"...This Week's Show Was All American....That Is To Say Pretty Much Lacking In Common Sense..."

moments and musings from the November 8 show---


on parents being parents these days...or, as it turns out, not so much---

LET’S PUT THIS AS SIMPLY AS POSSIBLE:
Too many parents not only don’t know the first thing about parenting, too many parents are too lazy and/or stupid to bother trying to figure it out….

FIRST…. when, exactly, did the era of being “buddies” with our children begin….Bill Maher commented on his HBO show “Real Time this past week:  “…there needs to be a whole lot less “hey, buddy, are you ready to go?” and a whole lot more “get in the car”….

SECOND---Many parents have retreated from their roles and asked the government to step in. Our schools are not schools anymore, but foster homes. AND THAT’S BAD ENOUGH, BUT THE REAL FRUSTRATION FOR TEACHERS HAS TO BE THAT PARENTS EXPECT, EVEN DEMAND, TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS….HERE, you take care of the kid and teach the kid values and respect for authority and respect for others, but WHOA if you even come CLOSE to upsetting my kid, I’m gonna have a lawyer on your ass faster than you can say…WE GOTTA GET RID OF ALL THE HULA DANCERS

on the truth, the whole truth and nothing we want to hear less than the truth---

here’s a fact that’s REALLY hanging us up…We still haven’t learned, as a nation or even as human beings, how to keep from throwing the baby out with the bath water…MEANING THIS…..saying that all black people are bad is both ridiculously and insultingly incorrect and racist…saying that black Americans are responsible for 50 percent of the murders in this country, and almost 40 percent of our rapes, robberies, and assaults, despite making up only 13 percent of the population is simply statistical fact…no more mean spirited than saying the Ravens have lost 6 and won only 2….but in our silly, misguided efforts to make omelets without breaking any eggs, we are either afraid to, or criticized for, pointing out the statistics so we can honestly deal with them…

although I know, and anyone who has ever heard me utter a word knows, that I am not a racially prejudiced man, I also know that saying eight times more crimes are committed by blacks than whites will have any number of people immediately accuse me of that very prejudice….and WHOOPS THERE IT IS….the real problem….because there can be NO resolution or solution when the response to “here’s a problem” is “I’m insulted that you pointed out that this is a problem”….see, that’s how it works in this country these days…we wave flags and Bibles and we scream about truth…..we just don’t want to hear truth…..and I’m not supposed to speak truth….well, ooops….cause I just did… 

on the "fight" over putting a privacy curtain in the girls locker room---

the stupidity in all of this ….is that those who immediately fire off their pissing and moaning pistols are trying to sell everyone, no, actually, strong arm everyone into learning to live with the notion that they shouldn’t be treated any differently than anyone else because they aren’t any different than anyone else….WHEN the plain fact of the matter is that they ARE different….and a large part of this “problem” is that the word “different” has some how diabolically mutated into a synonym for “mutant” or “freak” or “aberration”…..when, in fact, different still basically means nothing more, or less, than different---

the dictionary defines “different” as “not the same as another or each other, unlike in nature in form or quality; distinct, separate---

and this life, like it or not, is full of different….male is different than female, white is different than black, Mets are different than Royals, much to the delight of Kansas City fans, smart is different than stupid and silly is different than ridiculous….and I added those last four in primarily because they apply to the real issue hidden beneath all the silly, stupid, ridiculous issues piled on top of it….

why should any reasonable person on either side or in the middle of the gender section have a problem with privacy curtains when it comes to transgenders? I read a lot of history and I don’t recall ever coming across a great social movement in our history where women felt discriminated against because they weren’t allowed in the men’s locker room and/or showers….I don’t recall a single campaign by men to demand free access to the women’s locker room and/or showers..(although, admittedly, that one probably still gets considered from time to time because, let’s face it, men are pigs….which is another thing, come to think of it, which makes us all delightfully different)…..

the first, supposedly best argument  that gets shouted by those who want us all to be showering together is that not ALLOWING that showering together is a discrimination on a scale that matches the racial discrimination that birthed the historic civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s …that’s crap…..again, invoking that pesky term “reasonable”  let me offer you that the color of skin was never a good reason to deny someone a seat at a lunch counter or to make them sit in the back of a bus or to prevent them from having the very same quality of education as anyone else….it was an unfair and unreasonable line to draw….

but life, this life that is filled with different, IS, in fact, also filled with lines….and the trick to it is NOT these absurd campaigns to erase all lines….it is to find the reasonable, common sense, common COURTESY way to DRAW the line in the first place….

 it’s not unreasonable to show another person, regardless of the color of their skin, the courtesy of not trying to prevent them from eating lunch, riding the bus or going to school like the rest of us do…(Oh, and by the  way, one of the ULTIMATE arrogances of this life is the term “different color skin”….to a black man, I’M the one with a different color skin)….

it’s also not unreasonable to put up a privacy curtain in a girls locker room so that the male who identifies as a female can use the facility while AT THE SAME TIME the actual females who don’t care to be displayed don’t have to be displayed….

there is, of course, the debate that goes on about allowing transgenders ANY access to obviously male or female facilities and, I gotta tell ya, I’m a simple guy who sees this in a simple way: you go in the room that matches your particular equipment….BUT while all this silliness is being sorted out, let’s make it easier on ourselves and just take the path of showing each other some common courtesy….

the path that heads us this way:   if you are a standard issue male or female who has a problem with the whole idea of transgender, meet halfway by grinning and bearing it and supporting the idea of curtains, etc, to allow for some wiggle room until it’s determined how much wiggle there will finally be in the room….

and if you’re a transgender or a zealous transgender advocate, meet halfway by not trying to shove your agenda into the face and/or down the throat of those who don’t wish to feel uncomfortable….NOT necessarily because they see you as a freak or a mutant or an aberration, but, simply because they feel uncomfortable when they are not given the courtesy of having their very simple and, these days, almost delightfully, charming, modesty respected….

the real beginnings of the solution to this societal dilemma will actually occur when standard issue males and females accept that things are never again going to be the way they used to be…but transgenders accept that it’s neither reasonable nor likely to ever expect to be seen as the same as everyone else…..

because you’re not a freak or a mutant or an aberration….but you are different….

like male is different than  female, black is different than white, smart is different than stupid and silly is different than ridiculous 



liar, liar, pants on fire...and poll numbers up, regardless---

when it comes to lying and liars in our poltical process, there’s a couple of things we need to remember…..

we live in a cold hard world and the cold hard fact is that people will often say whatever they need to say to get what they want or cover their ass…and sometimes spare others feelings….we lie every day…every one of us…wow that hair cut looks great on you….no, I didn’t eat the last brownie….yeah, I DID read that email, let me get back to you…..

bottom line is lies are life and life is lies….along with all the other zillions of things that life is….and in this upcoming election, the one who brings out the loudest cries of liar is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination….

I’m not crazy about the idea of Hillary as president….but I’m too jaded to be bothered with something as silly as the fact that she lies….Lincoln lied, Roosevelt lied, Nixon lied, Reagan lied, BILL Clinton lied and this weekend there’s a big ol buzz about Ben Carson “exaggerating” his claim that he was offered a scholarship to West Point (for those following the plot, the term exaggerating is modern slang for lying)...yes. all God’s chillum be lyin at one time or another

---the only thing about Hillary Clinton becoming president that really and genuinely concerns me is a selfish concern…I’m rock bottom sick and tired of venomous and vitriolic hatred being the standard operating procedure in this country and electing Hillary is a no fail, without a doubt guarantee that we will have four or eight more years of that same attitude…..because too many people in this country who disagree these days don’t have a damn clue about how to do it without being vicious about it…they know NOTHING about informed dissent or loyal opposition….they probably don’t even know what the terms informed dissent and loyal opposition mean…all they know is ignorant, petty, stupid and absolutely useless hatred….and, even more exhausting and annoying, is that a lot of those haters probably wear a cross around their necks and have Jesus fish on the trunks of their cars…which to my way of thinking is like robbing a bank wearing a badge…now, I’m pretty sure that the country can deal with four or eight more years of character flaws….and, Lord knows, Hillary’s got em….just like Bill’s got em---and Barack’s got em….and I’ve got em….and YOU’ve got em….what I’m not so sure of anymore is to whether or not this country can deal with four or eight more years of the kind of hatred that acts like acid…eating away at the foundation of the republic itself…

Hillary gets mocked for hundreds of reasons, including the title of a book she wrote a while back “It Takes A Village”….forget the fact that, in fact, it actually DOES take a village (look up the saying and give it some thought)…..and forget, for a second, that Hillary has anything to do with the saying….for a second, just think of this….

any fool can clean UP a village….by burning it to the ground….and if there’s no flame around when you need one…there’s something else that burns things down pretty good….acid….


final thought, last sharings and a parting shot or two---
 
what I should have said to the nice lady who called last week and took me to task for making fun of Lacey Lafferty ….why we are willing to accept less than the very best instead of “whatever else” is available….when interviewing someone to fill a position, an employer is, of course, limited by whatever is available in the applicant pool…but we’re not talking about hiring a new secretary or stock clerk or fast food counter person……

we’re talking about someone who we expect to lead us, manage our affairs, spend OUR money…..maybe it’s time we start thinking about lowering the river instead of raising the bridge and rethink our whole notion of what constitutes leadership in this country in this day and age---

MEANWHILE----it’s ironic, and would be funny if it wasn’t so sad and not just a little stupid, that those who keep spewing the loudest about Barack Obama being a failure at everything he has done are those spewing the loudest that he’s going to come and take away all the guns and turn this country over to the Muslims…seems like it would take somebody pretty smart to organize and pull off all of that….so if you’re one of those worried about losing your guns and having your country stolen out from under you, you really don’t need to worry, after all…because Obama is a failure at everything he does….right?....must be right….because I heard it from YOU---

AND FINALLY---
watching and listening to the political talk shows on radio and TV and it occurred…both sides are equally guilty of the smirk…or the snark….for the smug….and NO ONE is really trying to ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING except the smirk or the snark or the smug---
“I know you are but what am I’ may be the kind of method that six year olds employ to deal with those things they find unacceptable…but it’s really a lousy way to inspire a nation---






join the conversation---Sunday nights at 7 Eastern...on Delaware 105.9 

"...The Term "Star Reporter" Used To Mean Something Entirely Different..."

some written observations gleaned from the spoken observations from the November 1 show---



about that GOP "debate"---

the problem with too many “media” people…and media is the 21^st century, high tech, rooty snooty word for “journalist” is that too many media people don’t know the first thing about journalism…in the 1950’s and 1960’s and even into the 1970’s,  print, radio and television journalists brought us information…free of slant, skew, perspective or prejudice…and WITH that information, we were not only ABLE to make up our minds about issues of the day, we had to USE our minds to make up our minds about issues of the day….yes, there were commentaries and editorials in print and on television then, just as there are now…but they were designated and announced as such and so you knew, going in, that you were getting a given announcer’s personal slant on something so you could take it or leave it….what happens all too often today and what happened in spades at this latest debate, is that these “media” people aren’t remotely interested in bringing information to you or me….what they’re interested in is grandstanding…showing off…asking the “gotcha” questions that these grandstanders hope will be THE gotcha question that will unearth some deep dark secret about 

a candidate…or get them to say something stupid---or controversial---the kind of comment that will have people talking about it at the coffee maker the next day….it’s 1% journalism and 99% show biz these days….and EVERBODY wants to be a star….personally, I blame three people…..Woodward and Bernstein, the two then young writers for the Washington Post who uncovered the covering up that Nixon did about the Watergate burglary in 1972 and really did start the domino’s falling until they literally ended the Nixon presidency and, in the process, made media superstars out of Woodward and Bernstein…from that time on, the goal of journalists started to shift from the time honored journalism fundamentals of who, what, where and when to the spotlight hogging antics of who’s doing what to whom and where and when did they and/or are they doing it to them?....and there is no longer any such thing as objective reporting of the news….and how do you tell if a news reporter or editor or anchor has an agenda? they’re talking…..oh and the other blame? Simon Cowell….because he created American Idol and convinced people that when it came to going from nobody to superstar in the blink of an eye, pretty much everybody and anybody had, at least, a pretty good shot at it….these days? almost invisibly thin line between singers who sing and reporters who zing…and the one thing they ALL have in common big time? the love of that limelight, baby….and IF, as happens rarely, they really aren’t interested in the fame or fortune, per se? then they see themselves as champion of the people, rooting out evil, fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way……..because, let’s face it, when it comes to working in news? why be bored to death simply doing a quality job of providing factual information that people can use when you can be one cool kick ass champion of those people? ….oh, and by the way, one last two cents worth of opinion…this guy John Harwood, the lead “moderator”?….don’t know him, don’t know his work but if I was asked to size him up based on what I saw Wednesday night? he’s a blowhard asshat who apparently sees himself as one of those champions of the people….Walter Cronkite…come back!......come back!

about Lacey Lafferty suing a political blogger for "slander"

I don’t have anything personal against or axe to grind with Lacey Lafferty….I have, in fact, had her as a phone guest on this show and found her to be interesting and what I took to be sincere in her desire to be of service to Delawareans….that said, in the year 2015 I would have a problem supporting any candidate who expresses themselves like Ms. Lafferty…if only because in the year 2015, I’m always looking to see where a candidate stands on what I believe to be a single issue of critical importance…education….promoting it, advocating for it and being a good and living 

example for it…and, picky as it might sound, I’m not inclined to be impressed with someone wanting to be one of only fifty people in the entire nation who hold the office of governor that don’t know, at the very least, how to use spell checker….the word is gubernaTORial….not gubernaTERial as Ms. Lafferty wrote and posted for all to see in her Facebook response….maybe readin, writin’, writhmatic and book LARNIN weren’t all that big a deal in 1915…..2015?  big deal……and given the choice, I’ll go with the candidate who shines as an example of higher education to the kids every time….even if they like to dance the hula  (Google Lafferty Hula Dancers and enjoy the video)

"...The Problem With Torches Is They're Really Hard To Put Out..."

some political POV in anticipation of the 2nd GOP debate....and a discussion of the "where we at now?" coming up on this Sunday night's show----




(click on the link)

http://politicsinplainenglishsep.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-only-thing-we-have-to-fearis-those.html

"...Politics, Pedestrians...and Pontificators...."

bits, pieces and pearls from this past Sunday's show---

"...if ever, oh, ever a wiz  there was, he or she has yet to reveal his or herself..."

First Democratic debate come and gone...

And from ten seconds after it ended, you couldn’t swing a dead cat and not hit an "expert" on who said what, what they meant and how voters feel out that and them.

Actually, these days, thanks to PETA and the SPCA and the ACLU and E-I-E-I-O, you can't even swing a dead cat.

I claim no expertise.

I do, though, have a little experience with this kind of thing

So, allow me to sum up the status of the presidential campaign, current as of the writing of this piece, some five days after the end of Dem Debate I.

Those who believed their candidate is the answer to every prayer they can pray….. still believes their candidate is the answer to every prayer they can pray.

Those who believe that all the other candidates are the anti-Christ and/or Muslims and/or both…. still believe that all the other candidates are the anti-Christ and/or Muslims and/or both

Those who haven't yet made up their mind were most likely watching "N.C.I.S." Tuesday night and waiting until, say, March of next year when the herd has thinned sufficiently to see the "actual" candidates as opposed to the Osmond family meets the Von Trapp family crowd of contenders currently taking part in the process and sucking the oxygen and air time out of the room.

As far as "expert" analysis, insight, cogent perspective and/or prescient pundit-ing as to where the American electorate stands at this point, I ignore CNN, FOX, MSNBC, any and all "commentators" associated with same, any and all online sages, any and all print media waxers politic and simply, for the time being, refer to the one political observer I have found, through the years, to have the most consistently, almost unfailingly, accurate take on the mindset of the American voter at any given time in the American electoral process...

Ray Bolger---





"...walk a mile in my shoes...but watch out for cars trying to run you down..."

Delaware is getting serious about pedestrian safety....


Governor Markell is announcing an executive order to increase pedestrian safety and walkability in The First State.

The action comes as the rate of pedestrian accidents and fatalities remains high so far in 2015.

Also, the Governor's office says the effort to examine pedestrian "infrastructure" - pathways, crosswalks and sidewalks - fits in with initiatives to make Delaware a more walkable and bikeable state.

The Advisory Council on Walkability and Pedestrian Awareness will include representatives from state agencies, local governments, citizens organizations and the non-profit sector.

OH YAY! another committee to spend tax dollars to study and consider and discuss and come up with the following no brainer conclusion….

COMMON SENSE ALERT…

 we are a personal motor vehicle driven ,personal  motor vehicle obsessed culture and solutions to the rising injury and death rates of pedestrians and bikers and these programs designed to solve the problem, whatever good intentions they include, rely heavily on ONE thing in very very short supply these days….common courtesy….and that includes paying attention while driving (texting, zipping in and out, etc)


MEANWHILE, ANOTHER THOUGHT ABOUT IT…Bike paths that require even the most COURTEOUS and SKILLED drivers to cross over in order to make a turn or get to or through an intersection is one of the top ten all time DUMBEST ideas…we ain’t Europe, baby….we are MURRica….and in MURRica , SHARE the road means spray painting it with the words I Got You Babe….



"..you are free to live your life as you see it...now...let us tell you how you should see it..."


FROM THE DELAWARE FAMILY POLICY COUNCIL Facebook page---

This is REALLY important and we need you to read it. It affects you if you profess Christ as your Savior and Lord. We also urge you to become a member of DFPC and come to our monthly member mtgs where we educate and equip you for what is ahead. We have strategy, we ignite courage and we stand together.

an ARTICLE BY BRYAN FISCHER on the American Family Association website

If you have ever wondered whether President Obama has an abiding hostility to people of Christian faith, wonder no more. He believes we are a threat to national security. If you are a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ, your president believes you are a potential domestic terrorist

I do not exaggerate. In a gathering at George Washington University this week, Obama’s assistant attorney general for national security, John Carlin, revealed that the Department of Justice is creating a brand new position just to monitor us. The position, domestic terrorism counsel, will be created to combat the “real and present threat” of domestic terrorism. 

The real threat to our national security, according to our president and his minions, is coming from the Family Research Council and the American Family Association. 

The plain truth is that we at FRC and AFA don’t hate a living soul. We love homosexuals enough to tell them the truth about the physical and spiritual dangers of the homosexual lifestyle. We want something better for them than the darkness and disease associated with homosexual behavior. We want them to come out of that darkness into the light of the gospel of Christ. We are for the homosexual, and so we must be against the normalization and promotion of homosexuality.  

SEP comments--------I have, and I’m willing to bet you money I aint got, that YOU have friends, acquaintances, co workers, even FAMILY members who are gay and lead happy, productive, physically and spiritually healthy lives….

I’m also willing to double  down and bet you have heterosexual friends, family etc in the grip of darkness, disease, desperation, etc, etc

darkness and disease aren’t just something you get in the premium tier of being gay….they are an equal opportunity human afflication…and NO ONE and NO GROUP has an automatic or guaranteed immunity…

“…Do we disagree with the homosexual lobby about homosexuality? Of course. Do we hate them? Absolutely not. Do we advocate violence against them? Never have, never will. We are simply determined to tell the moral, spiritual, and physical truth about non-normative sexual behavior.  …”     WHOOPS THERE IT IS….the TRUTH about flawed human beings as seen by OTHER flawed human beings…

I always find myself automatically and instantly asking this question when I hear the TRUTH being told to me by a fellow flawed human being…..who died and made you the first and last word on what Jesus wants? Oh, wait, that’s right….it was Jesus who died

and I get that you think you’re doing me some kind of favor by pointing out the error of my way, but let me offer you this….

your Bible and the ability to read it DOESN’T MAKE YOU an expert and it doesn’t AUTHORIZE you to come at me as if I were a two year old who needs to have explained to me the dangers of crossing the street without looking both ways…

share with me…don’t lecture me….invite me to consider…don’t preach that I must surrender…because I promise if you try to make up my mind for me, you’re going to fail at your quest to recruit me…and God or Jesus aren’t going to be pleased that you’re not making your quota…..and its NOT because I figure I’m going to get a better deal with the devil….it’s because I’m going to talk benefits and responsibilities and hopes and dreams and sacrifices and loving one another with God myself….and eliminate the middle man….in this case, the middle man being YOU

I’m willing to bet the farm that you are one of those folks totally outraged by the Supreme Court “interpreting” the law for us…..but you don’t have any problem at all expecting me to accept you doing exactly the same thing for me…

if I feel moved or motivated or inspired to share an amazing book with you, I’m going to recommend, yes, even sometimes passionately, recommend that you open the book and read it….the difference between you and me? I’m not going to insist you read it, try to instill in you a fear of what will happen if you DON’T read it and then, after you actually read it, tell you what you just read really MEANS….

who died and made you the first and last word on what Jesus wants? Oh, wait, that’s right….it was Jesus who died

meanwhile, I’m not accepting ANYTHING as GOSPEL from you because I know who you are….a flawed human being…just like me

join the conversation--- Sunday night at 7 Eastern---talk radio redefined...

"...Ask Not ! Who's On First?..."

Here's some good news, at last.

Oh, not the following breaking entertainment report.

The good news comes after that.

But, first...



Saturday Night Live has had some fun mocking Donald Trump recently, but now it will truly play the Trump card this election season. 

The leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination will host SNL on Nov. 7, NBC announced on Tuesday. 

Sia will serve as the show’s musical guest. Trump previously hosted the late-night variety/sketch series in 2004. 

The gig marks another return to NBC for Trump, who hosted The Apprentice for a decade before the network cut ties with him earlier this year. He appeared on The Tonight Show last month and has given interviews on Meet The Press. 

Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton popped up on the Oct. 3 show of SNL, playing opposite Clinton impersonator Kate McKinnon.






Okay.

Let's not waste any time or synaptic matter bothering with even contemplating, let alone discussing, the FCC Equal Time thing that opens the door for any announced candidate to demand his or her right to host this show.

After all, that candy ass business of trying to establish some sort of protocol or level playing field in the wild and woolly game show that American presidential elections have become has gone the way of the Betamax and New Coke.

Instead, let's just contemplate, for a minute or two, how far the empire has fallen with this latest mutation of pop culture meets politics. ("Empire" in this case, of course, referring to the United States of America and "fallen", referring, of course, to the historical narrative entitled "The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire"...)

First, in the interest of both full disclosure and self defense, allow me to offer the following answer to the question I'm sure occurs to a reasonable number of people experiencing my opinion here.

Yes, thanks for asking, as a matter of fact, I do have a sense of humor, I do appreciate good satire, I do respect those who are able to laugh at themselves and I do, I so do, approach most everything in this life with a "hey, lighten the fuck up" attitude.

So stuff your "lighten up, dudes" in a sack, mister...or missy.

I get that modern politics necessitates a certain amount of envelope pushing when it comes to being not only relevant and relatable to not only the "establishment", whatever the hell that is anymore, but also to the youngers, the future movers and shakers and, God help us, leaders of this country who will in another eight or twelve or sixteen or twenty years, give or take, be stepping up to take a shot at taking a shot running the US of A.

Or what's left of it in eight or twelve or sixteen or twenty years, give or take.

The 18-39 year olds demographic is the holy grail in the land of advertising and so its only natural that shows like SNL would bypass any sense of, well, no, actually make that just any sense and sell their mama if they could get a Donald to actually host an entire show.

And the "dumbing down" of political appearances is nothing new. Just last week, Hillary did a fun cameo as a barkeep, batting the old banter birdie with Amy Schumer.

Bill Clinton played a saxophone on Aresenio Hall a long time ago.




And a long, LONG time ago, on a 23 inch tube console far, far away, a normally uptight, stick placed expertly and permanently up the ass Richard Nixon took a pass at being hip and groovy with a four second appearance on THE comedy show of the late sixties, Laugh In.




And the Donald did a hosting stint eleven years ago.

When he was just an uber wealthy, real estate mogul/doofus.

As opposed to the uber wealthy, real estate mogul/doofus/leading candidate for the GOP nomination for President of the United States that he has become.

Or mutated into.

Six of one.

I'm the first guy to shove to the front of the line and the head of the crowd and offer up that we need to maintain, always, our senses of humor in this world. We live in serious, dangerous, often dark times and our ability to keep our wits about us often depends on our ability to keep our wit about it.

Lighten the heavy load and all that Hallmark card/Deepak Chopra yada yada.

But here's a thing.

We've ALWAYS lived in serious, dangerous, often dark times and our ability to keep our wits with a little help from our wit has always been balanced, within reasonable parameters, with all the other qualities necessary to maintain both our place in the pecking order and the perception that other nations, both friendly and not so much, have of us.

Donald Trump hosting an entire episode of a globally broadcast comedy satire show is not the modern equivalent of, say, Jack  Kennedy having been convinced in 1960 to appear as The Continental, offering one sassy secretary or another a fine glass of "sham-pahnya" in the spirit of naughty, but family friendly, fun.

It is more like seriously considering electing Conan O'Brien President of the United States.

When the nominating and the voting and inaugurating is all done, we really do need to have a leader representing us in the serious, dangerous, often dark world.

One who arrives at history making meetings in a limousine.

Not a clown car. (Cue: HONK HONK)

Oh...and I didn't forget.

I promised good news.

We no longer have to worry about whether or not the other nations of the world respect our position, style, grace and qualities of statesmanship and leadership.

Because they don't.

"....Ladies and gentlemen..........the President of the United States......LIIIIIIIIIIIIVE from New York! It's Saturday NIIIIIGHT!"......

"...Come To Think Of It, Maybe The Force Field Thing Isn't Such A Bad Idea, After All..."

Sign of the times.

Literally.



One Texas school district has unveiled a sign on school grounds warning that its teachers are armed.





Here's more from KDAF-TV in Dallas.

Back in January, the district voted in favor of school marshals. Some Argyle teachers will act as the long arm of the law under the state’s Protection of Texas Children Act.

Gun-toting teachers must have and maintain a handgun license; pass a psychological evaluation; and undergo firearms and emergency response training.

Some parents say the district is right on target.

“I think if a tragedy does occur, lives can be saved by guns being in the right hands, and I think the teachers here might be able to stop something like that and life can be saved,” parent Lacey Fenoglio said.

Argyle ISD Superintendent, Dr. Telena Wright tells NewsFix continuous training is required, and some training even took place over summer break. However, the names and number of pistol-packing teachers will not be released for safety reasons.

Seven states - Texas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama - have passed legislation to make it legal for teachers to carry a gun following the Dec. 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

Greg Coker, creator of the Shield 91 program that helps schools effectively arm teachers, talked to Brian Kilmeade this morning, explaining the process by which armed teachers are chosen.

Coker, a Special Ops veteran, says he is on a "crusade" to prevent another attack like Sandy Hook, which took the lives of 20 children and six adults.

He said the program is worth it if it can save even one life. Coker noted that most school shootings are carried out in about five minutes, but it usually takes police about 10 minutes to respond.

Coker said a properly trained individual can draw and fire in two seconds, adding that the goal is to delay the shooter's actions until law enforcement arrives.




In the category of "something better than nothing", this effort is both appreciated and understandable.

At the same time, it's important to keep something front and center in the mindset.

A sign is a notification.

Not a force field.

Just ask anybody who's ever been T-boned by somebody running a stop sign.

And sick, delusional, homicidal, suicidal intruders with everything locked and loaded and nothing to lose probably don't bother much with reading.

Again, something better than nothing.

But treatments aren't cures.

And we need cures.

Starting with recognizing, and immediately dealing with, the signs.

So that, someday, sooner rather than later...

...we can take down the sign.

"...Come On Over, Baby...Whole Lotta Shootin' Goin' On..."

bits, pieces, segments and stuff from this past weekend's show...


on the news that Kim Davis "met with" Pope Francis---

KIM DAVIS’ SITUATION IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE HONEY BOO BOO FAMILY’ S SITUATION…A LITTLE SPOTLIGHT, PROBABLY A LITTLE CASH and A LOT OF PEOPLE WITH AGENDAS BEHIND HER, PROPPING HER UP WHILE SHOVING HER FORWARD FOR their BENEFIT, NOT HERS, MAKING HER THINK SHE’S A STAR WHEN, IN FACT, SHE’S REALLY JUST A SAD, UNEDUCATED, UNSOPHISTICATED WHO CANT HER HEAD AROUND THE SIMPLE CONCEPT THAT BELIEVING THAT GOD and/or JESUS HAVE SHOWN HER A WAY TO LIVE HER LIFE DOESN’T ever QUALIFY HER TO INSTRUCT, let alone force, PEOPLE AS TO HOW TO LIVE THEIR OWN….


on the gun issue---Rosanne Cash's eloquent posting on Facebook---

"...For ten years, I was on the board of PAX- an organization whose sole purpose was to prevent gun violence among children. (PAX merged with Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence several years ago.) After ten years of meeting grief-stricken parents of children killed by guns, I had to quit. I couldn't take the endless parade of innocent people with shattered lives. It was eating at my soul. More pre-schoolers die by guns every year than police officers in the line of duty, and people seem to accept it as collateral damage for 'freedom.' Whose freedom are we talking about? Certainly not a classroom of first-graders lying in a pool of blood. And we're not talking about the freedom of their parents either, whose lives are utterly destroyed.

In 2000, as a representative of PAX, I attended the Million Mom March in Washington, DC with my husband, my year-old baby and my 11 year old daughter. I had a lot of hope that day-- the energy was powerful and the thousands of parents holding pictures of their dead children was a mandate in itself.

At the end of the day, my friend Patty Smyth, who marched alongside me with Bette Midler, Emmylou Harris, Raffi and many, many more, said 'if nothing else, we helped carry the burden of the grieving mothers for one day.' I wrote an article for Rolling Stone about that day. I was full of expectation that our elected officials would rise to the occasion and enact basic gun safety legislation like background checks, safety locks and a ban on military-grade weapons.




It turned out that, in fact, all we did was help carry the burden for a day. Nothing changed.

Several years later, my precious daughter, Chelsea, was held up at gunpoint in the jewelry store where she worked. The gunmen held her for twenty minutes. I'm so grateful she was not killed and I'm also so acutely aware that the difference between me and the moms carrying the photos on the march is a split second. Do NOT tell me that Chelsea 'should have had a gun.' If she had, she'd be dead. She is not physically or mentally able to coolly aim a gun at someone who is already pointing a gun at HER, and fire sharp-shooter style at another human being while terror-stricken. Nor am I. Nor are millions of other people.

The logic that 'if more law-abiding citizens had guns, there would be fewer mass shootings' is confounding to the point of nihilism. What's the end game? Every first grade teacher should have a gun in her desk to prevent another massacre like Newtown? Every pastor in his pulpit? Every movie-goer, mall shopper, night club patron and mom pushing a stroller, until we are reduced to anarchy and violence in every social venue of this country?

If you can make a compelling argument why we have laws requiring safety locks on medicines to protect children, but no law requiring a safety lock on a gun, I'd like to hear it. If you can make a compelling argument why a mentally disturbed youth should be able to easily stockpile military-grade weapons because of loopholes in the law and no background checks, please-- go ahead. I'd like to hear an articulate and reasoned logic behind that thought.

The Constitution is a living document-- if it hadn't changed since its inception, I personally would not be allowed to vote. The language 'well-regulated militia' doesn't equal 'mentally ill person with stockpile of automatic weapons' in my interpretation, but if you believe the amendment extends to that, then I believe Congress needs to amend the amendment, as it has done before in other cases.

Personal handguns and hunting rifles will never be banned in this country. Not a single person talking about the gun issue, that I have heard or read, has suggested that.

If one classroom of first graders can be saved just by requiring background checks and a ban on military style weapons, wouldn't it be worth it? One teenager in a movie theater, one student nurse, one pastor in the pulpit, one little pre-schooler? If the answer is no, or the answer is just more vicious rhetoric, then we should be ashamed. That child could be yours. It was almost mine. So don't tell me to keep my mouth shut...."


on Rosanne Cash's comments---and my two cents---

every practical suggestion these folks make is reasonable, do-able and sensible....my personal concern, a concern I have voiced many times on air and in print, is the conundrum we have faced, and continue to face, every time a triggering event (pun unintended, but somehow, I think, meant to be) occurs....simply put: when it comes to issues like this, we too often find ourselves not moving forward as if on a vehicle of change as we do going round and round as if on a hamster wheel because, if for no other single reason, human nature and psychology perpetually exhibit themselves in this manner:

"those who will take the time to read, reflect and seek a way to be a part of the solution don't need to do so....and those who need, desperately need, to do so, will, inevitably, not bother with reading, reflecting or seeking..."

America has allowed the "babies" in our culture free access to the cookie jar for years and years and years.....
now, we need, desperately need, to get them to eat broccoli...

the gun culture is not the accomplishment of a free society exercising its rights in a manner that makes one proud to be an American....

it is an addiction more powerful, and dangerous, than the drugs America spends billions of dollars to "treat"...

if and when, and only if and when, the majority of voting Americans accept that premise and wield the only power they really have, the power to elect or defeat, support or impeach, only then will the fever break and the cure begin to take hold---

The "debate" about "gun rights" can, and will, go on until the end of mankind.

Unless, we stop trying to reason with addicts.

on the tone and texture of campaign 2016, if you want to call it that---

it occurred to me this week that this whole presidential campaign, so far, is, for us, the voter, like a really, really, really bad dating site…where we have to pick somebody from the profiles they offers us and ONLY the profiles they offer us, but the profiles they offer us are , at best, lame and, at worst, well, the worst-----in other words, like an arranged marriage, we have to “settle” for whoever turns out to be our partner instead of seeking and finding the perfect match for what we want, and deserve, our lives to be…..

AND---the style and substance of the “campaign” so far has NOTHING to do with raising the bar, lifting the spirit, inspiring Americans to be the best they can be….it’s entirely about vote for me, because I don’t suck nearly as much as everybody else…and the entire tone of what these people are offering us brings out the WORST in US….they are inciting us to hate and demonize and lynch, if possible, instead of calling on our better angels to get us back to where we once belonged---the haters want to throw Obama in jail for whatever bonehead reason they come up with at any given moment….the haters want to throw Hillary in jail pretty much because she’s Hillary…

well, okay, I won’t argue the should or shouldn’t of those cries for justice…what I WILL offer you is this….first, for the bazillionth time, Obama isn’t running anymore and those who insist on whining about him are the same  people still bitching that the Seahawks passed instead of running last Super Bowl---let it go---and to those who still insist that Obama is cleverly going to wait until the very end of his EIGHT years in office to spring the ol’ “AH-HA!, I was a Muslim terrorist all along”, I’m gonna assume that most or all of you were the same people who predict that the Apocolypse will occur September 23 of this….oh WAIT….that was like TWO WEEKS AGO!!...so, seriously, God bless..and shut up----

meanwhile, as regards the actual candidates running….if we’re talking jail, let’s just cut to the chase and put ALL of them in jail for impersonating thoughtful, inspiring, motivating, intelligent, dynamic, educated, sophisticated leaders who will make our schools better and safer, make our streets better and safer, treat our veterans with ALL the respect and rewards they deserve ALL the time, deal with world leaders in a way that will make ALL of us proud that they ARE a world leader, too and, in every way possible,  make us ALL proud to be Americans…or you know what, let’s put em in jail because they’re not even bothering to do the impersonation…they’re just telling you why you should love THEM…. and hate the OTHERS…..

walking into your polling place on Election Day in this country should be a day filled with excitement of knowing that  the candidate that inspires you just might be the next President of the United States but even if your candidate isn’t chosen, the candidate that IS chosen will still inspire and motivate and challenge us to do what we do better than anybody in the world….EVERYTHING….when we’re not wasting so much time in our lives finding EXCUSES TO HATE ---and wasting so much time in our lives listening to those who have nothing to offer us but REASONS TO HATE….

two kinds of people in the world, it’s said….leaders and followers---the big problem this time out is that it can be really, really hard to tell the difference between the leader of a great nation….and the leader of a great big lynch mob---

join us Sunday nights at 7---talk radio redefined---on Delaware 105.9FM News/Talk