waiting

 “I can't wait forever

Even though you want me to
I can't wait forever
To know if you'll be true

Time won't let me-ee-ee (Whoa, no)
Time won't let me-ee-ee (Whoa, no)
Time won't let me-ee-ee-ee
Wait that long” (‘Time Won’t Let Me’/The Outsiders)

 

"To meet the challenge of the current moment, we must re-dedicate the resources of the Department of Justice to a critical part of its original mission: enforcing federal law to protect the franchise for all eligible voters," Merrick Garland said, noting a recent wave of legislation in several states that restrict voter access. (USA Today)

 

Late on the night of April 24, the wife of Georgia’s top election official got a chilling text message: “You and your family will be killed very slowly.” A week earlier, Tricia Raffensperger, wife of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, had received another anonymous text: “We plan for the death of you and your family every day.” (Reuters)

 

“Donald Trump in the White House again may not be as patient and may just skip the Department of Justice and its processes and just order his lieutenants to lock up his political opponents,” says Rep. Eric Swalwell on his fear if those involved in Trump data seizure don't face consequences. (MSNBC)

 

Tuesday, November 2, 2021…Tuesday, January 5, 2021, Wednesday, January 6, 2021… Saturday, June 12, 2021…AND EXACTLY what EXACTLY has changed? I suppose the HEAT of the day will become the HYPE of yesterday, a sad sack of shit FORGOTTEN, FORGIVEN, FOREVER FROZEN in time, but never enough TIME to save AMERICA and AMERICANS!

 

 

Dear Gerry

 My Dear Gerry,

It is now 71 years and 8 months, since that day, Grandpa Buncher became overwhelmed with joy and delight that his oldest son, Howard, had HIS oldest son Gerald William. A Grandson, to carry on the Buncher name, a new Prince soon to become King of the Buncher Kingdom, albeit a small tailor located on Walnut Street in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. For the travels, trials, and tribulations of a journey from Kyiv to Pittsburgh, fighting the hordes of Russian pogroms, Benjamin Buncher was a Grandfather, and HIS Grandson would inherit the Earth!

 

True and false, Gerry…It was the 1950’s and if you “Liked Ike” you also understood black was black, white was white, wrong was wrong, right was right, boys ONLY became masculine men, and girls only grew to become feminine women. At first, it was not a struggle, you were young and had time to prepare for ALL the MALE responsibilities lying in wait for you, OR was it, waiting to trip you up, tease you and try your stamina and strength. Nonetheless, it was a time when no one EVER drew outside of the lines, and EVERONE remained inside their perceived boxes. You did, and be it fate, or in Yiddish BESHERT (destiny), or human nature, time passed, and you pursued a life where heterosexuality was the main course and homosexuality that seemingly elusive dessert!

 

Lots to learn and unlearn, accept and realize that to be accepted meant coming into a light and leaving the shadows and closet forever. To be honest, Gerry, you did your best, and at times felt you needed to even be better. Thank you for FINALLY seeking and reaching for YOUR truth.

 

Much love and admiration,

Gerry

 

PS: June 12, 2021, marks the 5-year anniversary of the tragic Pulse Nightclub shooting, a day that devastated—and united—the Orlando community… Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday slashed $900,000 in funding for programs that serve LGBTQ people in Central Florida, including a program that provides mental health services to survivors and family members of victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting. A promise, young Gerry, I WILL NEVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AND EQUALITY, because SILENCE EQUALS DEATH!

 

 

Tut-Tut

 The endless cycle of outrage and reform over policing in America

Entrenched practices reemerge when monitors move on, leadership changes and public scrutiny wanes. (NEWSWEEK)

 

This, rant, is NOT JUST about the lack of will to move forward with Police Reform…this rant is about THE LACK OF WILL by the public to move forward in most types of REFORM from Gun Violence, Racial Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Gender Identity Biases, and Fascism…once the HUBUB has receded, it seems the politicians re-discover their HUBRIS, and pretend, OUTRAGE was so yesterday, and get away with their WHITEWASHING of history. Of course, there is enough PUBLIC OUTCRY, but if we look closely at the GROUNDHOG DAY EFFECT, and the EFFECTIVENESS of the Republican/FOX/Christian Evangelical/1% Domestic Terrorist/ Dark Money Spin Machine to change the subject, or SUBJECT the issue as a PROGRESSIVE PLOT, our Tears and Fears turn into FOLLY, and the rest of America seems to FORGET!

 

Think about it…at least 2,000 people have been killed or injured in mass shootings since 1999 when 13 students were killed at Columbine High School…One out of 44 adults – 2.27 percent of the total U.S. voting-eligible population–is disenfranchised ...90 state lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct since 2017…With Eight Anti-LGBTQ Bills Already Enacted Into Law In States This Year — and Ten More Awaiting Governors' Signatures…The Big Lie is still being told, and the INSURRECTION on January 6, is ignored (Reuters)…

 

My Grandma Braff would tell my siblings and me, “When you hear people say TUT-TUT, it is NOT worth the worry, BE WORRIED!” She then, would stand perfectly erect, stare into someplace in the void of time gone by, and add, “The spit of the TUT-TUT, cannot compare to the SWEAT, of actually making things change; IT is not worth its weight in salt!”

 

 

 

 

SCHVITZ

 To SCHVITZ: A Yiddish word: Schvitz: to perspire

Schvitz: to be nervous
Durchshvitz (/doorkh*shvitz/): to persevere
Schvitz (noun): a steam bath, where people sweat
Schvitzer (noun, adjective): a big shot (who can afford to sit in a schvitz and shoot the breeze with fellow schvitzers)

 

Short story: When I became the Assistant Director of the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh, the community continued its YM&WHA (Young Men and Women’s Hebrew Association;) historically it was a Jewish version of the YMCA, because back in the day, Jews were prohibited from joining Christian oriented YMCA’s, so we created our own. I was working this job in the late ’70s and at the YM&WHA was an old-time health club, with a very popular steam bath, where older men could spend hours on end, doing nothing but taking a SCHVITZ. I, at the time, was a youngster and wanted to earn the respect of these ELDERS, and asking one of my mentors (a man of a certain age, of which I NOW find myself, he said to take a long SCHVITZ, listen to the stories of the old country, let the men complain about being retired, their children taking over the family business and fucking that up, and how they love their wives, but hate all the shopping they do. OY, I thought this was one HELLISH way to get to know these members. I did, however, because many of these men were the original pillars of the Jewish Community, and I felt an obligation to get to know them. So, it was time to TAKE A SCHVITZ. I walked into the area where the sauna was located, approached the four steps up to enter the steam bath, when one man said, welcome, but what is that? For a minute, I wanted to say my balls, but they were covered by my swimsuit, so I looked confused. He then said the SCHVITZ is to purify yourself, no swim trunks…OY, who knew!

 

I have SCHVITED  about the state of our UNION…CONSTITUTION…DEMOCRACY… and the potential for a future of a FASCIST Government…an AUTHORITARIAN Government…a THEOCRACY…a DICTATORSHIP. To me, these are REAL possibilities, and I did not live my 71 years, and raise two children for my future to be blighted and bloated by bigoted, bull shit artists, so I do all I can to try and change an outcome. But honestly, after seeing a few photos of the Orange Turd, desperate to take center stage, once again, when he was in North Carolina I had to chuckle (I never laugh at him, because to do so is to take your eye off of his scheming)…BUT, I thought of the phrase…THE EMPORER HAS NO CLOTHES…and the story that ass lickers are always afraid of telling the ASS-WIPE, the truth…this time, however, it seems the ASS-LICKERS, never told the feeble-minded idiot…HIS PANTS WERE ON BACKWARDS…I bet a lot of them were SCHVITING afterward!

 

 

A SHONDA

  

SHONDA: noun. informal US. In Jewish usage: a person, thing, or act that brings shame or scandal; a disgrace.

 

My Grandma Braff (my mother’s mother) arrived in the United States at the age of 15. Her instructions upon arrival with her younger sister were simple…learn English immediately, GET A JOB IMMEDIATELY, and never place your laundry on the window sill to dry! My Grandma Braff’s eldest sister had already arrived, settled in, married a man twice her age, became a stepmother, and was too soon pregnant,  ALL THE WHILE still in her teens. The other instructions, according to my Grandma Braff’s recollections were to learn the good jargon (phrases like “what’s new,” “how are you doing,” “what are you up to,”) and to REMEMBER THE bad jargon, like any word considered a swear word (my Grandmother’s older sister informed my Grandmother, it was easy to know those words, because the person's veins, who was using those words would look swollen, and as angry as they seemed, suddenly would look around and whisper a SWEAR WORD!) BUT, my Grandma Braff was told, only repeat those words at home and learn the YIDDISH translation for them. Oh, yeah, and never use the English or Yiddish translation for a swear word in front of a male relative, AND NEVER IN FRONT OF ANY MAN WHO MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A PROPER SUITER! (which in those days was any Jewish man NOT a relative!)

 

It was NOT until I was in my teens, that I heard my Grandmother swear in English. We were standing in line, at Rosen’s Drug Store to pick up her prescription. A long line and a long wait, because back in the day, you asked a lot of questions of the Pharmacist, and they took the time to answer. There was a man, however who wasn’t having any of it. He was yelling “I have a rash, it itches, all I want is some cream.” He pushed his way forward, moving about half a dozen people. My Grandma and I were next in line when this man stood in front of my grandmother. My grandmother always carried an umbrella, (she said it was just in case it rained, BUT I soon discovered, the UMBRELLA was actually a weapon. The man is about to push ahead of my Grandma, when she says, with her ruby red painted lips pursed so tightly, I thought she had fangs like a snake. She raised her umbrella from the pointed edge and hissed, “YOU PUTZ!” If you come one-inch closer, I will make you SHIT in your pants! WTF, I was shocked, and so was the guy. My Grandma raised her pointed end of the umbrella higher, “GO!” she demanded, and he did! Placing the umbrella pointed side down, as if nothing had happened, my Grandma looked at me and said, “Such a SHONDA, I hope his mother passed away before she realized she gave birth to a SHONDA!”  

TODAY, I READ THIS REPORT, AND I IMMEDIATELY RECALLED THIS GRANDMA BRAFF STORY!...U.S. Capitol Police leaders learned that Trump supporters were discussing ways to infiltrate tunnels around the complex and target Democratic members of Congress on Jan. 6 but failed to act on the threats, according to a new Senate report summing up what it says were PROFOUND INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY FAILURES that contributed to one of the worst incidents of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. The report also says that officers complained about a lack of leadership within the department as they tried to repel the attack — and that top leaders were virtually silent as they begged for help… The report also criticizes the actions of the FBI and DHS, noting that neither published an intelligence bulletin before the Jan. 6 counting of the Electoral College votes despite widespread public indications of significant and possible violent protests planned in Washington. Both agencies have defended their actions. (NBC/NEWS)

 

 

 

 

Hello/Goodbye

 “You say yes, I say no

You say stop and I say go go go, oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.” (Hello Goodbye/Lennon McCartney)

 

They relentlessly, ruthlessly, ridiculously, ruminated, ridiculed, ranted, and raved regarding Hillary and sang the song of “Lock Her Up, Lock Her UP!” The Republicans knowing full well that when you tell a lie once repeat it a million times, never apologize for the lie, YET act all pouty when called a liar (kind of like the four-year-old who says…” I Know I Am, But What About You…”) rinse and repeat, ENOUGH DUMB AS SHIT LEMMINGS, and Main Street Media types, placing ratings over facts, will JOIN IN and instead of questioning, provide 15 more minutes of shame to let the LIE LINGER.

 

So, NOW the Republicans are about to “LOCK HIM UP”, as they pounce upon a false pretense, regarding Anthony Fauci, and pretend, somehow an INSURRECTION/a BIG ELECTION LIE/a SEDITION, AUTHORITARIAN FIGURE HEAD/a TREASONOUS, RUSSIAN ASSET… IS OF NO MORE INTEREST OR CONCERN…TRUMP and his MADCAP MOCSVITES, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, Marjory QAnon, are off the hook for the failed COUP on January 6, and oh yeah, the over 500,000 (HALF A MILLION Deaths from a lack of a plan to tackle COVID-19.

 

So, once again we will hear the CHORUS of “LOCK HIM UP,” by the GQP, as they get all nasty and snarky…and as they proceed with their Hillary PlayBook, based on BOGUS, what exactly will the DEMS be doing, when in FACT, their need to LOCK HIM UP…HIM BEING TRUMP…IS indeed based on facts! They say hello, and we the people just hear goodbye!

 

BYE BYE AMERICAN PIE

  

“So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die" (American Pie/Don McLean)

 

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he will vote against a sweeping election reform overhaul bill, dubbed the For The People Act, putting the fate of the legislation in jeopardy in the evenly split Senate. In an op-ed published early Sunday morning in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin, one of the Democratic caucus’s most conservative members, zeroed in on the partisan nature of the legislation, which has not attracted any Republican support.

“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening blinds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For The People Act," Manchin wrote.

“The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen,” he added.

Manchin also said he “will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster,” which a number of leading Democrats have suggested in order to pass election reform. (The Hill)

EVEN THOUGH, during MOSCOW MITCH’S REIGN OF AUTHORITARIAN TERROR, to his GOP caucus, and then publicly on October 23, 2010: The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president. McConnell: If President Obama does a Clintonian backflip, if he’s willing to meet us halfway on some of the biggest issues, it’s not inappropriate for us to do business with him… (Bloomberg), AND… Obama was, in fact, allowed to name Garland as his Supreme Court nominee near the end of his second term in office, but Republicans in the Senate blocked his confirmation. In contrast, Barrett's confirmation process proceeded with only weeks left until the presidential election next month. (USA Today), AND… Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is "100 percent" focused "on stopping" President Joe Biden's administration. (NBC News), AND… "There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," McConnell said shortly after the 57-43 Senate vote that ended in the former president's acquittal. (npr),AND…Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked other GOP senators to vote against the January 6 commission as a "personal favor" to him, CNN reported Thursday. McConnell said the bill was "a purely political exercise and accused Democrats of focusing on "things that occurred in the past." (INSIDER).

FIRST WE HAVE ONE SENATOR FROM KENTUCKY side track American Democracy and the will of the people, most likely plying puppet to his 1% Donor Class of Domestic Terrorists, and NOW WE HAVE, a wanna be KING, from West Virginia, either brain dead, a complete loss of memory or GIVING ZERO FUCKS for Voting Rights and Democracy, preserving ONLY his well-being…Trump was the DEADLY DISEASE, MCCONNELL AND MANCHIN ARE THE TUMORS traveling in the lungs, muscles, and body of this nation!