Category: Commentary

Folly: Today’s Thumbnails

Folly- lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight; the fact of being stupid, or a stupid action, idea, etc.:

Cambridge Dictionary

More than 100 GOP primary winners back Trump’s false fraud claims. (Washington Post 6/14/2022)

Republicans jockey to be Trump’s top defender during January 6 hearings. (CNN Politics 6/14/2022)

Guilfoyle’s $60k Payday Goes Viral in ‘Trump World’ – Allies ‘Aghast’ According to Maggie Haberman
A three minute speech to introduce her boyfriend on 1/6/2021

‘The Music Has Stopped’: Crypto Firms Quake as Prices Fall

Newsmax Host Floats Theory That Pelosi Wanted Kavanaugh Killed So Biden Could Replace Him (Mediaite 6/14/2022)

Marjorie Taylor Greene Argues Global Warming Is ‘Actually Healthy For Us’ (Huffington Post 6/14/2022)

Idaho Police Receive Death Threats After Arresting Patriot Front Members (Huffington Post 6/13/2022)

U.S. Supreme Court insulates federal agents from accountability
(Reuters 6/10/22)

We’ll Be Marrying AI Robots in No Time (Bloomberg Opinion 6/14/2022)

Deshaun Watson again denies sexual misconduct accusations as Browns open minicamp: ‘I never assaulted, disrespected or harassed anyone’ (Sporting News 6/14/2022)

Uvalde, 1/6/21 Committee and Joe Biden

I seriously doubt that any major gun control legislation will be passed even with the massacre of young children and teachers at Uvalde. The news cycle on the story is fading with the pending 1/6/2021 Commission hearings.

It will be interesting to see the TV ratings and the reaction to the televised Commission hearings starting tonight. I remember how enthralled the country was during the Watergate hearings that ultimately brought down the Nixon presidency in 1974.

So far the 1/6/2021 Committee has produced and delivered compelling video, text, and testimonial evidence of an attempted coup by Donald Trump. The coup appears more organized than many have thought.

Joe Biden will not be the Democratic nominee in 2024. He is a placeholder President. A likable man, but he is showing his age.

I think there is a 50% chance that Biden will not finish his term due to health reasons. It would also provide Kamala Harris an opportunity to be the frontrunner in 2024 though any support for her appears very soft.

Maybe the dumbest trade in sports history involved the Cleveland Browns picking up DeShaun Watson. He is this football era’s OJ Simpson.

I paid $50 to fill my gas tank and I had a 1/2 tank left! That’s why Democrats are going to lose so many election races in November.

Sweeping the Chalkboard

The worst personal rejections come when those who meant so much to you show how little you meant to them.

Relationship neutron bomb—I survive but the friendship, memories, interest and good feelings don’t.

“How long have you known him?
“Fifteen years.”
“What’s the one thing we should know about him if we offer him the job?”
She lowered her head smiling. Pausing for a moment she then stared hard at the questioner and warned, “He doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

At the precipice, my muscles and sinews struggled mightily to pull up the rope. With each slight pull, I felt a great weight at the end of the rope. With one last desperate pull of strength, I was able to reach the end of the rope. To my shock, there was no one, nothing attached. I had struggled desperately at great effort to save what I thought valuable, but it did not exist, it was imaginary.

Photo by Dids-Pexels

Her silence to my inquiry communicated nothing but told me everything.

EAB

Political Potpourri

Why should I worry about the future? Political, religious and cultural groups are pushing an agenda to return to the way things were in the mid-1960s when I was in my teens. Intolerance, racism, sexual repression, discrimination, and religious fanaticism are making a return thanks to Republicans and the Supreme Court, though I’m sure they have never left.

In my almost eight decades of life in the United States, I have seen so much improvement in our technology, medicine and science. Sadly I have not seen the same level of improvement in our national character.

Studying American history after November 21, 1963 is like reading a tragedy. The previous four Presidents before that date were successful ones: FDR, Truman, Eisenhower and JFK. The next four Presidents were LBJ, Nixon, Ford and Carter. They were responsible for the Vietnam War, Watergate, Nixon’s pardon and Iran hostage crisis. Since 1963, we have been involved in unnecessary wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Starting with the Reagan years, we have hollowed out the middle class in this country and made it much harder for young citizens to achieve the “American dream.” The United States has largely lost the immense respect it had in the world after World War II.

Was the last great national achievement of this country the moon landing in July 1969?

So many Americans are content to being entertained as opposed to being informed and educated. Those Americans are like professional wrestling “marks”. They are gullible to the most ludicrous story lines and pontifications…

Today’s Supreme Court has the same credibility as a moral, ethical, judicial and intellectual authority and arbiter as the Vatican.

While many in this country seem to celebrate individual success stories, one senses that many in the public secretly revel more in the failures, scandals and downfalls of those individuals. The media like to highlight the successes but love to cover and commentate on the downfall.

“Next time the National Anthem is played, every woman and girl should take a knee.” Cheri Jacobus, writing on Twitter

I think that you may receive a more accurate projection of your money and finances from a carnival fortuneteller then a certified financial advisor.

Roe vs Wade Overturn: First Thoughts

A leaked draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that guaranteed abortion access, sent immediate shock waves throughout the United States, as many Americans braced for a future without reproductive rights that had been established for nearly a half-century.

NYT 5/3/2022

First Thoughts:

This development is probably bad news for the Republican party as it pertains to the midterm elections. The GOP was looking forward to significant gains in the House and Senate in the upcoming November election. I sense that there will be a significant political backlash and rise in political activism among women.

I think that many Democrats and liberals who decided to stand on the sidelines for the November midterm elections will now get back into the game.

Regrettably this story will push back and minimize coverage of the war in Ukraine. I hope that Americans will still support Ukraine with the fervor that they have shown so far.

This purported decision by the Supreme Court will further deepen the cultural, political and social rifts that plagued this country. I fear there will be political violence and terrorism created by this decision.

This decision will spur further discussion on how to limit the Supreme Court’s powers and also bring back ideas on increasing the size of the Court. I don’t believe that any of these discussions will generate any results.

Senescence Round 6

For older guys, Pickleball: Exercise = Viagra: Sex

Ukraine: Their legislators are dodging bullets.
USA: Our GOP legislators are dodging ballots.

Hollywood: A slap results in one suffering a 10 year ban from the Academy of Arts and Sciences
Washington: An attempted overthrow of the government results in one being the favorite for the GOP nomination for President in 2024

I am a hoarder of cluttered life experiences and emotional baggage including insults remembered, disappointments, unfulfilled expectations, envies, failures and missed opportunities. Time to declutter…

My most irrational belief is that people should act and think like I do.

Most men should be ending their political careers at age 70 not beginning or renewing it.

Voters are doing a poor job of eliminating politicians whose ages may be less than 70 but so are their IQs.

In their teens and 20s, baby boomers crammed to study for exams and finish class papers. In their 60s and older, baby boomers now cram to complete their bucket list while they are still healthy and active.

In their teens and twenties, baby boomers pulled “all nighters” which was staying up all night to study or finish papers. In their 60s and older, all nighters usually represent the hours between 10 p.m and 7 a.m. where baby boomers try to get a good night sleep.

I Got Your Message

The person who I am writing about is a “friend” for about 20 years. I expected that she would be a friend till I died. For some reason, she has not responded to my e-mails or my invitation to have lunch. I’m stunned. She was so helpful to me at different turbulent periods in my life, notably when Chris had breast cancer. Not the first time I have experienced this where I feel frozen out.

******

Geez, it sure has been awhile since we last spoke
So I called your cell phone hoping to catch up.
No answer.
So I left you a short message asking you to call back when you had the time.
No response.

I figured you missed my phone message so I texted you.
I know you are busy but I was counting on you seeing my text
So I drafted a short message asking you contact me when you had the time hoping to catch up.
No response.

We always remembered each other’s birthday so I e-mailed a funny card
I figured you were busy but I was sure this would brighten your day and spark a reply
I included a short message with the card asking you contact me when you had the time.
No response.

No response to my phone message, text and e-mail, so I wrote a personal letter
I figured that even if you were busy, you would take the time to read of my confusion and disappointment on your non-response when you had downtime.
I ended the letter asking you to contact me
No response.

A few months later, I had lunch with another mutual friend
Aware of my numerous efforts to contact you, I was asked,
”Did you ever receive a response from all the texts and messages you sent?
“Sadly I did,” I replied.

Resonance

Words, phrases, ideas and thoughts of resonance…

“Moving on, after all, is the favorite American activity. And technology has exacerbated our twitchy consciousness and sensationalist culture. We now live in a world of nothing but distractions, with a blizzard of stimuli.”
Kim and Pete, or Vladimir and Volodymyr? NYT Maureen Dowd 4/10/22

“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson today became the first Black woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, in case you’re wondering why the flag over the Fox News building is at half-staff.” — SETH MEYERS

“Today’s today’s housing market has become a game of musical chairs due mostly to the significant inventory shortage,” said Ken H Johnson a real estate economist at Florida Atlantic university. “No one wants to be holding equity, but the trade-offs, moving to a lower cost part of the country, overpaying to own or over paying to rent, are not very attractive.”

“For years, exercise scientists tried to quantify the ideal “dose” of exercise for most people. They finally reached a broad consensus in 2008 with the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which were updated in 2018 after an extensive review of the available science about movement, sitting and health. In both versions, the guidelines advised anyone who was physically able to accumulate 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, and half as much if it is intense.”

Is 30 Minutes of Exercise a Day Enough? NYT Gretchen Reynolds 4/6/22

“Liberalism’s most important selling point remains the pragmatic one that has existed for centuries: its ability to manage diversity in pluralistic societies. Yet there is a limit to the kinds of diversity that liberal societies can handle. If enough people reject liberal principles themselves and seek to restrict the fundamental rights of others, or if citizens resort to violence to get their way, then liberalism alone cannot maintain political order. And if diverse societies move away from liberal principles and try to base their national identities on race, ethnicity, religion, or some other, different substantive vision of the good life, they invite a return to potentially bloody conflict. A world full of such countries will invariably be more fractious, more tumultuous, and more violent.”

A Country of Their Own:Liberalism Needs the Nation Foreign Affairs Francis Fukuyama