"...Iron Fists and Thin Skin...The New American Paradox..."

rhetoric and ruminations from this past Sunday's (Nov 20) show


on what a wonderful world the election has already begun to create for us...

• A teacher from Broomall, Pennsylvania says she went to her doctor for a physical, but was kicked out of the office after she disagreed with the Donald Trump-supporting physician. The doctor criticized protests over Trump's election. The teacher said they had a right to protest. The doctor told her if she didn't believe what he believed, his practice wasn't for her, and she needed to leave. She left. The doctor claims he did not kick her out, and adds he sent a letter of apology. 
• actress Emmy Rossum from the TV show SHAMELESS and the movies MYSTIC RIVER and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW says she’s been the target of anti-Semitic threats from Donald Trump supporters. The actress, who is Jewish, shared vile comments from a user on social media that praise Hitler and reference the Holocaust.“Trump supporters are sending me messages threatening to send me & my ‘ilk’ to the gas chambers & writing hashtags like ‘#sieg hiel.’ NOT OK,” she tweeted in response.
  
• International travelers seem to have developed a sudden wariness about the U.S. Demand for flights to the U.S. from many parts of the world have dropped by 30 percent since the election according to travel site Kayak.com. Searches for flights out of the U.S. have increased.
• During the Trump family's appearance on CBS News' 60 Minutes on Sunday, Ivanka was wearing a gold and diamond bracelet from her own fashion collection. The next day, her public relations team dropped a press release about the bracelet, which is for sale on her website for $10,800, or $8,800 without the diamonds
• A woman reported a frightening incident that happened while she was hiking at Mission Peak in Fremont, California. Nicki Pancholy, had her car windows smashed and her purse stolen. A note containing obscenities and a reference to her "hiljab" was left on the car's windshield, Pancholy has Lupus and wears a bandana to protector her from the sun. It has no religious significance, she said. A hijab is the traditional head covering worn by many Muslim women.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a joint investigation after someone painted a dugout wall in Wellsville, about 80 miles southeast of Buffalo. The message: A swastika, surrounded by the words, 'Make America White Again."

THAT”S JUST A FEW of the GREATEST HITS of what’s climbing up the slash and burn charts, kids……………..and in the last three or four days, Donald has named a known white supremacist as his head strategist, a southern Senator who has racism accusations all over his resume to be attorney general, a hard core, zero tolerance for Islam General who is known for tweeting conspiracy theory as his national security advisor and a Congressman who says that impediments to surveillance should be removed as his CIA director..oh..and PS, the proposed director of the Central Intelligence Agency there has absolutely no experience whatsoever with actual intelligence agencies, but, what the hell, HE can be president, next time…OH…as to the hate crimes and hate speech, Trump DID look right into the camera on 60 Minutes and say “stop it”…well, there you go, that should take care of it…

AND just so we’re all on the same page here, YES...THANK YOU for whatever come back you’ve got in mind that talks about the nut jobs on Hillary’s side who are hurling and spewing and vandalizing and protesting…but, save yourself the call or the post because here’s my one size fits all answer for you…. Hillary is over. And before very long, THOSE nut jobs will crawl back into the woodwork…because THAT kind of anger and hatred re-groups and moves on to something else….the hate speech and hate crimes fueled by the miserable excuses for human beings who feel like Trump is their long awaited salvation? Well, they’re going to go on feeling that way for the NEXT FOUR YEARS…or….until Donald Trump does WHATEVER IT TAKES to PUT AN END TO IT……cause, you, know he’s going to be the LEADER….for the next 1,460 days….what a wonderful world



 on America setting a new record by electing the youngest President EVER...five years old...

after Mike Pence attended a performance of Hamilton and was addressed from the stage, during the curtain call, by the cast, the Man Child In Chief-Elect couldn't spare a single second getting to his Twitter account

Donald J. Trump
✔ @realDonaldTrump
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing. This should not happen! The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

The actor who respectfully read the message to Pence responded...

 Brandon Victor Dixon
✔ @BrandonVDixon
@realDonaldTrump conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen.

Personally....I love BETTY WHITE's one size says it all tweet
"….not harassment…just DRESSING ROOM TALK"

The back and forth garbage we ridiculously still refer to as dialogue in this country was predictably back and forth….I know you are but what am I…one says black, the other says white…one says white, the other says black….I’m not wasting a single breath adding to that, so don’t waste your breath adding to it either.  what IS unfortunate is that the man elected to lead ALL the people continues to demonstrate that his intention to lead ALL the people is conditional….on whether or not ALL the people see things HIS way…and free speech? well, enjoy it while it lasts….because just like McRibs and Candy Corn Oreos, it’s apparently only going to be available for a limited time.

MEANWHILE  here's what the "campaign" manager tweeted in reaction to Newt Gingrich (former House Speaker and paragon of integrity)'s tweet that the Hamilton cast's "message" to Pence was arrogant (which it was not) and hostile (which it was not)...find the video and watch how politely the request was made.

MEANWHILE Kellyanne Conway immediately responded, simultaneously tweeting and placing lips on the five year old's ass...



Kellyanne Conway
@KellyannePolls
This is so true. And @mike_pence deserves respect and a peaceful night out with his nephew and daughter. #yourvicepresident https://twitter.com

********************************************

well....here you go, Kel...here's the key distinction.....the office for which Mike Pence was chosen by Donald Trump (saying that Pence was "elected" is ripe for debate) deserves respect. Any viewing of the video will convince any twelve jurors that the cast couldn't have been any more respectful.
Mike Pence, personally, deserves nothing. Respect is earned, not bestowed. And no amount of fear mongering or Donald's outraged ego fueled tweets are going to earn either one of them a thing.
As far as the night out is concerned, if you can't stand the heat....and all that....



on ridding the barn of rats by burning it to the ground

one of the five most profound things I have ever read, I read this week….the opposite of extremism….is extremism

Bernie Sanders was asked why Trump succeeded 

To answer your question, I think what the punditry and the establishment does not understand there, a lot of people in this country  are suffering, hurting and scared about tomorrow for their kids and he tapped into that anxiety  

and now DIFFERENT people are scared of DIFFERENT things…..good job, fixers….well done….well played…

because, you know what? I am in my sixty sixth year of this life and let me clue you into something     a lot of people are ALWAYS scared about tomorrow for their kids...my parents were scared that CUBA MISSILES….THEIR PARENTS were scared that HITLER was going to take over the world……but instead of rising up and demanding that the person chosen to lead this country inspire us and motivate us  FDR…only thing we have to fear……JFK  ask NOT what you country can do for YOU……instead of rising up and demanding THAT person and THAT attitude almost SIXTY ONE MILLION “TRUE BLUE AMERICANS” gave the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to a staggeringly thin skinned man child with ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE that would qualify him for the job had he simply applied for it who SCARED THEM WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH to SCARE them into putting him there…

.AND I’M TIRED of watching so many people panic and fret and wring their hands and try to hide their fear by wearing obnoxious t shirts and yelling foul slurs at people of other colors and other religions and other sexual identities and handing the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to a staggeringly thin skinned man child with ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE that would qualify him for the job had he simply applied for it who SCARED THEM WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH to SCARE them into putting him there…….. instead of rising up and DEMANDING that the person chosen to lead inspire us and motivate us and instill in us that we are ONLY as great a country as our ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO work and stand TOGETHER……NOT to simply let the OTHER extreme have the wheel for two or four or eight years or EVER….

What has to happen, what has to be damaged or destroyed, WHO, that you either happen to be acquainted with, know really well, or, even, love has to be persecuted, harassed, harmed or God forbid, even, killed before you realize that the OPPOSITE OF EXTREMISM is.... EXTREMISM?



on how things are always darkest...right before they get a lot darker...






got young kids in the household? how are your kids doing these days? enjoying school? or perhaps, more likely, probably looking forward to the next few weeks because, it being the season that it is, the “not have to go to school days” will outnumber the “have to go to school days”….good times….oh and by the way, how are your kids with this whole new President coming in January business?...do they talk about it? do they ask you questions about what’s going to happen after that ceremony thing they do at the Capitol building on January 20? or are they like a lot of kids who just sort of live in their own world of playing and homework and weekends and classroom projects, TV and music and video games and hanging out with their friends…oh and speaking of their friends, do they have any friends who are scared of the dark? or maybe even scared about what it IS that’s going to happen after that ceremony thing they do at the Capitol building on January 20?

hold that thought…more on the being scared business in a minute or two.

unless you’ve totally tuned out, news wise, in the last week or two, and , hell, who could blame you…. you’ve heard the name Steve Bannon. Now, one of the more once upon a time charming and/or amusing things about America used to be how so many people turned out to have less than a clue about things that you might think they’d want to keep up with….you know, we’ll all seen those laugh a second videos of every day Americans on the street being asked things like “who won the Civil War?” or “name the current Vice President” and we’ve all had some pretty good chuckles over some of the answers that those folks offer up. Or, even more hilariously, the blank expressions on some of those faces when they simply can’t come up with any answer at all. Ha..and ha…and let’s throw in a couple more ha ha ha’.

Some funny shit, right? You know what, I bet if we asked a dozen people on the street RIGHT NOW who Steve Bannon is, SURELY we’d get SOMEBODY who would say something like “uh, that’s, uh, like, the Hulk’s secret identity….right?”. Or, FER SURE, we’d get one of those hilarious blank stares. I mean, like, it just doesn’t GET any funnier than that…..right?

Well, just to do those folks a solid, lemme throw a few quick factoids out to clear this Bannon business up that I cut and pasted from the ol Wikipedia.

Stephen Kevin "Steve" Bannon is an American businessman and media executive. He is the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a conservative American news, opinion and commentary website noted for its connection to the alt-right.

Okay. He has also just been named by Donald Trump to be the “chief strategist” for the soon to be Grand Opening Trump White House.

Now, for those folks with the Hulk secret identity level SAT scores, “chief strategist” really means “the guy who will tell Trump what he needs to do to make America great again”.

Bannon did an interview that was published Friday. And among all his other, how should I put this, uh, UNIQUE points of view, here’s what he had to say….

"...Darkness is good," "Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing."

By "they" , I’m gonna put a few bucks down on a sure thing and bet that he means liberals and the media who are all already wanting this guy to be fired from the gig for which he was just hired.
I’m not a betting man, but I’d put a billion dollars down on what I think is the one chance that this guy is, in fact, going to lose the gig.

An ice cube’s chance.

Now, at this moment, there are two bunches of people who are wetting themselves waiting for their chance to post or call or get heard right this very minute.

The “oh, give me a break, that’s NOT what he means” bunch.

And the “oh, yeah, well what about?” bunch.

Couple of things. First, I’m not asking for opinions. I’m simply sharing mine. Second, here’s a cut and paste reply for each of the two groups.

to the THAT’S NOT WHAT HE MEANS BUNCH, Even IF that’s NOT what he means (and it IS what he means, but let’s stop arguing and have a hug, whaddaya say), it doesn’t MATTER WHAT he means, it only matter what people THINK he means….and I’m pretty sure that the almost 62 million people who didn’t vote for Bannon’s new boss think it means that what’s ahead for this nation are dark days.

And to WHAT ABOUT bunch? as in, oh, yeah, well what about Hillary getting those guys in Bhengazi or oh, yeah, well what about Obama screwing up health care and blah blah blah blah, let me offer you up a fun little moment from the Soup Nazi days on Seinfeld.

"Please...you're wasting everyone's time"

I’m not talking about Hillary (she’s done) or Obama (he’s done). I’m talking about a man who has been selected to shape the domestic policy of the United States of America for the next four years saying that “darkness is good”

Which brings us back to your kids. Are they scared of the dark? Yeah, that’s something you want to comfort them about, isn’t it? So, you’ll talk to them about it, do what you can to ease their fears and, at least for a while, take that fear from their hearts by just flipping a switch.

Or you can just teach them a lesson in the way life really works. And tell them they need to suck it up. Get over it. Grow up, you little whiners.

There’s nothing to worry about.

That man who’s gonna call a lot of the shots for all of us from the big white building there on Pennsylvania Avenue says so.

So, lighten up. Darkness is good.

join the conversation

Sunday nights at 7

"...Well, THAT Didn't Turn Out The Way We Figured, Now, Did It?..."

radio in essay form from this past Sunday night's broadcast...


on the opportunity to be rescued from the confusion and chaos   

Beginning with shows I broadcast in the summer of 2015, I made no secret of my concerns about the Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.

I also made no secret of my intention to not personally support that candidacy.

Six or seven weeks ago, on my live show, I predicted that, regardless of my personal perspective on the man,  Donald Trump would, in fact, be elected President.

And Tuesday night that is exactly what happened.

I didn't see him deliver his acceptance speech as it was given late last night and I have, at this very early morning writing, only read the text.

One particular section of it captured my attention.

"...It is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will.

Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. 

Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential...."

Upon logging on to Facebook first thing the morning after, the very first posts I saw were from Trump supporters whose comments and/or memes continue to symbolize the very worst of what people can be when they are petty and cheap, ignorant, bigoted and/or simply mean out of nothing more than malice.

Having reached an age where things can still shock, even appall, me but can seldom surprise me, I'm writing those posts off to the inevitability, in this life, of sad, angry, pitiful people who can only deal with that sadness by lashing out cheaply and ignorantly.

That said, I'm offering the following by way of "wrapping up", as it were, for my listening/reading audience my perspective on the election of 2016.

In his acknowledgement of being elected President of the United States, Donald Trump chose to include the words I excerpted a moment ago

It is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will.

Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream.

Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential.

Given my continued concerns about the personality and psychology of the man, it would be hypocritical of me to simply plaster on a smile, shake some hands and walk away in a spirit of celebration.

And I won't insult the intelligence of either peers, nor opponents, by being that hypocrite.

Credit where due, though, I applaud Mr. Trump's inclusion of those words.

And, in with all the traditional American spirit of sportsmanship I can muster today, I look forward to him honoring those words.

Meanwhile, to all those who have supported, and now celebrate, this man, I offer this.
I have listened to two very distinct groups of you, via news reports, video postings, social media and, of course, my own show for over a year now.

A group of people who passionately expressed their hope and desire that they could be given the opportunity to be a part of something that would genuinely make this country a better place for every single American.

And another group of people who clearly supported this candidate out of no other motivation than hatred, ignorance, bigotry and a sense that somehow they were justified in using the flames of change as a means of burning down things, and people, they simply don't like.

To that group, I reject you, your lack of values and your pitiful unarguably un-American way of living your life. I will, when and as opportunity arises, speak out against that hatred, bigotry and ignorance. I strongly recommend that you take a few moments to read and then re-read the portion of Mr. Trump's speech I just featured. And I am ready and expecting civilized, well intended supporters of Mr. Trump, as well as the man himself, to repudiate you and everything you represent.

To the group who have expressed the desire to be a part of something that would genuinely make this country a better place, you, like Mr. Trump, were given something last night other than just a political victory.

You've been given a chance to prove it.

For those of us who were disappointed with the results of last night's election, if there is a hope to be found in all of this, here's what that hope is.

That prove it...is exactly what you, and Mr. Trump, will do.

Starting now.



on how to deal with, literally, half of the nation not showing up to vote in this Presidential election

I CALL IT USE IT OR LOSE IT…..

YOU GET TO “NOT VOTE” THREE TIMES WITHOUT NEEDING A REASON OR VALID EXCUSE. THE FOURTH TIME YOU NEED A VALID EXCUSE (sick, Grandma sick, Wil Wheaton’s meemaw died and he didn’t show up to the Star Trek convention)…AND AFTER THAT…..YOU NEVER EVER GET TO VOTE AGAIN…

the beauty of this is ...I WONT HAVE TO TAKE YOUR VOTE AWAY FROM YOU

….because NOTHING in this country seems to move apathetic brains and lard asses like somebody threatening to take something, ANYTHING, away from you, even if you NEVER USE IT..because this is AMERICA, BABY...and you’re entitled to EVERYTHING…ALWAYS…

PROBLEM SOLVED




on turning EVERYTHING into A BIG DAMN DEAL whether it IS or NOT...      

Wow, some year, huh? Wow, some election, huh? Wow,some ugly baby, huh?   

WHO’s TO BLAME for all this UGLY?.......Actually, it’s NOT the bossa nova that’s to blame. I’ll tell you who in a minute.
In an election year filled with ugly, here’s a brand new ugly that has been born out of the red, white and blue ooze, slime and goo…I mentioned it earlier…the POOR Winner…illustrated in a hundreds of ways, but here’s one fresh out of the easy bitch oven…..

Margot Gerster was out hiking with her daughter when she ran into Hillary and Bill Clinton in the upstate New York town of Chappaqua, where the Clintons have a home. 

She took a photo with the former first lady who beamed from ear to ear, appearing to have had the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders as she stood next to Gerster. Clinton was said to 
 have been out walking her dogs with former president Bill Clinton, when Gerster spotted them.
The chance encounter Gerster had with Clinton gained national media attention as it was the first time Clinton had been photographed after losing the election. 
 
However, some critics allege that their meeting while hiking was staged and not random at all. 
 

so now we have PHOTOGATE…or FORESTGATE or DOGWALKINGRANDOMMEETINGYOURNEIGHBORGATE……

and, spare me the I know you are but what am I crap about the POOR LOSERS griping about Hillary getting beat…POOR LOSER is an American tradition, man!....It’s petty and cheap and childish, but it’s an American tradition, MAN…..the WINNER is supposed to be ABOVE all of that that pettiness….the WINNER’s side is supposed to show how petty and cheap and childish the POOR LOSER is being by COUNTERING that pettiness and cheapness and childishness with GRACE and STYLE and…wait for it….CLASS….NOT BY BEING bigger asshats….or MORE PETTY and MORE CHEAP and LESS CLASSY…

….and if the POOR WINNERS are finding this line of reasoning too complicated, let me dumb it down for you…here’s some more REAL AMERICAN TRADITION…..YOU DON’T KICK SOMEBODY WHEN THEY’RE DOWN….and YOU DON’T KEEP PUNCHING SOMEBODY WHEN YOU HAVE KNOCKED THEM OUT….you go to a neutral corner and you show that you’ve got GRACE and STYLE and wait for it…CLASS…even the President Elect of the United States, the salvation of mankind to some, the Anti-Christ come to life for others has SHOWN GRACE AND STYLE AND CLASS so far…..we’ll see…but SO FAR….
SO…I promised you somebody to blame for this new UGLY spawned in the Sea of Ugly…

..actually, it’s three people…..

BOB WOODWARD AND CARL BERNSTEIN…..look em up…but in a nutshell, they outed Nixon as a bad boy with his Watergate misadventure and, so, even inadvertently set the word GATE loose to attach itself to every little sniffle, sneeze, follicle or fart of even the slightest possibility of a scandal….

.and MARK ZUCKERBERG who gave us Facebook….and turned millions (and millions and millions ) of average, everyday, people next door folks into political scientists, Constitutional scholars, infallible, if not actually practicing, attorneys specializing in the fields of corruption, malfeasance, fraud, impeachment, homicide, civil rights and business, financial, governmental, criminal , international and/or Sharia law.

in many (if not most) cases, all without the pesky bother of much more than a high school diploma (give or take, of course)

MY FRIEND Paula coined an iconic phrase on this show  a few weeks ago….just.be.nice.    well, that seems to be beyond our collective reach lately, so, let me do a little tweak here……

Don’t be a poor loser…it’s cheap and childish….but being a poor WINNER…that’s worse….and somewhere in what’s left of your cerebellum, you damn well know it….

AND….as far as FORESTGATE or DOGWALKGATE or the sewer stream of “that bitch couldn’t tell the truth if her granddaughter was held for ransom” that is currently flowing into our hopefully soon clear running stream…..here’s a thing….unless you have NEVER EVER told a lie OF ANY KIND, unless you have never bent or broken ANY KIND OF LAW EVER…unless you could look GOD right in the eye and tell him that you are  100% PURE OF HEART, FREE OF SIN and AN EXAMPLE THE WHOLE WORLD SHOULD LOOK UP TO…..when it comes to your slamming or shaming or just NOT BEING NICE to people…especially those who have been knocked out…..please, we’re BEGGIN YA….

shut up.

on why making America Great Again has made some friendships not so great anymore    

a friend and professional colleague from my checkered past days as a songwriter and producer in Nashville posted this week on Facebook that he is, reluctantly, going to start unfriending people, something he said he has never done simply because of opposing views, because of the continued vitriol and venom they are exhibiting days after the election has taken place.

I did the same thing late this week. For the first time. A couple of dozen names from my list. And for the same reason.

My writing and broadcast work necessitates a lot of exposure to social, as well as mainstream and traditional, media. And I understand that emotions are high right now.

Also, my own house is admittedly glass and I'm not throwing any stones. I've got some work to do to come to terms with these national changes, like many of those in my circle(s).

That said, what I cannot, and will not, endorse, by continued "friendship" are those who persist in posting memes, comments, cartoons, slogans, etc that are venomous in nature.

Satire, critique, even opinionated criticism is one thing. And the freedom to express ourselves in those ways is one of the hallmark freedoms we enjoy.

Vicious, tasteless, ignorant, bigoted, moronic personal attacks and/or insults hurled just for their own sake at, or on ,anybody are cheap, offensive and as "un"American as it's possible to be in expressing opinion.

It's regrettable to have to end friendships. Or end "friendships". But I'm sure those who feel the continued need to "go low" don't have any need to be a friend of mine.

And I certainly don't need to be a friend of theirs.

For what it's worth, this also, even, in some ways, more importantly applies to a new phenomenon in this era of our discontent:

....the "poor" winners.

Your candidate rocked the free, and political world, with his victory His case was made and the voices of those supporting him were heard loud and clear around the world.

And, it's STILL with the Hillary for Prison memes?

It's STILL with the Michelle Obama as an ape memes?

Really?

A good friend shared with me today something ironic and a little humorous that I think of as "true...but..." He said that what most people don't understand about social media is that, in most cases, "nobody really gives a shit what you (I) think..."

True...but..... as a courtesy to those whose friendship on social media I have enjoyed and for those who read and/or listen to my work and request updating from time to time, I'm offering the aforementioned thoughts and the heads up to FB friends that "if the posts don't show up on your page anymore....it's me."



on not fooling ALL of the people all, or even some, of the time (SPECIAL NOT AIRED PIECE)   

It’s no consolation to those who are disappointed, even dismayed or even devastated by the outcome of the Presidential election of 2016, but here’s something that both victor and vanquished will want to keep in mind.

The majority rules.

Clinton supporters are likely either eye rolling or offering up profane words or middle fingers at that oldie but goodie.

And Trump supporters are likely snorting, snarking or, possibly just smirking a little.

Here’s the thing, though.

The majority rules.

And since even a hard head book worm like me freely admits that facts, those once upon a time pieces of information that actually played a part in people’s decision making process, have been declared out of fashion in recent months,  I’m not going to waste your time or mine offering up any factual basis for my sharing with all of you, once again.

The majority rules.

Instead, I’ll rely on another oldie but goodie to back me up.

Numbers never lie.

Damn right, Trump supporters are chortling. I’m not really sure if the use of the word chortling is correct, but I just like saying the word chortling.

Damn right, Trump supporters are chortling.
Numbers never lie.

And our new president only needed 270 Electoral Votes and he got 290 of those suckers.

Put that in your abacus and add em up.

Fair enough.

And true enough.

Then again, though, in the agonizing, or awwwwright aftermath (depending on your yard sign) of this election here are the only two numbers that matter from here on out.

59,535,522.
59,755,284.

Hereafter known, for the next few minutes as 59 million 535 and 59 million 755.

And here’s how things add up for real.

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 59 million 535 chose Donald Trump to be President

59 million 755 chose Hillary Clinton.

And on that very same Tuesday, 59 million 535 decided to overlook that their guy

• was caught live on tape talking about kissing women without permission and grabbing them by the MEOW
• rebutted dozens of women’s claims of sexual assault by offering that they weren’t attractive enough to be worthy of assault, shamed women for gaining weight, said women should be punished for having abortions, said women who are sexually harassed at work should find another job…oh and, one still right up there at the top of the charts, kids, Megyn Kelly and the blood flowing out of her whatever
• mocked, on national television, a reporter with a congenital physical condition
• refused to release tax returns and never did
• repeatedly suggested that Barack Obama might be Muslim
• actually bragged about the size of his penis during a primary debate
• suggested that the father of Ted Cruz was involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy…
• managed to slam just about every single ethnic, religious and gender group from sea to shining sea, very often at 3 in the morning….Tweeting away in the darkness….oh and for our gay fellow Americans…..
• chose as a running mate one of the most vocal, hard line, lock them up… anti-gay politicians on the planet, let alone in America…

well, we ALL know that the list goes on and on and on and on and, need not be continued here to make the point….that on that very same Tuesday, 59 million 755  chose NOT to overlook those things.

Not, of course, that any of that matters.

Because 270 was the winning number, right?

Except here’s a thing.

Come January 20, the Republican President Elect will become the President.

And both the United States Senate and United States House Of Representatives will have a Republican majority.

What the President and the Senate and the House oF Reps will not have is

Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail to use as deflection for any missteps

Barack Obama sitting in the way in the White House to blame for any failure to “make America great again”

Democratic majorities in either chamber to blame for blocking any and all efforts to make America great again

put simply….they will have no excuse for not living up to their promise to make America great again AND, even more importantly, to live up the words that came out of Donald Trump’s very mouth on the night of his election…
This is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will.
Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream.

Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential.

119,290,806 people showed up on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 to choose a President and Congress. And, somehow, we all, all of us, want to believe that those people are wanting this to be a better nation for all Americans.

59,535,522 people made the decision to overlook all of the very visible shortcomings of the primary candidate Donald Trump and the Republican nominee Donald Trump.

And if those 59 million 535 make the decision to overlook any shortcomings, weaknesses, failures, inappropriate, even obscene or unacceptable behaviors on the part of the President Donald Trump, the outcome will be decidedly different.

Because 59.755,284 people didn’t overlook those shortcomings in the Republican primary candidate Donald Trump or the Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump….and, you can bet any good old fashioned American dollar you can lay your hands on that we won’t be overlooking those shortcomings in the President Donald Trump.

And just because we didn’t return verbal fire with some of the more popular Trump terms doesn’t mean we don’t know them or how to use them.

Terms like impeachment, lyin….lock him up.

Anger will pass. Tempers will cool. Dust will settle.

But the majority rules.

Sometimes from the stone dead center of where the action is.

Sometimes from the sidelines, waiting and watching.

The majority rules.

All 59,755,284 of it.



and, in conclusion....on the SNL cold open...  

Last night, Saturday Night Live opened their show pretty much as expected and, at the same time, not as expected as all.

Cast member Kate McKinnon was right there on stage, front and center, dressed and made up as Hillary Clinton, seemingly ready to do her remarkable impression of the once upon a time no way she can not become the first female President of the United States, just as she has for weeks now. But there was no sight of Alec Baldwin doing his equally spot on impression of Donald Trump, the once upon a time aint no way in hell this guy could ever get elected President.

Rather, McKinnon was sitting alone at a grand piano and, with no other introduction , began playing the quiet and lovely chords that fans of the song’s composer probably recognized as the beginning of what will be that composer’s “main claim to fame”.

The song was Hallelujah. And the composer was Leonard Cohen, who passed away, this past week at the age of 83.

If you don’t know Cohen by name or, if by chance, you don’t recognize the song simply by hearing its title, you most surely are aware of the song itself. It’s been recorded, by a variety of singers, in a variety of styles over a kabillion times, give or take, since its composition over thirty years ago. And you would have had to have been living on Neptune for pretty much that entire last thirty years to have not, at least once or twice, heard Hallelujah cross your audio radar.

McKinnon played softly and beautifully and sang in a lovely voice with no other accompaniment and it was clear to anybody who had an inkling that she, and the show, were paying simple and eloquent tribute to a remarkable songwriter who had lived a remarkable life.

But it didn’t take being a Rhodes Scholar to instantly recognize the symbolism of McKinnon’s being dressed as Hillary Clinton to perform the song.

In a theatrical sense, the very simple performance was genius. By combining the sense of loss that fans of Cohen’s feel at his passing with the sense of loss that fans of Clinton feel at her failure to achieve the Presidency, the segment offered up the kind of emotional double whammy that audiences remember and talk about long after the curtain goes down and the lights go out.

Before I saw the video of the actual performance this morning, the first article headline I saw spotlighting it read “SNL Cold Open Last Night Will Make You Weep.”

Well, I don’t know about weep. Because I admired Leonard Cohen’s songwriting and I was disappointed that Hillary Clinton wasn’t able to convince the right number of people in the right counties in the right states so that her Electoral College numbers would have been the majority that her popular vote numbers turned out to be,….

But, weep?

As I watched video of McKinnon’s complete performance, I have to admit I actually felt a little uncomfortable. It just seemed a little TOO contrived, just a LITTLE too melodramatic.

Because Hillary Clinton didn’t die. She just lost an election. And while I get that millions of people who voted for her are now angry about who DID get elected and are, depending on their race, gender, religion and/or sexual identity are sincerely scared of what’s about to happen to them now, I thought the whole business of equating the loss of Cohen with the loss of Clinton cheapened both losses just a little bit.

That said, I felt sad.

Oh, not because of the passing of an 83 year old songwriter I never met or because of the election loss of a woman who I’ve only supported for months because I was of the school that she was the lesser of two evils.

No, I felt sad because as I watched McKinnon sing, my inner ear was hearing the voices of thousands, maybe millions, of people in this country also watching and I could only imagine what they were saying, either in their own heads or to those around them.

Mean, petty, vicious, nasty, insulting, denigrating, rude things.

Because they hate her.

And even though their candidate accomplished exactly what they hoped and dreamed and screamed for and prayed for…they still hate her.

So much so, that tonight, right now as we speak, five days after the election outcome was officially announced, the outcome that they spent months hoping for and dreaming of and screaming for and praying for and VOTING FOR, they are STILL posting mean, petty , nasty, vicious things about her and her family…and her followers….

And last night’s performance by Kate McKinnon unleashed yet another fresh batch of petty, mean, nasty, vicious posts and comment threads and….

Yes. You are correct. The nasty, petty memes and posts and comments continue to flow from the fingers of her supporters, too.

Because THEY hate HIM.

And tonight, right now as we speak, the election outcome that was supposed to bring the months, even years, of petty, mean, nasty, vicious, hateful anger to some kind of resolution hasn’t made much of a dent.

And that’s why McKinnon’s award worthy theatrical presentation last night made me sad.

At the end of the piece, in place of the usual raucous, yelling to the crowd opening slogan, McKinnon had this to offer up.

“I’m not giving up…and you shouldn’t give up, either…”

I can’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure she was talking about not giving up on those values she and other Clinton supporters feel are in danger of extinction now.

Or maybe she was talking about the fear she very possibly has now, being a gay woman in what’s about to become a very different country.

I don’t know. I have no way of knowing.

What I do know is this.

Leonard Cohen is dead.

Hillary Clinton lost an election.

Donald Trump was elected.

And EVERYBODY..everybody…needs to do better.

Do better America

 join the conversation

Sunday nights at 7PM Eastern

"....Missouri Is No Longer The Only 'Show Me' State..."

Beginning with shows I broadcast in the summer of 2015, I made no secret of my concerns about the Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.

I also made no secret of my intention to not personally support that candidacy.

Six or seven weeks ago, on my live show, I predicted that, regardless of my personal perspective on the man,  Donald Trump would, in fact, be elected President.

And last night that is exactly what happened.

I didn't see him deliver his acceptance speech as it was given late last night and I have, at this very early morning writing, only read the text.

One particular section of it captured my attention.

It is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will.

Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. 

Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential.

Upon logging on to Facebook first thing this morning, the very first posts I saw were from Trump supporters whose comments and/or memes continue to symbolize the very worst of what people can be when they are petty and cheap, ignorant, bigoted and/or simply mean out of nothing more than malice.

Having reached an age where things can still shock, even appall, me but can seldom surprise me, I'm writing those posts off to the inevitability, in this life, of sad, angry, pitiful people who can only deal with that sadness by lashing out cheaply and ignorantly.

That said, I'm offering the following by way of "wrapping up", as it were, for my listening/reading audience my perspective on the election of 2016.

In his acknowledgement of being elected President of the United States, Donald Trump chose to include the words I excerpted a moment ago.

It is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will.

Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. 

Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential.

Given my continued concerns about the personality and psychology of the man, it would be hypocritical of me to simply plaster on a smile, shake some hands and walk away in a spirit of celebration. 

And I won't insult the intelligence of either peers, nor opponents, by being that hypocrite.

Credit where due, though, I applaud Mr. Trump's inclusion of those words.

And, in with all the traditional American spirit of sportsmanship I can muster today, I look forward to him honoring those words.

Meanwhile, to all those who have supported, and now celebrate, this man, I offer this.

I have listened to two very distinct groups of you, via news reports, video postings, social media and, of course, my own show for over a year now.

A group of people who passionately expressed their hope and desire that they could be given the opportunity to be a part of something that would genuinely make this country a better place for every single American.

And another group of people who clearly supported this candidate out of no other motivation than hatred, ignorance, bigotry and a sense that somehow they were justified in using the flames of change as a means of burning down things, and people, they simply don't like.

To that group, I reject you, your lack of values and your pitiful unarguably un-American way of living your life. I will, when and as opportunity arises, speak out against that hatred, bigotry and ignorance. I strongly recommend that you take a few moments to read and then re-read the portion of Mr. Trump's speech I just featured. And I am ready and expecting civilized, well intended supporters of Mr. Trump, as well as the man himself, to repudiate you and everything you represent.

To the group who have expressed the desire to be a part of something that would genuinely make this country a better place, you, like Mr. Trump, were given something last night other than just a political victory.

You've been given a chance to prove it.

For those of us who were disappointed with the results of last night's election, if there is a hope to be found in all of this, here's what that hope is.

That prove it...is exactly what you, and Mr. Trump, will do.

Starting now.

 

"...Take Me Out To The Ball Game...So I Can Cast A Vote That Matters...."

words and whimsy from the Election Eve Eve program (Nov 6)



on the Great American Pastime vs. the Making America Great Pastime   


Everything that is good about America has been on display in recent days.

Cheering. Celebration. The joyful outcry of supporters and the respectful acknowledgment, even best wishes, of the opposition.

The celebrating of a battle hard fought but deservedly, and graciously, won by one side. Not to mention deservedly, and graciously, accepted, even applauded, by the other.

Two foes who showed skill and commitment and passion and enthusiasm in their quest, but, even more importantly, style and sportsmanship…and class.  Heroes one and all.

But, also on display, some of America’s unspoken heroes. The supporters of both sides who unwaveringly showed commitment and loyalty and devotion and cheered and supported their side with passion and energy but, even more importantly, with style and sportsmanship…and class.

Because in America, that’s what we do. We support and endorse with commitment and loyalty and devotion and we cheer our favorites with passion and energy but, even more importantly, with style and sportsmanship…and class.

And when our side is victorious, we celebrate passionately but respectfully, boisterously but graciously. Joyfully but compassionately.

And when our side is not victorious, we commiserate but we congratulate, we share disappointment but we don’t denigrate. we express our pride in our side but we show each other, and the world, that America is a nation of style and sportsmanship and class.

In the great American pastime, there is competition and camaraderie, there is heated interaction but there is no hatred, there is astounding power at work but no abuse of power allowed.

Americans fill seats in stadiums all over the nation eight months out of every year and inspire their team by standing by them and up for them, cheering them on and building them up.

Not by putting the other team down, or slandering them, or reviling them, or threatening them,  or outwardly, outrageously, even viciously hating them.

Everything that is good about America was on display in recent days….in Chicago…. and in Cleveland….not only as the competition came to a dramatic conclusion, but all through the process of reaching that conclusion, every moment of every day that two foes battled to be named champion,

And when the outcome was determined, when the victory was a done deal, the victorious lit up the night with the light of celebration and accomplishment and pride.

And the opposition paid their respects with congratulations and courtesy and an inner determination to avoid wasting time and talent on bitterness and bile and get about the business of being just a little better next time.

There were no fistfights in the parking lot. There were no T shirts with foul, reprehensible words on them. There were no threats of lawsuits. There were no veiled threats or hints implying it would be okay to assassinate the other team’s catcher or pitcher. No manager had to be rushed out of the dugout by the Secret Service because of a commotion between rival fans down the first base line. There were no late night outbursts on social media about this player’s cheating wife or that player’s fat girlfriend with blood coming out of her ears or her…whatever. There were no threats of violence or revenge or even profanity soaked promises of retribution in the form of jail sentences for the victorious, because they most certainly had to have cheated to win. They couldn’t possibly have simply been the better team. This whole lousy, stinking, effing campaign, all 162 plus 7 games was B.S.….cause, come on, wake up, everybody knows that the whole effing system is…rigged. We need to reject this outcome. Those bastards need to pay for their sins. We need to lock them up….lock them up….

Everything that is good about America has been on display in recent days.

Four days ago, in particular.

Two days from now? Not so much.

Maybe it’s time to think about moving the polling places out of the gymnasiums and the cafeterias.

And setting them up just behind home plate.

on drawing a line starting right after standing in line  

 In 33 hours, the polls will open. In 47 hours, the polls will close. And, soon after, hopefully, but, in a worst case scenario, at least by the time you wake up with Dan and Kelli at 5:30 Wednesday morning, America will have a new President-elect.

Traditionally, radio and TV news shows wrap up pre-election programs with some predictable offering of “ the American people will have spoken” and “a new day will dawn”… “ a new chapter begins” or, even, in the most hopefully patriotic versions, something along the lines of “and we’ll all put the battling and bickering behind us as we come together as a nation and get behind the will of the majority.”

Yeah. Those were the good old days, huh. The key word, there, by the way, was “traditionally” :Because I don’t think anybody listening to me right now thinks for a second that there’s the slightest chance that this nation is going to be coming together anytime soon. Because there has been absolutely nothing about this election year that has been traditional.

And while it’s not for me to say how you should or will feel about it, I’d be willing to put pretty good money down that if we all agree on nothing else we can agree on one thing. There’s not a whole lot to be proud of this time around.

I said at the beginning of the show tonight that the “battle” between Chicago and Cleveland on the baseball diamond this past week brought out the very best in what America is capable of.

The “battle” between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has done exactly the opposite.

Agreeable disagreement? Uh, have you even READ your Facebook page today?

Passionate but fair debate on the issues we face as a nation? Issues? Really? What is this “Issues” of which you speak?

Finding common ground? You’ll have an easier time finding a parking space at Toys R Us for the rest of the year.

I read an article this morning about another controversial news making issue in which the author offered up this little Hallmark card-ism.

“we need to remember there’s a fine line between polite disagreement and unbridled rage”.

And that, right there, shines a light on the problem with all of this. THAT line, between polite disagreement and unbridled rage, shouldn’t be fine at all. It should be a mile deep and at least as tall as a Mexico wall.

But it’s not. It’s almost invisible now.

No matter what the subject up for discussion is. Whether it’s about emails or locker room talk, whether it’s about what that fine line author was writing about, the country music fans ready to storm the village with torches lit because Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks showed up and sang on the hallowed CMA stage,

Or whether it’s just down home, back yard every day Delamarva stuff like one candidate’s helpers stealing campaign signs out of yards…or where and when and how the punkins should be sent a chunkin’, there’s no longer a line between polite disagreement and unbridled rage.

And if you think I’m exaggerating…. Just log on to your Facebook page and start scrolling and reading. Or your Instagram page. Or your Twitter account….. Or just listen to a couple of hours of talk radio. Especially starting a few seconds after the election is called for whoever it gets called for.

In 33 hours, the polls will open. In 47 hours, the polls will close. And, whatever the outcome, every single American…all of us…we, the people, could FINALLY find something about this gnarly mess of an election year to take pride in…..

IF… after standing in the line to cast our vote, we walked out of that polling place determined to help widen and deepen that other line….the one between polite disagreement…and unbridled rage….

join the conversation

Sunday nights at 7

 

"...Cialis, Schmialis....Where's The Drug for Electoral Dysfunction?..."

reflections and rhetoric from this past weekend (Oct 30)'s show....



 ...on what SHOULD be the responsibility of those we elect to serve ( or "lead")...

it’s NOT the job of those we elect, in essence, hire to “represent” and/or “lead” us to find ways to either block other points of view at every opportunity OR to shove the agenda of ONLY their constituents down the throats of all the OTHER constituents of other representatives

ULTIMATELY, and ESSENTIALLY..... their job is to FIND THE COMMON GROUND…how to make things WORK and NOT to simply go around in circles playing screw me no screw you with OUR lives…

COMPROMISE and COMMON GROUND have become dirty words in this nation and THAT RIGHT THERE is why this nation is FAILING where it could, and should, be succeeding…..
SO WHEN IT COMES TO not only VOTING FOR a candidate, but ASSESSING the job that candidate is doing AFTER they have been HIRED< here’s what needs to happen…..

WE THE PEOPLE need to WISE UP, WAKE UP, SUCK IT UP and ACCEPT that if I INSIST ON HAVING IT MY WAY and ONLY MY WAY and YOU INSIST  ON HAVING YOUR WAY and ONLY YOUR WAY, WE ARE BOTH, and ALL, GOING TO GET NOWHERE…EVER….PERIOD

We need to figure out how to row in the same direction, we need to be willing to give to get and we need to INSIST that those we elect CEASE AND DESIST with this crap of ONE ROAD AND ONE ROAD ONLY…STOP FIGHTING with each other over who is going to DRIVE THE BUS…..and FIND BOTH the high road AND….the COMMON GROUND…

Washington DC becomes WASHINGTON W.D.C….”Washington…We Demand Compromise


 ...on the bad news being that there ain't much in the way of good news...

I’ve got some bad news for you. Come Tuesday November 8th. you’re going to be a loser. No matter what happens between now and then, with the exception, God forbid, of the literal elimination of one candidate or the other, the bottom line outcome is going to be the same for you. You’re going to be a loser.

And you’re going to learn, at the very least, one very hard lesson…the hard way.

There is no victory in electing a President of the United States whose Presidency WILL be, almost as certainly as the sun comes up every day that you draw a breath, a bet every dollar you can lay your hands on absolutely inevitable abject failure.

Because there are only two candidates available, in the harsh cold light of reality and practicality, from which to choose.

And only one of those candidates can be elected.

So, either way it goes, it goes one of only two ways.

Your president will either be a polarizing figure who brings out the very worst in millions of Americans, who is distrusted, disliked, disrespected, even passionately hated by more Americans than probably any President has historically been in, at least, modern times if not, the entire span of American history. A President who will be disregarded, disrespected, denigrated, battled, blustered and blocked with every fiber of being that the opposition possesses and whose accomplishments will number somewhere between none and less than none.

OR

Your president will be a polarizing figure who brings out the worst in all the other millions of Americans, who has never held a public office, never read a briefing book, let alone understand one, who feels no hesitance, let alone shame, in denigrating, disrespecting, even physically assaulting racial groups. religions, women, physically handicapped people and who, by any reasonable method of diagnosis, is clinically incapable of showing compassion, empathy, sympathy and lacks even the tiniest shred of  ability, let alone desire, to resist responding to any and every single hint of a criticism or slight of ANY part of his existence with instant, ongoing, juvenile, even childish retribution.

Exciting times….and an exciting choice, don’t you think?

And not to pile on, but here’s some other bad news. There is going to be no wall, there is going to be no instant ISIS elimination. There is no wand or staff of truth or special potion or even magic beans that are going to make America GREAT again. And that’s IF the childish one wins.
If the distrusted one wins, there will be nothing but more bitterness, more rancor, more gridlock, more pettiness, more anger, more hatred…more of EVERY DAMN THING we don’t need ANY more of….and not a single bit of ANY DAMN THING that America really needs.

IN a few minutes, I’m going to share with you something I believe we’ve all been overlooking in this embarrassment of the “American process at work”….something I think worth talking about nine days away from casting our ballots…..if for no other reason, because God knows there’s not much reason left to talk about the two candidates, is there.

Cause like I said, I’ve got some bad news for you. Come November 8th, you’re going to be a loser.
But there is some good news.

Despite the divisiveness that seems to be on the minds and lips of so many Americans in this year of our Lord 2016, turns out that we, you and I, at the very least, actually have something completely and undeniably in common.

On November 8th, I’m going to be a loser, too.






 ...on the bad news being that there ain't much in the way of good news...


There’s a reason we haven’t yet discovered any signs of intelligent life on other planets.

I’ll share that reason with you in a couple of minutes.

Presidential campaigns have a way of bringing out and digging up….

Bringing out the very worst in people

And digging up secrets or at least turning best kept secrets into internationally known information.
Beyond the dry, even blah blah blah, “historic” nature of the 2016 election (either we’ll have the first woman President or the first President who has never been elected to anything before), this cartoon meets Twilight Zone episode of a once great American process has brought into the very bright light one of those best kept secrets I’m talking about……

First, though, some recently unearthed secrets that should, in fact, have come as no surprise to anyone.

Hillary Clinton doesn’t tell the truth about 100% of things 100% of the time.

Donald Trump is a spoiled rich kid grown up to be a spoiled rich old man who has no problem treating people, women, in particular, like shit or sexual objects, as the case may be.

People who love Hillary Clinton will not be swayed or deterred from that devotion no matter what attacks her opponents throw.

People who love Donald Trump will not be swayed or deterred from their devotion no matter what attacks his opponents throw.

And people who hate Hillary or hate

Donald….will……shhhh…careful, some of this might still be a secret…..will hate Hillary or hate Donald until hell, or as we sometimes also call it, politics, freezes over.

And that hatred is such a ferocious force that neither heaven, nor earth, nor truth, justice or, and this one makes me giggle lately, the American way will keep these appointed haters from hating and basing any and every decision of any importance to the rest of us with nothing more than that hatred to back up their reasoning.

It’s really hard to resist labeling people who rely solely on their emotions to make important decisions as, at best, ignorant or, at worst, stupid. And somewhere in all this tsunami of venom and viciousness, it’s still important to try and resist that labeling, so, let me give the concept a little twist, a little spin…a little pivot

Hatred is stupid. There is nothing useful, helpful, productive, beneficial or desirable, let alone simply humanly decent, about hate.

It accomplishes nothing. It can damage beyond repair.

That’s why there are classes in anger management and not anger enhancement.

That’s why we’re told not to go to bed angry.

That’s why even one of the most unlikely of philosophers had this to say about it…”animals don’t hate and we’re supposed to be better than them…”

You wouldn’t expect that kind of insight from Elvis Presley, would  you?

And then there’s what acclaimed writer James Baldwin observed many years ago…”I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”

Pain…and fear….of what’s next or how we’ll pay our bills or how we’ll deal with health issues or how we’ll keep our kids safe……

Pain and fear breed hate. And hate is stupid. Because it makes us do and say crazy, stupid things. An America without hate would never have given a second thought to wanting to make a weak and frightened bully like Donald Trump president…..

An America without hate wouldn’t give a second thought to what email went to who and when because that America would realize that the best thing to do when you don’t know exactly what you’re talking about is to just be quiet and not talk about it at all.

But possessing that insight requires an intelligence that cannot reside in the same heart and brain with hatred.

Because hatred is stupid.

But that’s not going to stop America from relying on hatred to choose their next President.

And if you accept the premise that hatred is stupid, then it’s not so much unfair or unkind as it is unfortunate to make the connection to that previously best kept secret I mentioned a few minutes ago…..

And the connection goes like this…..Hatred is stupid, there are literally millions of people who are filled with hatred in this nation and, so, it turns out, there are a lot of stupid people in America.

Literally, millions.

Whatever else that means, or doesn’t….whatever else that proves, or doesn’t, it does offer up that reason why we haven’t yet discovered any signs of intelligent life on other planets.

It’s a full time gig and then some continuing the search for that intelligent life right here …..

join the conversation

Sunday nights at 7

 

" ...Guess Who Shouldn't Be Coming To Dinner?...

"...Let's Argue About What's For Dinner...That Way, At Least One of Us Will Come Out Of It Happy..."

memories, moments and manifestos from the Sept 18 show


on making the choice that is really no choice at all...

enough of this seemingly never ending annoying “you, no you, no you, no you….and if we can’t be honest with each other about anything else, LETS BE HONEST WITH OTHER ABOUT THIS:
Donald Trump is a liar. Hillary Clinton is a liar. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are liars…WE GOOD?

Okay…wasting time and losing friends arguing over who lies the most or whose lies are the worst or who of the liars is the lying-est liars ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING. Except wasting time and losing friends.

Now, if you buy my premise, and due respect, and Mr Dennit…I don’t CARE if you buy it or not, because I’m through arguing with you or anyone else about this…here’s what I’m using as a determination as to whether I should vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

and AGAIN, DO NOT FORGET, I AM NOT CONSIDERING and I AM NOT INTERESTED in who lies the most or the worst or who is the lyingest liar. IN fact, I’ll go you one better: I stipulate and concede that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the LAST TWO PEOPLE ON THE PLANET who would ever get MY vote for President of the United States, even if there were only two people LEFT on the planet….besides me.

So, again, given that I have been given no other practical choice in the matter, other than not voting at all or voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein who, I honestly believe, I match or exceed in terms of qualifications for the job, here’s what I am forced to use as a way of determining for whom I will cast my vote.

Qualifications for the perio. Period. Personality, off the table. Character, whatever the hell that means in  the America of 2016, off the table. Gender, off the table. Religion, sexual  preference, number of ex wives and/or ex-husbands, off the table. Any rumor, gossip, innuendo, diss, shade, shadow or hint of bad behavior in their past, present or possible future, OFF THE TABLE.

PUT ANOTHER “EASY TO FOLLOW” WAY: we have to go at this as if THE CHOICE, the ONLY choice I have and the ONLY choice YOU have is between the guy who flew the Plane into the NORTH TOWER and the guy who flew the plane into the SOUTH TOWER…..and as appalled, disgusted, angry, resentful, bitter, certifiably and justifiably pissed off as you are at the choice, YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE….AND YOU MUST CHOOSE…..so because YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE….you HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO GO WITH QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION…BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO…….BECAUSE IT HAS TO….. …cold, hard, dispassionate assessment of the list of skills on the resume. As if ALL you were EVER ALLOWED TO KNOW ABOUT THESE TWO PEOPLE WAS THE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ON THEIR RESUMES……”


might as well face it....we're addicted to.....

Hillary remarked, in a speech this past week, that half of those who support Trump are "deplorables".....

And, in that new spirit of us not lying to each other, fess up: you and I both know that there are a lot of deplorable people in this nation.

But Hilary's comment, in the context it was spoken, unnecessary generalization and the kind of cheap shot, low class crap that got 13 million people all hot and bothered during the Republican primary season……Donald probably has a copyright on that kind of gutter talk, so Hillary, at the very least, is risking being sued for copyright infringement…because, trust me, and you know I’m right, Donald WILL sue if there is even a whiff of a case there….

THAT SAID…the incorrect and unkind accusation levied against people who continue, at this point in the process, to solidly and unwaveringly support Donald Trump is that they are either blind, deaf, dumb or stupid….and that’s neither nice, fair or true.

What it is is…..INTOXICATION…..AND I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE THAT MY OWN EXPERIENCE< EDUCATION and CIRCUMSTANCES QUALIFY ME AS AN EXPERT ON THE SUBJECT OF INTOXICATION…and ADDICTION TO THAT INTOXICATION….

Not going to go through the resume qualifications for either candidate…..you can find FACTUAL< UNBIASED lists, resumes’ as it were, of both candidates on line. NOT THEIR WEBSITES…..
you can find FACT on ME……that have NOTHING to do with my personality or whether you love me or hate me or think I’m God’s gift or the anti Christ……Find the qualifications and read them….and then read them again….

even the most ill-informed, uninformed, even possibly uneducated person in the nation can see and hear the way that Trump conducts himself….

the most commonly heard sentence in the English language for the past eight months to a year: “Donald Trump is either a douche or a psychopath or both, but I can’t bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton”

said before…say again….those who are convinced that this man is the answer to the problem, that he is the change this country so clearly needs and wants, that he is the key to the lock, the cream in the coffee, the bada to our bing……are NOT attracted, and not addicted, to the man…what reasonable, kind, compassionate, spiritual, caring American would be?….they are attracted and addicted to what the man represents….what he promises….what they think he will deliver….MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF WHICH, any scholar or teacher or expert from ANY political party can prove to you, WILL NOT BE ACCOMPLISHED because he simply CANNOT MAKE IT HAPPEN….no matter what he says he will deliver…his lack of experience in America’s governmental system is the primary reason he won’t be able to deliver….

.AND more dangerously to the nation and more useless as a solution is the idea that CHANGE that comes in the form of giving control to someone who is not qualified to have control is a positive, beneficial, worthwhile thing…PEOPLE screamed eight years ago that Barack Obama wasn’t qualified because all he had ever been was a community organizer…WELL??? show of hands …how many of you who LOVE Trump HATE Obama?.....HELLLOOO…...is like believing that the way to solve the problem of rats in the barn is to burn down the barn. AND AT THIS POINT< I NEED TO THROW IN A REMINDER OF THE ORIGINAL PREMISE HERE……the ONLY criteria for choosing in this election is QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE JOB……NOT character, not personality, not gender or religion or, frankly, whether or not YOU ACTUALLY LIKE the person….or even if you HATE the person….because, HERE’S THE REAL KICKER THAN NOBODY ELSE IN MEDIA OR ANYONE ELSE YOU HEAR OR READ OR SEE WILL TELL YOU…..

YOU DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY OF VOTING FOR SOMEONE YOU LIKE or ADMIRE or GET ALL PUMPED UP ABOUT THIS TIME AROUND….and YOU DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY OF not VOTING FOR SOMEONE YOU DON’T LIKE…..

Because Hillary is flawed beyond question
And Donald is flawed beyond question
This isn’t an election about the “lesser of two evils”

THE ONLY CHOICE WE HAVE AVAILABLE IS: between two people of EQUALLY BAD< FLAWED< FAILED CHARACTER AS HUMAN BEINGS……two of the most unlikable people who have EVER run for President in the history of this country….
YOU DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY OF considering character or personality….

the ONLY criteria for choosing in this election has to be QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE JOB …..As if ALL YOU WERE EVER ALLOWED TO KNOW ABOUT THE  TWO PEOPLE APPLYING FOR THE JOB WAS THE LIST OF QUALFICATION  ON THEIR RESUMES……”

and that brings me to the original observation about wasting time arguing about this….I am an alcoholic and I understand addiction, better than many, if not most of all of you….and you can believe me or not, I’m good either way…..I am telling you that those who take the time to read the side by side list of QUALIFICATIONS for the job AND continue to support and endorse Trump are intoxicated with the idea of change that is never going to happen, promises that are never going to be kept and the addiction to that intoxication makes any further debate pointless……because: and I also KNOW this as fact from my own life, when it comes to overcoming addiction to intoxication…one must admit they are addicted and accept the reality of that before any change of heart or mind is possible… until, or unless, that admission is forthcoming, ANY attempt at intervention by anyone else is an exercise in futility....or as my friends who like me to use fewer words sometimes:….A WASTE OF TIME…so, what’s the question I’m asking here on the old talk radio show? There is No question. I’m not asking you whether you agree with me or not. Feel free, of course, to agree OR disagree, that’s your right and privilege and prerogative. But I’m not asking for opinions on this subject tonight. Because, AND ONCE AGAIN, let’s do each other the courtesy and honor of being honest with each other, we are NOT going to change each other’s minds about the virtues, or lack of, or value, or lack of, or character, or lack of, in the two and only two choices for President that have been forced upon us.

So, let’s not spend any more time ARGUING with each other when we both know what that argument will accomplish. NOTHING….except maybe damage to our friendship….and a lot of WASTED TIME



on that whole "two ears, one mouth" thing

(on air, I played two pieces regarding Colin Kaepernick's national anthem incident....one was from Tomi Lahren of the Blaze cable channel and the other was from former wrestler/former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura)

one issue, two voices, two different points of view…and isn’t that ALSO the point of “freedom” and “liberty”.?....

and if you’re wondering where I come down, or stand or kneel, as the case may be, on the whole respecting the flag and the anthem thing, well, MY position on it is not why I’m bringing it up again…because haven’t we all had ENOUGH of blather and yammer and talk radio blah blah blah about THAT particular burr in our collective saddle?

MY purpose in bringing it up is as a framework around what those two well known political voices had to say and what I’m HEARING when I bother to listen as much to HOW they’re talking as WHAT they’re talking about…..

agree or disagree with their respective POV, I didn’t hear anything coming out of Jesse Ventura’s mouth except personal opinion and a little  personal praise of Kapernick

what I heard from Tomi Lahren, who is the new blonde Barbie darling of the radical right wing in these UNITED States was a perfectly valid and legitimate  opinion and a few points that were fair and reasonable and all of it coated with snark, sarcasm, condescension, smugness and superiority…..the only thing missing was closed captioning that read : close captioned for all your libtards who are ruining this country for all of us blonde Barbie darlings of the radical right wing in these UNITED states……

but before you break a nail or damage a cuticle dialing the smartphone or punching the keyboard to post your hot blooded reaction to my slamming Tomi-kins, take a few seconds and a breath and catch THIS curve ball.

what I just said to you about what Tomi Lahren and Jesse Ventura said just now was factual and correct….because you yourself just heard what those two had to say.
what was incorrect and inappropriate was the way I said what said to you….because my comments about Tomi Lahren were snarky, sarcastic, condescending, smug and superior…and didn’t do a THING to further reasonable discussion or bring ANY of us any closer to helping solve our nation’s problems or defuse the anger and hostility that election year 2016 seems to be drowning us in……
and the larger point is this: it’s not only important, I think it’s critical that we all find a way quickly to dial it down, listen a little more, think a little more, consider all points of view a little more, even and ESPECIALLY those that we don’t automatically agree with…as if, say, those opinions were being expressed by a beloved granddad in our family…..

it’s not easy to do that…because these are hot button times filled with hot button issues and often the passion switch short circuits the common courtesy switch….very often, these days, in fact….but IF I COULD flip a switch, it would be the switch that dials things down and gets us all to listen a little more and consider all points of view a little more….with courtesy and respect……

like I said, it’s not easy…and amidst all my many admitted failings, one that I work hard on all the time is not being a hypocrite….

so, here’s the bottom line….I’m gonna work more on dialing it down and listening a little more and considering other points of view a little more…and there will be times when I will be snarky, sarcastic, condescending, smug and superior, my grade school teachers used to graciously call that precocious…but that’s NOT what I should be….and that’s not how I should bring perspective and POV to all of you here every week…..

and the difference between public talking heads like, say Rush and Hannity and Coulter and Tomi Lahren and public talking heads like me?….. well, I just told you that I need to try harder to cut down on the snark and smug and superior…and, although I freely admit I could be wrong…… I’m pretty sure you’re NEVER gonna hear those words coming out of the public talking heads of Rush and Hannity and Coulter and Tomi Lahren…



this show's "one more shot" regarding a basic life lesson learned at a very high cost
 




those folks who read my published work or listen to my various and sundry talk and/or music radio shows are familiar with a satirical, but dead center true, slogan I made up a couple of years ago and one I use frequently: the problem with freedom is that you have to give it to everybody….there is, though, a second little catch phrase that I conjured up some time ago, as well, one that doesn’t get quite the use or airplay, but is, in my humble O, just as right on the money: common sense is no longer common, nor sensical…..

Tiziana Cantone was a 31 year old Italian woman who hanged herself this week in her aunt’s home near Naples. She killed herself because she could no longer deal with the resulting stress, pressure, ridicule, embarrassment and/or humiliation that resulted from sexually explicit videos of the young lady being posted online and, right out of the DUHHH folder, going viral.

Four people are under criminal investigation over the posting of the video, authorities calling it “defamation” of the woman. Cantone’s mother, touching her child’s coffin at the funeral which was broadcast live on Italian television, was heard to say that her daughter was “a very good girl”.
Tiziana Cantone, after either having herself or allowing herself to be videoed naked and having sex sent the video to “friends” who turned around and published it online without her knowledge or permission. More than a million people watched it.

In the video itself, she is clearly heard to say to her lover, “you’re filming? Bravo.”

After the posting and the resulting abuse she experienced, Cantone went to court, there was a long battle to have the video removed from websites and search engines and social media, a case that she won although the young woman was ordered to pay over twenty grand in court costs, a little tweak that local media called “ a final insult.”

All of my life I have believed that I tended to think about things more deeply and/or more complexly than the average joe or jane. And by that I don’t mean, at all, that I’m smarter or wiser or better than anyone, it’s just that I always tended to see many, many layers to just about anything and everything that I turned my brain loose on. And far from feeling superior to anyone, necessarily, trust me when I tell you that I actually envied people who didn’t find themselves being bothered with having to deal with multiple angles of multiple sides of multiple possibilities of every issue that floated into the think tank. I also subscribed to the youthful notion that as I got older, all of that thinking and pondering and analyzing would result in ME being the wise, tribal elder guy who the less experienced would seek out for answers and guidance.

Turns out that all getting to this tribal elder age has resulted in is the knowledge that angles and sides and layers and possibilities aside, there are some very simple, basic, rock bottom truths in this life that are now, have always been and will always be rock bottom truths.

One of them is don’t ever do anything that you wouldn’t or couldn’t live with if people found out about it.

Does this mean that I’m blaming or shaming or dissing or “throwing shade”, as the young people call it, at Tiziana Cantone? Of course not. Believe it or not, kids, there was a time in my life that had there BEEN an internet where things could go viral, I would have come horrifyingly close, more than once, to finding myself the talk of the town…the nation…the world….or, at the very least, my high school classmates….or college classmates….or next door neighbors in later years….the house that I have lived in all of my life has almost always been made out of glass….

The larger point in all of this is that all of the energy being spent on, outrage, cries for justice and demands for prevention of reoccurrence of the kind of embarrassment and humiliation that was inflicted upon this young woman feels somehow, to this tribal elder, like misspent energy.

Energy that might be better, and more effectively spent, with cries and demands for a return to those thrilling days of yesteryear in which common sense WAS a little more common and DID make a little more sense. When that big ass package marked FREEDOM that, as kids, we delight at tearing open with excitement and abandon came with a seal on it that couldn’t be opened until you at least read the instruction manual…the instruction manual that warned you of what could happen to you if you didn’t handle the freedom carefully and with…wait, here comes another one of those old man things: with the sense that God gave a goose.

I preach a lot about freedom without…freedom without accountability, freedom without responsibility, freedom without thought of consequences…..

I don’t preach about it because I have nothing better to do with my time than preach about it…I preach about it because I’m a tribal elder now and I know in my heart, the very same heart that would be shattered if a 31 year old daughter of mine hung herself because she made the mistake of trusting her friends, I preach about it because it’s very, very, very important that 31 year olds…and 21 year olds and even ten year olds, these days, learn something from their tribal elders who have walked various paths of potential shame themselves……

it’s an old saying….rebooted right here, right now, in a style that young people of today can appreciate:

Doctor, it makes me want to kill myself when I let a video of me naked and screwing be seen by ANYBODY except my lover and myself……

well….the doctor replies……

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