, imported flags are turning to faded rags.

Maybe that will change as we get closer to the election. I believe I’ve seen where President Biden is outdoing him in fundraising and, of course, not having to spend tens of millions of it on lawyers. I do believe the enthusiasm level of the MAGA cult is not what it was. Kind of a Jeb! energy.

But then, I’m a glass half full person.

Expand full comment

Trump’s approval only has one direction to go between now and next November.

Expand full comment

I like your positivity and will share an encouraging observation here that a neighbor further down the road (one with young children) has decided to move his “F- Biden” flag from next to the road to inside his closed door wood shed. Progress is progress.

Expand full comment

Baby steps! 😀

Expand full comment

I agree with you. I enjoy reading your Letters To The Editor! I have seen many comments over the past two years that many people are saying they won't vote for him again.

Expand full comment

Thank you. I enjoy yours as well.

Might as well think positive anyway and live in the present. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

Expand full comment

I think I read somewhere that the best evidence for intelligent extraterrestrial life is that it hasn’t tried to contact us

Expand full comment

Their calls show up as “potential spam.” Let’s face it, everyone screens their calls. Imagine the frustration the aliens are having at trying to get someone to answer! From now on I’m answering every call assuming it is an alien civilization reaching out. “Hello! I’m so glad you called! What is life like on your planet?”

Expand full comment

I like it! That’s even better than my mother-in-law’s method of handling telemarketers: “I’m an old woman and I’m hard of hearing. Goodbye”.

Expand full comment

The Citizens United decision passed down by the right wing of the Supreme Court will be the destruction of our democracy. It is an unfortunate truth that Elise is raking in MILLIONS from wealthy donors who want nothing but more power and money, which Elise and her ilk seek to deliver.

Expand full comment

Someone pointed out about the UFO hearings that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I think that’s a really great way to counter any type of conspiracy theory. All of them seem to be based on petty little anomalies. I didn’t pay any attention to it because I’m well-accustomed to treating UFO claims with disdain. Apologies for having a closed mind. Pretty the incarnation of Fox Mulder did not have extraordinary evidence, tho.

For the record, I loved X-Files. Almost as much as Night Stalker. Carl Kolchak fought them singlehandedly.

Elise Stefanik doesn’t seem to understand what evidence of any kind is. Willful ignorance, I’m sure. Either that or a lot of money was whizzed away on that Harvard education. Sadly, for her and her mentor, defending him in front of a jury of his peers is not going to be the cakewalk that defending him in the Senate’s kangaroo court was. Jack Smith seems to have brought the receipts.

Expand full comment

Loved Kolchak (Darren McGavin) Nightstalker. Thought I was the only one.

Expand full comment

Kolchak devotee here, as well. I aspired to own a perfect crumpled white suit, like his.

Expand full comment

I know people who have said they think they saw a UFO. Who is to say there isn’t Life on another planet?

Expand full comment