SHAME

To EVERY single organized Jewishgroup in America from the Associated Jewish Federations, to the Jewish Community Centers Association, to the Shul’s, the Temples to the American Jewish Congress, from Rabbi Marvin Heir, who spoke at the Trump Inauguration, to the Orthodox Rabbi’s who helped Ivanka Trump Kushner convert to Judaism, to the Rabbi’s of the Kushner Family Synagogues in New York City to the the synagogue in Washington DC, to the New York City Federation home to the many friends and donors of the Kushner Family, to the Congregants who share Shabbat Services with both the Charles Kushner Family and Jared Kushner Family…TO ALL OF YOU…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!

The man calling himself president of the USA, held a rally in Harrisburg PA and in attendance, and witnessed on video, were members White Supremacy groups. They paraded around the arena patrolling the audience, and no one from the Trump Crime Family or his hired henchmen tried to stop these Racists and Anti-Semites, nor did Trump utter a word to the audience insisting that this IS not Nazi Germany!…TO ALL OF YOU JEWS WHO HAVE BEEN AND REMAIN SILENT…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!

My entire professional career has been in the jewish communal field. All of my entire career working as a jewish professional, at conference after conference, study session after study session i have been told, reminded, lectured that “Work Does Not Set You Free”, “Never Again”. I have proudly worked within the greater community as a Jewish professional teaching various other demographics who we are as Jews, and our goal for fair and equal. I have raised my kids at JCC Pre School’s/ JCC Camps,I have welcomed Jewish Seniors, survivors of the Holocaust into the JCC, knowing they were not only safe in this new environment, but safe in America…As a Gay man I also learned that Silence Equals Death…To EVERY single Jew in this country, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR….Nazi’s were in attendance at a Trump rally and Trump is not a candidate any longer, but the guy sitting in the Oval Office…and all I hear is the deafening sound of YOUR silence! SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!

Trilogy Part 3

Trilogy Part 3

We all have heard the word ENABLER, many of us who have friends or family suffering from forms of addiction, either become very defensive with the word ENABLER, or have found some comfort understanding the power of ENABLING, and NOT ENABLING, of course both the positive and negative affects. Often times we pretend that by not mentioning the THING, the THING will somehow disappear, or like a villager in some tucked away hamlet, saying, no evil means seeing no evil which means there is no evil. There are some people, even in 2017, who find it difficult to believe that addiction is ACTUALLY a mental illness, perhaps some of those people, also believe climate change is a gimmick, Noah actually had a an arc with dinosaurs, and Eve was formed from one of Adam’s ribs, thus any female is truly a form of chattel, owned by men. Sometimes it just seems easier to make excuses for the addict…to tell those around us, the addict will soon get better, even though no action but ENABLING has taken place. Often times we run away from the topic, while the addict still suffers. Many times we also believe, leaving the addict to his or her own devices, might teach them a thing or two, surely changing their ways…We all suffer the consequences of lives wasted, we all suffer the consequences of those whose lives become empty or momentarily full while they enjoy their addiction…Its a life after all…not A life, but life!

Again, and again, the supposedly professional news outlets via the CBS/ABC/NBC and the newer kids on the block, the Cable News Networks, CNN/MSNBC (Not mentioning FOX, because after all how would one classify pure propaganda as anything but PURE PROPAGANDA), have become ENABLERS to anything and anyone Trump. Proudly and boastfully these news casters ACTUALLY repeat the lies, the fabrications, the pure narcissistic exaggeration, the imaginations of the Legion of Trump as subjects worth a debate.  Trump brags his First Hundred Days, were better than anyone in the history books, and with sheer ignorance each and every news outlet provides a talking head to debate the lie, the factual ineptitude of a statement like that. As ENABLERS, these news outlets, permit Trump to demolish the democracy for his own selfish whims. Lies are not news, fabrication of truth is not news, letting these Trump Goons to embellish every single incorrect and motivated lie is like saying to the alcoholic friend, you might have a point, drinking vodka is definitely less debilitating as gin, its like saying to drug addict, perhaps you are correct, since the doctor prescribed your pain pill and you have abused it over and over again, it is still not like being as bad a Meth Head!

I am but a common man, a citizen and I realize how ENABLING the news outlets have become. Never debate anyone Trump…let them tell the lie. Take the words of the lie for example about the First Hundred Days; Compare and contrast the First Hundred Days of the last decade of presidents. No need for a debate, show the facts, and when anyone Trump begins to hoot and holler, be like Sargent Friday from the TV show ‘Dragnet’, and say, “Just the Facts Ma’am.”

Trilogy Part 2

A Trilogy Part 2

I was in 7th grade, the year 1962, it was my Social Studies Class (imagine  a curriculum designed to instruct students about the world around us). Our classroom was on the second floor, the school had those very high windows, which always required a very long rod with a tiny hook on the edge to be used to latch onto the the lock at the top of the window; permitting easy access to open or shut the windows. We were in 7th grade and our Social Studies teacher reminded us during our very first day in September that we were young men and women, and each of us had responsibilities, all of which should be taken with pride and in earnest. (I knew the word earnest, and its meaning, but somehow once our teacher used it in a sentence to describe all of us, many of us then used it as a nickname whenever an insult was necessary, like Hey Earnest your shoe is untied…it was 1962). One day, the teacher asked the kid who always was cracking jokes, to unlock the window. This guy was a popular kid, and usually was king of the hill, and never ever was called Earnest. He was a cocky kid, and when asked to open the window, stood up and shouted “ma’m, yes ma’m”. It seemed funny, but laughter was not tolerated in this classroom. (Why is it always so difficult to stifle a laugh while sitting in a classroom). This guy walked over to the long window rod with the hook on it, sort of showing off at just how dexterous he was, and how simple of a task this should be. (It was not, for most of the rest of the boys who were tasked in opening the window…girls need not apply to do manual labor in this classroom) Usually, the opening of the window was stressful for everyone, especially anyone who ever tried to do it, so most of the class tried their hardest to NOT watch. The teacher was about to explain to the classroom all about the ABC countries of South America…Argentina, Brazil, Chile, so she was standing at the chalk board, writing the names of the ABC nations, her back to the classroom…As the teacher was writing the word Chile, there was a sudden crashing sound and a shattering of what sounded like glass…all of this followed by a bellowing, “God Damn It.”

There was a collective shout, a few giggles (we had cause to finally let that held in laughter out, and also added some wow’s! Still with her back to the classroom, the teacher continued to finish the spelling of the word Chile, then turned to face the class. There was silence, total silence, except for the kid who was not so dexterous, he was still saying “God Damn It.” The teacher, now moving toward her desk (in those days they were front and center of the classroom with invisible barbed wire strung around for good measure) She bent down slowly but surely, reached for something (we were all certain it was either a large bandage as the show off kid was bleeding, or a paddle…(yep corporal punishment thrived in 1962). But the collective we were all wrong, our teacher pulled out a Bible. (in those days we read a passage from the King James Bible, recited the Lord’s Prayer and stood for the Pledge of Allegiance…those were the days also before any kind of integration and at least 95% of the student body were from Jewish families in the neighborhood). The teacher held up the Bible, almost as a show and tell item. The teacher then almost in a trance, said…”No one shall ever use the Lord’s name in vein, THIS IS AMERICA! Then the teacher said to all of us, place your hands on your desk folded and leave them there, while we (the kid bleeding pretty badly and I) go to the nurses office, and think about the Lord.” Trump has been crowned king, he is the omnipresent, the one Evangelicals believe was anointed by Christ. He is the GUY who is now representing AMERICA. When I grew older and with advent of the 70’s and beyond, I thought I knew another kind of America. But as my 7th grade Social Studies teacher reminded us, THIS IS AMERICA…not just for everyone!

Trilogy, Part 1

A Trilogy Part 1

Lowering standards for the Department of Education…eliminating the EPA, insisting that any idea, ANY idea find fruition demanding that the GOP create Trump Care, no matter if it removes pre-existing conditions, no longer covers millions of Americans, and IS not affordable…White Supremacists in the West Wing…nepotism rampant…tax breaks for billionaires…dissing Canada, Mexico…golfs, lies about golfing, continues to golf and continues to lie…no tax returns, EVER…Campaign Staff singled out by FBI for Russian collusion…invites hypocrites, liars, treasonous enemies of the state and wealthy donors to become Cabinet Members….

Trump is still in the Oval Office…we all still complain, ring our hands, and read how this latest con is the one that will get him…but it doesn’t…it never does…Cable News Networks still pretend that anyone Trump might be truthful and invites Trump talking heads to debate their own alternative facts…The family still has control over all of their businesses…Princess Ivanka, pretends to be the reasonable kid, while hiring laborers seemingly working out of labor camps in China…Jared’s dad, and Jared are still buds with Mafioso, hiring two guys with felony records for their family board, but Jared is given special security badge…We cry, we wallow, we wail, we touch our hearts with disbelief…we receive tons and tons of emails from every possible Democrat National Committee, telling us that this next gift IS the one to make the difference…Trump is still King, still writing Executive Orders undoing any sane and sensible law in this nation…and no one YET has stopped him.

I wake up each day fearful of my phone, going to Facebook knowing that if Trump hasn’t started the Third World War yet, he is attacking our ally’s. I worry how many more pieced of freedom and equality will be torn and shattered…I wonder when Martial Law will be declared…and I continue to only hear silence from the truly religious, the the real Patriots…I begin to wonder IS it true, good things DO happen to bad people, and Good people just get shit on…

Beyond the Pale'

Beyond the Pale’: Unacceptable; outside agreed standards of decency.The paling fence is significant as the term 'pale' came to mean the area enclosed by such a fence and later just figuratively 'the area that is enclosed and safe'. So to be 'beyond the pale' was to be outside the area accepted as ‘home'.

"Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by Ronald Reagan, in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. The wall came tumbling down and Reagan took the credit.  "A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not.” Ronald Reagan, denying the Iran-Contra Affair, November 1986 The Iran-Contra Affair: involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by White House officials in the national security council (NSC) under President Ronald Reagan. The operation had two goals: first, to sell arms to Iran in the hope of winning the release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, and second, to illegally divert profits from these sales to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. Discovery of the secret operation, in 1986, triggered a legal and political uproar that rocked the Reagan administration. The numerous related investigations and indictments did not end until 1993 and even then questions remained about the roles of senior White House officials in this arms-for-hostages deal. The Republicans still adore Ronald Reagan, as if he, and he had been one of the Founding Fathers of this nation. The Republican’s ALSO, loved the idea of knocking the Communists on their heads, showcasing the vibrancy, and evolved aspect of Democracy. The Republicans used to insist, while Jimmy Carter was president, that the USA would NEVER be blackmailed, trading money for the release of hostages. The Republicans were pissed that Reagan had done so, and had he not been found to be a lying politician, Reagan had a few more dollars at the ready to pay more blackmail. Ronald Reagan, many historians now write, describe him of suffering from a form of dementia all the way back to 1987, but he WAS the president, and NO average American citizen had the right, to know how mentally or physically unstable the a president might be.

2017, the official functioning of the US Government may be shut down because Donald Trump, insists on building a Wall, one which he promised during his Putin run campaign, would be paid in full by the Mexican Government. 2017, Donald Trump is immersed in at least a half dozen illegal and treasonous scandals involving Vladimir Putin/Russian Oligarchs/ Rosneft, an integrated oil company majority owned by the Government of Russia. 2017, and the Republican Party has decided, due to severe blackmail circumstances and a distaste for the parts of Democracy that permit you and I to be equal persons as  are Corporations, to build a new Wall, and to embrace the Communists…All of this while current historians are quite concerned about the mental and physical state of the Guy sitting in the Oval Office. We learn nothing from history. As if history is Beyond the Pale’.

ALL of Us

We all, ALL of us who have pledged allegiance to the flag, ALL of us who stand for the national anthem, or place our hands on our heart, or remove our hats, and even those of us who believe taking a knee while the anthem is played who still believe those symbols represent freedom democracy and choice…we ALL must immediately realize just how perilous a road ALL of us are on, right here, right now…We have a ruse in the form of a man named Trump sitting in what was once the most powerful office in the world…Putin, pretending to be a Communist, rather than the oligarch and Capitalist he truly is…has set a trap using greed, gluttony, and ego to sway a very immature yet dangerous narcissist into playing puppet…Most of this, of course, could not have happened so brilliantly, had other wanna be’s. wanna have’s like the leadership of the Republican Party, assisted in the suicide of American democracy, thinking that the world, or at least the United States is just one more toy to own and discard when bored.

We ALL, of us, no matter how much you think Jesus wrote the Constitution, or that nothing is wrong with a few White Supremacists, sitting in the Oval Office, or that the South never lost the Civil War…ALL of us those who believe a woman actually does not need permission to tend to her body as she wishes, that the LGBT community pee and poop, love and lust, laugh and cry like any racist or saint might do…ALL of us who understand that blood is red, a heart pumps continuously and a brain controls all that stuff inside the body, no matter what the color of skin is on the outside…ALL of us are running out of time, chance and opportunity as we watch the world around us permit lies, alternative facts, insecure and selfish people take control, hoping that the stupid remain dumb and the smart burn themselves out from the madness of the ignorant. 

The countdown to the first 100 days of a person who was and his not qualified to raise his own kids, shave in front of a mirror, using anything sharp, of being hacked into office is ticking away…It is as if its just another 100 days in the life of a president, but in reality it is almost days longer that the life blood of this nation and ALL of its citizens, is dying, and decaying. I am not sure why there is still a debate as to how illegal, unethical Trump and his cohorts are and have been. I am not sure why so called news outlets STILL pretend that doom and disaster have not and are not occurring each and everyday, they permit the legitimacy of a man to sit in the Oval Office. We, ALL of us, are playing Putin’s game…its called arg among yourselves, pin the tail on the boggy man and ALL the while Mr Putin quietly and conveniently counts just how many lives and how many nations will no longer enjoy, life, liberty and happiness!

Fear of Flying

Why is it ALWAYS after the fact, after the fault, that corporations, when found fraudulent in almost anything they do, SAY: “These do not reflect our values.” REALLY, were those VALUES not reflected by an angry employee, a frustrated person unhappy with the job they chose, a disgruntled member of YOUR team, EVER discussed ahead of time, before the CEO and the Share Holders worried more about the bottom line, and before the invention of the camera on the phone came about? Why does this shit happen in the first place, if the standards and practices of ANY corporation were established to avoid any and all conflicts. was there no money for Staff Training/was the CEO’s salary in jeopardy if management time was wasted on customer service? Were managers too expensive to pay to assist the staff of any corporation to do right by the customer, by the public? It is always after an event that the shock and awe, the condolences, the apologies happen, as if out of the blue an airline employee HAS NEVER berated or beat up a passenger!

We, Americans, should have all taken great heed, when the airlines, ALL, rung their hands and furled their brows, telling us, that due to the increase in gasoline, the fares for flying must be raised. We believed them and one by one, the airlines, filled with angst flowered with true grit, said, we will have to raise prices on tickets, on luggage, on food on movies…BUT trust us, we are doing this for you, and we WILL only be doing this as long as those nasty Oil Producing Countries keep on raising their selfish prices for a barrel of crude! Hmmm, gasoline has dropped quite a bit since those days…the cost of an airplane ticket HAS NOT. We, Americans, should have also been a bit more concerned when suddenly the game of Monopoly was being played by the Airline Industry, one mega merger after the other…Yep, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats said word one about how these HUGE mergers would affect the cost of flying…Its supply and demand we are told, its how American Capitalism works we were lectured…don’t wanna fly, take the Greyhound, except there aren’t that many, don’t wanna fly take the train, except the budget for Amtrak has been cut, don’t wanna fly, stay home!

So, once again, outrage, anger, has surfaced with regards to flying. As if security lines, run by many an ill-equipped personal isn’t frustrating enough, paying more for almost anything you want on an airline flight is outrageously priced. Class war, as you wait your turn to fly waiting until the super, super super duper passengers board first, then just the super, super duper ones, then the those lowly super duper people, waiting until they call the steerage group, sitting in seats designed to limit any kind of blood flow necessary to thrive. Apologies will be provided, lawyers fees will be paid, videos will surface, but I bet our bottom dollar, All of this violence will continue…oh yeah, the airlines will also be mystified, just how all of this stuff could have happened, because well you know its not their practice to best us up!

The Earth

Scientists, educators, the average citizen marching today, as this day in particular has a special name Earth Day. Once we thought this world in which we live, was flat…then we were sure that our giant rock in space was the center of the universe, with the sun and the planets rotating round our blue watery planet. We became more knowledgeable trying to define the values of religious sagas, fables and values but learning more about the science of life, the facts of existence, and the wonders of reason. And yet, as this planet has aged, it seems our own ability to mature in understanding how the sky, the sea, the land, all working and intertwined together, has waned and wandered away from rational and has embraced dogma… dogma so dense in discrimination and suddenly so deceitful.

2017, the 21st century where nations have found the ability to send rockets to the moon, satellites to Pluto, we still find ourselves debating whether or not drought, heat, the change of the weather in all of our seasons, is just bad luck, the luck of the draw or really something almost bad enough that if we continue to ignore the facts, this planet and its inhabitants will die a slow agonizing death. Ironically many religious humans who swear God created Earth, deny that anything bad is happening to this planet, because why would God destroy his gift to the creatures he created. Capitalists, insist that making more money by drilling, grabbing destroying will in turn be the deposit we need to fix anything we have ruined. Politicians, more concerned about their campaign budgets, and a few extra dollars in their pockets, just call anyone who differs with the idea of Climate Change, enemies of the state. it is as if our eyes are lying and what we see is a normal period of change in our planet, and this too shall pass, perhaps just as the dinosaurs had.

The thing I wonder about most, the thing I cannot get hands around, is the men and women who are living now, who want to rake in a few more billion dollars, who pooh-pooh anything or anyone speaking about Climate Change, Pollution, Sea Levels Rising…are they that selfish as to think, that making billions now is better than protecting the quality of life for their children, grandchildren and generations after. Do these people actually believe they can take their fortunes with to the grave; and doing so somehow will not affect the next generation of the families. I always thought the Earth belonged to every living creature, but nowadays it seems that only a few have the right to claim it as theirs.

Gosh darn

Gosh darn, Dag Nabbit, you sly unsophisticated Mama Wolverine, or is it Wolf, oh yeah its Grizzly…well eee-ha, girl, you certainly know how to party with the trashiest of self loathing souls, finding a proud group of misfits, acting as if you were the popular crowd when in fact all of you are nothing but miserable mean girls. You sure hooped and hollered when the Snake Oil Salesman, you know Putin’s puppet, Trump invited you and your BFF’s Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock to the White House for a little trashy baked bean dinner. There you were Sarah Palin, standing in front of Hillary Clinton’s portrait, acting all high and mightier than a woman who is so much brighter, intelligent and humane than you could or would ever be. You and your misogynist, racist, draft dodging cowards posing for a photo op, thinking this will make you relevant. Sarah, hun, there ain’t nothin’ and never was anything relevant regarding you except for being one of the lyin’-est, most pathetic-ist, and stupidest person this side of the 21st century.

Gosh darn Sarah, America saw your picture, standing in the White House, a place that had purpose and plausibility until the Orange Man and his White Supremacist/Nazi loving Communist Republicans took it over. You and pubescent buds pretending that suddenly you brought class back to the White House, when in fact all you ever begin is CRASS, and classless behavior. Sarah Palin, you were hidden, but like radiation, never  really gone; always around to infect good people with the worst diseases. Hun, you never change do you…you find the lowest depth of human behavior then bring your ever trusty pitch-fork and dig a little deeper.

However Sarah, I was a little confused at you actually attending this lets go kill almost extinct wild life and eat their dead bodies for dinner event. Curious how you were not worried that yet one more of your kids would beat up his wife, get arrested…not be ready to preach abstinence while one of your kids is freely having unprotected sex…sewing a tiara for one of your kids ready to dance with the stars…and who is going to hold your youngest child dangling him as if he was a an ornament, one you so carefully use for PR photos, and then when the cameras are gone, seem to never ever pay any other attention to him.  Cool picture Sarah Palin, flaunting yourself in front of Hillary’s photo, you really, really are an insecure, jealous individual…what a sad life hun!

Who's on First

"Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello's questions. For example, the first baseman is named "Who"; thus, the utterance "Who's on first" is ambiguous between the question ("Which person is the first baseman?") and the answer ("The name of the first baseman is ‘Who’"). This comedy sketch still is funny, and is a well remembered bit of conversation summing up the world of ignorant bliss.

Burlesque is a form of fast paced acts, it is mostly made of bling, buzz, and lots of glitz and glamour, it was an easy way to entertain the folks, with facades and very little depth. Sitting in the Oval Office in the year 2017, burlesque has seemingly found its footing once again under the guise of a half backed second banana named Trump. His schtick is similar as the “Who’s on First” routine so well crafted by Abbott and Costello. lets bomb Syria, but not really do any damage to any property the Syrians may still need to continue gassing their citizens. Lets send an “ARMADA” to North Korea, except have it first head the opposite way going to Australia. Then lets shout from the highest loftiest gold plated microphone that we got some of the most terrific submarines heading to North Korea, but actually there are none. Lets drain the swamp of Wall Street Billionaires, but lets plant a moat around the White House instead and fill it with Wall Street CEO’s.

“Who’s on First”? Steve Bannon is good, now he is bad, Jared is reading books about the Middle East he is an expert advisor. Ivanka has tea with the Chinese leadership, she is can decide if doing so permits her to get her trademarks from that nation, but she is the daughter of Trump, so nothing to see here. Rex Tillerson, ex-CEO of Exxon/Mobile, lets make him a statesman, lets call him Secretary of State, oh yeah have him collude a little more with Putin and share in the oil reserves of the Russian Petroleum fields, so somebody, except the American people can make billions of dollars. “Who’s on First”, just ask Mitch McConnell of Paul Ryan, certainly after their secret meetings with anyone Putin they have the answer. “Who’s on First”, used to be a hilarious, now its just dangerous.

don't cry for me

(The scene opens as the camera fades onto the balcony of the First Family’s Quarters of the White House…There is a chorus of people wearing tin foiled tri-cornered hats, some in white sheets, many with dollar bills protruding from pockets and bosoms. Scattered among the crowd are a few daring enough to wear a red arm band with a black swastika for that touch of color…A female dressed in white fabric, a dress made in China, appears standing now by the railing of the balcony…the crowd begins to chant…”Ivanka, Ivanka, Ivanka”…The orchestra raises their instruments a melody begins softly at first with just the strings and a light touch of woodwinds, and then…)

“Don’t cry for me Amer-i-ca, the truth is, I plan to screw you, I really have to, I really want to, and I intend to. You know that we’re never honest, well thats our trademark, how we do business, you really bought it and now you got it.” “And as for fortune and fame, well its all in the brand, its all in my name, its part of our game.” Don’t cry for me Amer-i-ca, you knew we’d con you, that’s what the Trump’s do, the only thing about us, thats true!”

Ivanka Kushner, a lusted after daughter, not the quite the mistress as was, Evita Peron. Serving as the informal First Lady, Ivanka Kushner, as did Evita Peron for President Juan Peron. Self serving, selfish, pretending to be the people’s First Lady, all the while stashing great treasures in her private bank account, Evita Peron or Ivanka Kushner? A face for the nation, a female supposedly a woman’s friend, supposedly pro labor, supposedly devoted to the public, while all the while, grifting from heads of states promising them better politics as they greased the palm of her hand, Evita Peron or Ivanka Kushner. (The camera is now focuses on her face, she is demure, almost made of porcelain, angelic at first but as the camera lens moves in closer, we notice that the makeup is fading, the face has become uglier and then the final scene as she exits from the balcony is a form as scary and heinous as Medusa, with tentacles grabbing at every excess possible. No longer a woman, but of a creature as she enters the White House, she screeches “All through my wild days I kept my promise…now keep your distance!” ( partial lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Weber)

for your consideration

It could have been a movie, John Wayne standing tall, indignant written all over his face, a snarl to make the mood even more meaningful, shoulders broad, dressed in a leather military jacket, poised and posed facing the enemy, all done with a stern face almost carved in stone. There was Mike Pence, standing at the DMZ facing the North Korean military, safely on the South Korean side, surrounded by the US forces as well as the South Korean military.  Then Dana Bash from CNN, all straight faced, her hair pulled back in a semi pony tail, with  rain gear on her body and a bit of a hood on her head, holding her microphone high, speaking in a voice as if she was detailing the next move of a professional golf tour, precise in her staccato voice, almost whispering to the audience, that Mike Pence is about to give the North Koreans the “what for”. Then just as dramatic as Mike Pence, with his pensive and perturbed stance, Dana Bash of CNN asks the camera man to scan the scene and as the camera lens faces the north, Dana Bash finds a new voice, one as if she was a ghost hunter who ended up in a haunted house and was about to let all of us know, that perhaps in the corner of the room if you look close enough you will see the demon waiting to eat you!

Mike Pence now looks directly at the CNN camera, he asked by the now demur, yet a bit disturbed Dana Bash, what is next sir. Soaking in the drama, the potential for at least two dozen sound bites, three dozen election cycle material for commercials, Mike Pence, hesitates, he inhales a hearty bit of breath, all the while looking directly into the camera, he squints his eyes, demonstrating that the question what next is REAL, is LEGIT, or perhaps he has no idea what is next because thee is no WHAT IS NEXT…but this is his moment and after a pause Mike Pence tells the audience that NO ONE FOOLS AROUND WITH TRUMP, and for good measure, Pence then reminds us of the failed policies of the previous administration…and then as if the church ceremony was over, Pence bows his head as if the rest is up to God.

Trump and Pence and their GOP comrades love a good war pretending that this war is for the survival of democracy. Yet in the USA, it seems democracy is old school thinking, rigged elections, denial of civil rights to the LGBT community, women, people of color, the poor. The divide between church and state is almost invisible, the 1% will be paying less taxes, social security, affordable health care will be demolished, and the air we breathe will become drier and less healthy. The Russians have hacked our government at all levels, and of course the Emperor and his family can only stand from their gold plates balconies and tell all of us to just eat cake. But, PR firm of Trump and Pence are quite savvy, and they understand that the invention of an enemy trumps any other concerns. Forget how illegitimate the Trump administration is and was, we got a NUCLEAR WAR coming up, and NOW that is something to think about.

broken record

Back in the day (Oy, at 67 years of age, I have a whole lot of back in the days…but I digress), receiving a gift certificate from the National Record Mart (when record stores where alive and well and thriving in the city of Pittsburgh) for your birthday or Bar or Bat Mitzvah, was a little bit like manna from heaven. No matter the precise price of the certificate, the joy was more about the ability to walk into a store full of vinyl browse for hours either holding onto an album or just letting your fingers meander to the 45’s. All of this music, while clutched in your hands a certificate to purchase exactly what you wanted, was pure happiness indeed. The thing however, AFTER buying the record of your choice, was to make sure that when it played it remained almost as new as the first day you brought it home…record players and those darn needles had a bad habit of scratching the record and your best song ever suddenly sounded like a crying baby. Nothing worse than broken record, with the needle always seeming to find the same exact spot to ruin your listening pleasure.

When I wake up in the morning, after hitting the john (again at 67, lots of new habits seem to find footing), I will look at my phone, mainly to see if I missed any calls, secondly hoping that during the night Trump was impeached, and thirdly (and I admit this freely with a bit of unsettled turmoil in my gut) that the third world war had’t begun. Ever since Putin won the presidential election I made a vow to myself that I no longer would watch any cable news, as I found most of the entertainers on those news shows either shills for Trump, enablers for Trump, or so full of themselves that watching them speak would cause greater emotional harm to me. So I try and rely on the free printed press for real information (I am not so sure how long the free part of free press will be appropriate). Each morning as I reach for my phone, I think will today be like the day before, and all i will read is how Trump and the Republicans are once and again acting as hypocrites, and once and again, some headline banner will read this time Trump out did himself and is headed for trouble.

Somehow, as smart as we Americans believe ourselves to be, we find our selves in the same set of circumstances that our own history taught us was a bad place to be in the first place. Mike Pence is in South Korea, forgetting that the Korean conflict was never resolved in the first place, yet eager to let the world know we are ready to finish off what we never completed in the first place. We are once again firing bombs in Afghanistan, a war mired in the mangled and dead bodies of both the people of Afghanistan and out own Troops. We are involved in Syria, and calling our Iran, rattling sabers and inciting the kind of propaganda that only causes more hate. We are pretending to defend democracy around the world, while in our nation, the rights of women, the LGBT, the poor, the elderly are quickly and quietly being denied. And every time, I reach for my phone all I can think of, is that damn scratch on the new record I just purchased from National Record Mart and how pissed I am that the only sound I hear is the needle stuck in the same place.

Happy Easter

For those who celebrate this day, finding its meaning as a renewal of faith, I wish that the love and hope Easter finds in your hearts and souls emanates into actions toward ALL of us who share this planet. For those who understand that this day of Easter is a second chance, a miracle perhaps of trying one more time to correct the ill into the good, the misunderstood into knowledge, the fragility of being human into the strength to become a hero, will then, provide the mere mortals ALL around us with chance, choice and consideration. For those who celebrate this Easter Sunday, as a day with family and friends contemplating the future do notice that the same rainbow of colors as the dyed eggs, the beautiful bonnets, the emergence of flowers from a long winters nap are if nothing else a symbol for the beauty of diversity, be it choice of religion, color of skin, who we love, and our unique identities of gender.

We can choose to believe, and we must also choose to permit the beliefs of others to find the same common ground we insist to stand upon for ourselves. For those celebrate this day, I hope you find that whatever you seek it never remains selfish, but in fact can be shared with all of us on this very blue planet. Happy Easter!

Look Closely

Trump still believes a sucker is born every minute, and to be fair to him, he is almost correct. Trump is good at two things, smoke and mirrors, and indirectly bragging about how good he is at the smoke and mirror thing. In Trumps’ sad state of narcissism, he is always afraid, that if the people don’t find out just how good of liar he is, all of that lying will have been wasted. Most people with at least an average IQ understand that with every Tweet, or accusation attempted by Trump, he is in fact trying to cover up his own inadequacies; thinking as a two year old Toddler would, if i say it isn’t so, no one will accuse me of doing it. And i hate to admit it but there is a third thing Trump excels at which is diversion. He is a master of diversion, so much so that he could care less if a few dozen warheads are activated or the brink of a nuclear holocaust is on the horizon. Trump’s plotting and planning diversionary tactics never take in to account the consequences for the other, but always and ONLY take into consideration how he will weasel out of yet one more lie. As far as the sucker being born every other minute thing, Trump, knows full well that the so called network news cabal of bling infested amateurs, love themselves some bling, so Trump provides their small minds with tons of diversions.

The thing about Trump, again, that most people with at least an average IQ understand, is that the closer the American public gets to uncovering his illegal and treasonous acts, the more brilliant he becomes in acting out. First it was Tomahawk Missiles, now it is battle ships heading toward the Korean Peninsula, all the while of course hiding out in his Mar-A-Lago tax payer funded resort. Imagine any other president placing the world on the path to the Third World War, and deciding to play a few rounds of golf while doing so. Sadly, the enablers of the Party of Death the GOP, could care less, just as long as Trumps signs into law, that women no longer have personal rights to their bodies, poor people remain in poverty, education becomes Christian, and there are enough OTHERS to blame of everything wrong in this nation.

If this man is not impeached or hopefully placed in prison, and if all of his Russian spy’s and Republicans comrades are not removed from power sooner than later, we can all get ready for a few things, from more bombs blasting in air, less freedom of any press or expression, and the best of all martial law in which we all, except for those Putin prefers, will be held hostage in our own country. Look closely at Trumps behavior and you will understand just how close he thinks he is to being caught and captured as the enemy of the state he really is.

A collision

Because he can and has and no one has even tried to stop him….because he has no conscience, thus no fear of consequence, he will continue to cause and create havoc, having a hell of a time doing so…because his ego is an endless pit of hunger and he has an insatiable appetite for spite and will feed on that spite to soothe his cravings, no matter how crazy the results. He of course is Trump. 

This man sitting in the White House is no longer just a joke, or a fluke. We know he is a con a liar and a revengeful insecure narcissist, who is permitted to gamble with the health and welfare of ALL of this nation, and sadly so the populations of the planet Earth. He will seek attention, looking for the brightest light as does a moth to a porch light in the summer time, but instead of his burning and crashing into oblivion he will take the rest of us with him. 

I ask the rhetorical question over and over and with each inhale of breath to recite my query, I sigh and feel sick, but who can stop this man, how can we stop this man, when will the bottom of the barrel, which Trump continues to decent each and every day, be reached? All of America should be worried, why does it seem however that anything Trump is becoming more and more like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, instead of being seen as that rogue astroid, on a collision course to end civilization!

It is that serious

As another day rises in a country whose democracy is crumbling and being destroyed, as another day rises in a nation no longer of or for the people, as another day rises and all we read and re-read is THAT this time Trump is finished…as another day comes and surely will go with still Trump lying, stealing, cheating, denying, BUT Taking as much advantage of the citizens of this nation, maybe we all should realize one thing…Trump will remain strong until the GOP stop remaining weak…We can ooh and ahhh, I can continue to get yet one more useless email from the DNC promising me that with my next donation of $3, we will knock Trump off of his throne…Trump will control the conversation until the news networks hire real journalists, not entertainers, not talking heads, not ex lobbyists, not pundents, who don’t play lets pretend and debate, but who in fact state the facts, show the facts and refuse to let liars lie, and cheaters cheat…

Another day, and this one brings the ‘Yugest’ bomb ever…warships off go the Korean Peninsula, Assad denying anything chemical, polluted environments, nepotism at the White House and men and women who have lied before Congress sitting in Cabinet positions. As another day rises and ends, it carries with it the hope that somehow America will ever recover…Trump is murdering this nations soul and as long as the GOP who understands that with Trump in the White House none of their disingenuous agenda will ever see the light of day, assisting him supplying him every murder weapon necessary, soon nothing resembling the USA will exist…Yep IT IS That Serious! 

OMINOUS

October 22, 1962, (a day after my birthday when I became 13 years old, (My Bar Mitzvah was about to happen in November, the tradition, regarding this in the Jewish religion, was that I would officially become a man), but I was still a kid. October 22, 1962 the United States enforced the Cuban Embargo, demanding that no Russian ships enter to exit from Cuba for fear that the cargo onboard might contain nuclear materials. Coincidently, this crisis lasted 13 days. I remember having a President in the White House, with intelligence, concern for the American people, President Kennedy was a Democrat, but I also remember that the Republican Party, of that era were also, supportive the American public, and realized that Democrats and Republicans shared a common aggressor, and that not working together was wrong for the American public. I also remember that no one in the White House or for that matter was beholden to the Russians, or fearful that blackmail disguised as puppet strings would be pulled or pushed to keep the politicians of both parties from doing the common good for ALL of America. I was still a kid, but watching my parents, our adult neighbors and family, I realized something beyond my imagination might come to fruition. I also remember that the news, during this Missile Crisis, was direct, was factual and was not more concerned with sound bites, bling, or BS. The truth was told, no talking heads to debate the fact that maybe a nuclear war would be good for the nation or not, and any report presented to the American public was sound, solid and sure.

It is April 12, 2017, a day after my sisters birthday. I am now 67, and as read about the current events of today, I feel that ominous, emotion wafting up my spine digging into my spine, I had no idea what to call that same feeling as a kid, but as an adult I will just use the word terrified. Whether it be Syria or now North Korea, this nation under the leadership of a reality star, and the CEO of Exxon Mobile, all pampered and procured by a Republican Party whose only cause is self, the nation is facing some OMINOUS events. We have a man in the White House who wants to get even with anyone he deems the devil. He has oil deals with Putin his daughter tells him she is dismayed that children in Syria are being poisoned with chemicals, and he will Con the rest of the world, just to keep his narcissistic fame and ill gotten fortune. The Republicans in Congress have demonstrated over and over again their disdain for democracy and permit this nihilist to remain in office. And the cable news talking heads praised a useless and expensive missile attack ad bravery, refusing to ask the big question what is next.

I am terrified at these actions, I am miffed that Trump somehow is still in charge of the button to end civilization, I am pissed that no one has budged an inch to remove him from power…and I am not sure if there will be any other time in my life to witness something as OMINOUS as what our nation  has permitted to take place.

The drain

Our house in Pittsburgh, was located in a row of homes, now neatly referred as town homes. We were situated at the end of the row, giving us access to an alley, which during the day, provided a bunch of outdoor creative opportunities of inventive games, but in the evening, the same cheerful exciting pathway from the front of the house to the back yard, was nothing but a haunted dark tunnel, where surely the spirits of the dead, zombies, or monsters waited to grab you and God knows what happened after that. At the back of our house were 15 cement steps leading to the cellar door. That door was made of the strongest wood, but trying to open or close it, one might have thought it was pure steel. At the bottom of the 15 steps, right before you could or would try to open our cellar door was a drain a circular whole with a very rusted mesh covering. Anything and everything from the top of the 15 steps could and would follow the rules of gravity and flow gently or in the case of a good summer Pittsburgh thunderstorm, fall in torrents to the drain.

My father, was a cop, and his days off were random, but when he had a day or two, at times he became the handy man. I loved my dad, but his handyman activities always included the use of his two youngest children, me and my little sister, and when he would utter the scary words of lets clean the drain, my little sister and I would shudder. Lets clean the drain, meant Would first have to reach into that pit of hell , reach for whatever ghastly gook, bigs, or dead things lived and died. Then, even though my hand were small, my poor little sister who had even smaller fingers had to reach deep, deep into the the entrance of Dante’s inferno and pull out the the most gross of gross crawly, smooshed and used to be living things remaining. We would beg our dad to just let whatever died in that drain remain. Our pleas went unheard and instead of removing the rot of existence each week, we waited until the pile of putrid stuff accumulated and accumulated. If only my younger sister and i ha been brave enough on our own to just, once a week face our fears and dig out the junk of the drain, we could have eased the fears of too much, too late and too bad!

Each and every day when I read that the Trump Dictatorship has once again ignored the Constitution, continued to scam the American public, conducts personal business, permits his family to rip off our economy and is still colluding with Russia, and the only response is wait, his time will come and not a thing IS really done to stop him (Except for endless emails to me from Tom Perez and the DNC to give $3) I think of the drain at the bottom of our house and all of the most miserable of Earth’s garbage lying there. All I can do is think, the more we wait the more disgusting the pile of shit will grow. the more the pile of shit grows the more difficult it will be to remove it. the more difficult to remove the more lazy we become and then suddenly it is ignored and considered just the way of life, it is what it is. Cleaning the drain was awful work, but so fulfilling once all of the crap was gone.

Pesach

Having spent all of my professional life in Jewish Communal Service, I have had vast opportunities to participate in a wide variety of religious, observant, cultural and honestly convenient celebrations of Judaism. Through my almost 30 years of JCC employment, I have been told, lectured to, suggest by, informed of and experienced what God is, what God isn’t, what a good Jew should be, what bad Jews act like, who is a Jew and of course who is really not Jewish. The thing I understand best at my ripe young age of 67, is that my kind of Judaism, my beliefs, my connection with my God is unique unto me, but because of all the hundreds of people I have met, it incorporates so much more.

Tonight is the beginning of Pesach (Passover). For me, the reason to celebrate this holiday has much to do with the issues of freedom, the need to express myself, and the choices of how to make a difference and how to let the opportunity of equality slip by, with just the sheer lack of action. Perhaps, the Jews of Egypt fled for 40 years, understanding that the risks taken for freedom outweighed the oppression of slavery…perhaps a higher power provided the escape necessary…of course being human, many could not understand that deep inside they had the will to become more, and perhaps they needed God to remind them of their own abilities, albeit, for me, it is easier to ask God to do the job than often times doing it yourself. Tonight is a look back at history, and sadly, a story I see finding surface in out modern society. Not just the Jews, but many Americans are becoming the victims of a self anointed Pharaoh, shackles created formless income, less education, less health care, less job opportunities have been dangling and the more complacent the citizen the tighter these chain become. Tonight, is Pesach, and at the Seder people will sing Dayenu (Hebrew for “It would have been enough”) reminding us that we once were slaves, not again, EVER. For me, I must add never again, and will continue my Exodus from a tyrant, an oppressive government and the politicians who enjoy the kind of life, the rest of us must beg for.

Tonight is Pesach, and the one other wonder of this holiday aside from never taking freedom for granted, is the culinary aromas and tastes, which still permeate, my soul as if my mother was still cooking, baking in her kitchen. I always miss my mother, but on Jewish holidays filled with flavors, I remember how her food tasted so much better as she added love to everything she created. Hag Sameach!

only words

Most of us of have learned a lesson regarding words spoken; they may eloquent, they may require tears when listened to, they may be as artful as a sculptor who finds a piece of wood creates a masterpiece, they be muttered, muffled or magical but like the oxygen in our lungs, once expelled they disappear…UNLESS each and every word is followed by an action, they turn invisible. The words spoken by the man sitting in the Oval Office, most recently have tried to sound compassionate, supportive; reading from a teleprompter of course using the words of someone just as insincere as himself, but with complete sentences, Trump talked about the lives of those beautiful Syrian babies, tortured, harmed gassed and dead. His actions, we have all witnessed are meaningless, and honestly are reactions, which HE hopes will con all of us into thinking HE has changed. They are just words…

Chemical warfare is a creation of the most evil of humankind, but it does not always lend itself to the battlefields of war. Kids in Flint Michigan are suffering, dying slow deaths because of the chemicals in their water system. Not a word spoken in their defense. Streams rivers, ponds full of coal ash runoff, factory rust and ruin all working their way into the neighborhoods of Appalachia, kids bathing in it, swimming in it, drinking from it. No words about that, except from Trump and his cohorts to permit more of it to happen. Monsanto, with all of their chemicals feeding live stock, watering crops, pesticides spayed not he fruit and vegetables, eaten by the kids of all states, carbon particles, now able to float freer than ever with the cuts to the EPA , all falling in the lungs of every American child, rich or poor, black, brown or white. No words for that, except a quote similar to Sarah Palin’s lack of concern, “drill baby drill.”

Now the entertainer of news networks, like CNN, ABC, CBS etc, have fallen over the words Trump has spoken, pretending that by just speaking those words of “those beautiful babies in Syria”, actually mean anything more than,”now my rating will go up.” Words can be like the finest of art, but the colors and hues and intent of the artist remains on the canvass, Trumps words  are full of hot air and as they rise to the surface they burst pop and fade away, leaving the listener with nothing to hear.

Ratings

Believing this whole White House stint is reality TV, Trump became worried about ratings week. Talking to himself as he looked in the mirror he decided hr needed a bit more bling and bogus to bring back his popularity numbers; after all just having billionaires as sponsors can’t help you become the BEST PRESIDENT ever, you need an audience of the average moron. So, to kick off ratings week he decided to fire a few million dollars worth of missiles to get the people’s attention. Paid off as the stupid and of the course the media languished him with valor, honor and duty. Alas alack, the whole thing back fired as it seemed someone named trump notified his buds Assad and Putin, don’t be surprised but I am going to surprise you with some warheads….OOOPS!

Its rating week folks as in 7 days of sweeps. Gotta get those numbers up, just wonder what other big bang theory’s, the demented Donald has in mind…nukes in South Korea…raid on Teheran…or just maybe an invasion of California! Ya just never know do ya! 

Juxtapose

What an interesting twist of a plot. The United States had always been prepared for a war with Russia, not just a war bought a nuclear war. We had to be vigilant, we were told, the Russians surly want to invade our nation and will use their atomic arsenal to do so.

But in a strange juxtaposition of mere fact, it has been the Republican Party who actually nuked America and the fall out will be felt for women, the LGBT community, workers and the poor. A huge mushroom cloud exploded in the Senate Chambers and the radioactivity of the least popular president and his band of anarchists will be penetrating the rights, will and freedoms of America.

And then, on the other hand of of the juxtaposition of current events. The Russian’s did invade this nation, but without any atomic weapons. All it took was blackmail, old dollars and the hired hands of those who will do anything for profit.

Ya never quite know who your enemy is or how they will attack you!

God Bless America

Even for Rod Serling, the current events in which we, Americans find ourselves, would have been too weird to write a script, yet present it on television. But weird has lost its meaning, and relevancy in America 2017. There is trick to living each day, you find the clues letting you know what might be real versus what is a figment of the imagination of a puppet and his puppet master. Who’s have think that the Senate would go nuclear…who’s have thunk that the Speaker of the House passed a law penalizing its members of the House to protest in front of cameras on the House Floor. And who’d have thought we would be sending cruise missiles to Syria…UNLESS…

Now, bare with me, because what I am suggesting, has CONSPIRACY THEORY written all over it. Honestly, if we were not living in the Time of Trump, I would consider my own opinion too bizarre for a sane man…and currently I am maintaining the balance of sanity holding on to a very thin line. 

Putin permitted Assad to attack his people with chemicals. It is a given, that Assad will not do anything unless his boss lets, him..as is the case with Putin’s other puppet Trump. Almost a week ago, Rex Tillerson, said that it would be up to the Syrian people to overthrow their dictator, Assad. Suddenly chemical weapons are used. At the same time at least a dozen Russian oligarchs or politicos are dying, all of whom have had some intervention with Trump or his campaign team. All of the sudden, the Dems have found a backbone and have finally brought to attention of the stupid just how much and what kind of influence Putin has had and still has on the White House. Too much buzz about THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION, Americans must be lulled into a delusional, red, white and blue moment, and what better then bombing the shit out of this nasty Arabs! does Trump care about the lives of our military or the Syrians, you know the ones he will not let find sanctuary…OF COURSE NOT…Its the ratings first, and secondly, as has been the case, Putin knows Americans suffer ADD, and it is NOW time to look at the next shiny object and to keep our eyes away from the rusted crown on our Emperors head. God Bless America!

Trump Code

Space: the final frontier. “These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”.(Gene Roddenberry) On September 8, 1966, we heard that quote and began our voyage to a frontier full of mystery, mayhem, surprises and surreal journey’s. We also leaned from the Crew of the USS Star Ship Enterprise that life as we supposed it to be was not always as it was meant to be. Often times strange beings confronted the Star Ship Crew, and the most important thing for these men and women was to communicate with these aliens, hoping to better understand their voices and their intent. The various life forms could be hostile, friendly or very nonchalant and neutral, but it was almost as if the Star Ship Crew had to break a code, had to understand the purposes of the mechanics of their communication.

Well, America, we have a life force sitting in the Oval Office who often times is as difficult to understand as those creatures living in the furthest reaches of warp speed. But like Mr Spock and Captain Kirk, with enough due diligence and effort, the code by which this monster called Trump speaks can be broken and understood. Actually, it has become q very easy pattern to learn. This Trump thing is narcissist, so much so that even when he commits indiscretions, illegal actions, commits crime, he must brag about it, This monster called Trump must shed his truths to make room for more fiction to fill the voids of his body. It is almost like a snake who will shed its old skin to make room for growth to accommodate the next phase to its life. I refer to it as the Trump Code.

Basically, when Trump concocts a story about an enemy, it is usually incubated right after a truth is told about either Trump of his team. Trump will Tweet in third grade English something that sounds like, “If I am what about you.” Trump will lash out understanding that if he accuses others of the same thing he has done, then by doing everyone will think because Trump said it meaner, all the attention will be drawn away from him. If he has lied he insists or she is lyin’, or cheatin’. He has been successful in destroying enemies by his accusations. And recently Trump is shedding more lies by accusing Obama of leaking information, when in fact it was Trumps team who has committed those actions. And now he is blaming Loretta Lynch for misusing national Security information, just as his best bud Michael Flynn and god know who else has done. Mr Spock and Captain Kirk knew that before that reacted to the alien, they had to better understand what was being said. For me the easiest thing as to what illicit and illegal actions Trump has been and is involved in, is to just listen how he causes others of doing what he has done. 

all we are

The Middle East is continuing to explode, now Syrian citizens are being tortured to death via nerve gas bombs, and what do we do, we send Jared Kushner to Iraq, so he can close a private Trump/Kushner Family business deal. The Assad Regime, the dictator paid and profiting from Russian interference and dollars, continues to rule his empire, torturing, maiming, and murdering anyone he wishes and our response is to try and close either a Siberian or Arctic oil drilling contract with the Russians, hoping that our Secretary of State Rex Tillerson uses the might of Mobile-Exxon to seal the deal. We all understand Putin pulls the strings of his satellite nations, yet now a days the US Republican leadership begs to be part of his marionette show, fearful that if Putin cuts those strings, people like Ryan, Chaffetz, McConnell, Pence and Trump will certainly be penniless, and propelled into political purgatory, and maybe a Federal Penitentiary! 

History is replete with examples of we do this for God, we do this for the good, we do this for revenge, we do this because, we can…Ethnic genocide happened in Rwanda, when the Hutu’s losing their power in government decided on genocide against their rival tribe, the Tutsi’s…we didn’t care after all this was in Africa, black man against black man. Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia as the Serbs decided that the Croatian’s were really not true Bosnians…eh, they were former Communists so who really cared. They called it the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Protestants wanting to remain as a part Great Britain, and the Catholics wanting the same kind of freedom as their Irish cousins had. This was considered a political/nationalistic conflict…the US was torn as we had our share of both Christian denominations, but in reality, we were dealing with those pesky Negro’s who were demanding their own kind of independence. And the Holocaust…no need at first to get involved with that shit, so what if the Jews were the scapegoat…they were just Jews, how really cared. Now we have the Syrians, mainly Muslim, certainly all terrorists…so what if they die, don’t they really deserve to do so…

Why is it we have little difficulty finding reason for war, but consider it treasonous to seek peace? What is it about our own insecurities that cause us to blame God for war, because if we don’t murder in his name we are not worthy enough? Why do we believe there is more profit to be made by investing in the military, and despise the details of the health and welfare of the people? How is that we insist that our past history is more important then creating our future? Why are we only secure when we identify an ENEMY.

facts, ma'am

“Just the facts ma’am”, Detective Sergeant Joe Friday, speaking to potential perps, witnesses or people of interest, spoken on the premier of the television show Dragnet in 1951. This Detective had no time for BS, avoidance, or disdain for the truth. For 30 minutes the viewer got the details, discovered the shiftiness of the guilty and as was the case at least in cinema and television, was pleased that the bad guys or gals were sent to jail. “Just the facts ma’am”.

At least 7 Russian citizens related to the banking or politburo businesses of Russia have suspiciously died some health me dropping dead, some falling from balconies and other just stabbed. Aside from once working for Putin and of course being of Russian citizenry, they all had met with members of the trump campaign team and perhaps Trump himself. Three men so far Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn were and are under investigation by the CIA and FBI for their connections with oligarchs from Russia which translated from Russian to American simple translate into Putin. Rex Tillerson received a medal of valor from Putin, Jason Chaffetz and Trey Gowdy have received campaign dollars from people whose business is directly aligned with Russian business, and rumor has it Paul Ryan has had a few conversations with Russian hackers. Trump has both publicly stated that either he was aware the Russians might have hacked anything Hillary and actually encouraged them to do more. Trump lost the popular vote by at least million votes, not representing the majority opinion of Americans. His son-in-law Jared Kushner is now on the list of those who have business dealings with the Russians during the presidential campaign. Trump has declared Putin a great leader. And yet, the Republican Talking Heads all dressed in their white privilege or if they are of color and still a Republican Talking Head, patronized just enough, so they too think they have white privilege, insist America has better things to like permitting Neil Gorsuch to become the next Supreme Court Justice.

Potential treason/anarchy/lots of possible perjury/roadblocks and detours by Trump and his associates and the Republicans want to sound offended that the Dems have the audacity to perhaps (If only) Filibuster, Gorsuch’s nomination process. If Trump and Company are innocent, let’s discover that first and not after the fact, a fact that has decades of consequences of not stopped NOW. This should be so easy, but then this is not the TV show, there is no Detective Joe Friday insisting, “Just the facts ma’am!”

the good gone bad

In elementary school, back in the day, teachers used the method of teaching the entire classroom a lesson if in fact one or two kids misbehaved. The teachers would exact a pound of flesh from all of the student body to demonstrate how bad behavior affects EVERYONE, then try to explain the proper rules and regulations to EVERYONE; even though, most of the time it was the same kids disrupting the classroom. I was one of those good kids as well the majority of my friends and we ALWAYS understood the contract between teacher and student, but could NEVER understand why WE had to be punished for the behavior of those kids who could care less, and try to get away with whatever they wanted for as long as they wanted. Seemed silly to say the least, and a waste of time to say the most.

Now, in 2017, we are being told that just because the Republicans did not obey the rules of the Constitution by permitting a sitting president to nominate a Justice for the Supreme Court, that the Dems, should not be obstructionists and NOT try and Filibuster the Trump nominee Gorsuch. We are being told, that “most Americans want a vote on Gorsuch.” I understand Republican hypocrisy is in fact the new fact of life, but honestly if I hear or read one more pompous person try to explain that if a popular president elected for two terms with majority votes and Electoral College tally’s was not permitted to have his nomination face an up or down vote in Congress…if HE was not given that respect and the people were supposedly NEVER pissed about that…BUT now a man in who is in office due to direct intervention as he and his campaign have colluded with the Russians, whose tax records have not been disclosed and who lost the majority vote by the people…that HIS nominee even being Filibustered is somehow Un-American and some thing that the people expect…I will finally reach my wits end.

Everyday Trump remains in the Oval Office is a new day that a piece of democracy has rotted and died along with freedoms, equality and fairness. Everyday, Trump and the Republicans believe this is not a democracy and refuse to respect “checks and balances”, the planet and its life form begin to suffer. Everyday, Trump remains as the Emperor Puppet, chances for something better hide, never to be found. But, it also seems that the longer the Dems do nothing at all to stop this man, their chances of being our next hope for change also disappear. It seems now, the Dems are going to cower and vote on a Justice, whose record of anti, worker, anti education and LGBT community and anti choice will become a member of the Supreme Court. When I hear the argument that the court should not be a political hack, I have to wonder, how come NOW it is not supposed to be a venue for politics, when in the past year, that was all the Republican leadership plotted and planned.