The Pilgrim, Chapter 33.

Nobody is satisfied with themselves. Somewhere, we got fed the bullshit that we didn't measure up to whatever it was we thought we were supposed to measure up to. So, on occasion, either to get laid or worse, get the promotion or worst of all, to get to be President, we lied about who we were and once we did, that toothpaste could never get put back in the tube.

My friend died a couple of years ago, quite suddenly, and all the arrangements were a blur. In the blur and the white noise, I never really sat down to think about our friendship. Better late than never. I attended his funeral. Funerals are weird ass, boy and I avoid them when and wherever possible. I had gone to high school with this guy and we remained close for a period of time until we didn't. then I got a phone call and heard he dropped dead in his house. I guess if you're gonna go, it's best if you're at home. All of sudden, you're sitting on the sofa watching Mark Haines on CNBC and then you're not. Of course Mark wouldn't be on the tube cause that's also what happened to him one morning a couple of years ago. 

My friend was a skater. Today a skater is a character in an Avril Lavigne song. In my time a skater was a bullshitter who always had enough BS in the tank to get where he needed to go. He glided through life, because most of his life was a lie. It got him things and accolades he needed at the time and he was generally regarded as a really funny, bright guy. That's because very few people really knew him. Well, I did and I was able to cleave him into two parts, the unbelievable proctor of prevarication and the result of his toil, which was to  use that low resolution fact, turn it into fiction and skate out the other side; a bright, funny, engaging guy-- whose stories everybody wanted to hear at parties. He knew so many people, shared time with them, flew like Icarus to the sun with them, but went into a dive before the sun burned his wings.

He got into college by the skin of his teeth, not a very good college, hell I don't think at the time it was even accredited. He caroused, skated, gambled, fucked anything with a pulse and flunked out. He came back to the neighborhood a pretty beaten down person, but no matter, he enlisted in the service and became a meat wagon driver. Actually, uh no that wasn't the case. He was a medic and after he got his discharge, he was going to go to med school and be a doctor. While he was at basic training, he traveled the area and saw lots of bands. I'm not sure how he fit it into his schedule, but when he wasn't healing the world, (or driving their soon to be dead bodies somewhere)  he was an employee of Lynard Skynard and he was even the guitar technician who tuned Rickey Medlocke's guitar before he went on stage. Even got to jam with the band onstage at some shows. Back home, we were all impressed with that. And working in an overseas military hospital! As Jed Clampett used to say, "Wheee Doggies!!!"

Well, his career took him overseas to continue his career as a doctor. He returned home a little sooner than we expected him and later in his life, found out that he had been given a general discharge instead of an undesirable discharge on account of he caught one of the guys who threatened to expose his drug dealing and prostitution ring within the hospital in bed with the commanding officer's underage daughter. Saved by the bell. Keep skating please.

Pretty good story huh? Well let's cut to his funeral, when all his friends who he broke bread with, raised money for charity with, and whose wives were his 4th wife's clients in the antique furniture business got up, one by one and eulogized him. Masters Degree from University of Michigan, guitar tech for Rickey Medlocke esteemed Vietnam veteran, man of letters, a friend in need that was a friend indeed, honorably discharged and a tireless fund raiser for charity. I sat in the audience and did my level best to keep from pissing my pants, although I was wearing my Dark Black Bill Blass suit and nobody would have seen it if I had. I politely hugged wife #4 and duly noted the passing with all his new friends. What was I going to do otherwise? What would exposing the truth have done? Who would have gained from the truth? The truth doesn't set any of us free, even though we've heard that it does.

I've told a few in my life too. We all have. And so have you. It's all right. A couple little white ones don't hurt anybody. We're all human. But we're not all running for President or Congress or hoping to get appointed to the Supreme Court and so, there, I think I'm going to kind of draw the line. I wonder if Adolph or Saddam or Putin didn't get enough hugs as a child. I do know there's a whole shitload of imposters out there.

It's St. Paddy's day and today is a day to drink a lot of beer with our friends and say a prayer that we're all still here to celebrate. I'm not sure where the great tradition came from, but on a day like today, it's always a good day to spin a few yarns. Probably some true and some----------well maybe not.

Am I recounting a true story or did I just tell a tale? Did Tony Soprano get whacked as the camera faded to black?

As always thanks for reading. Readers are Bleeders. And of cabbages and kings, they become Walmart greeters.

Actually, I have two humstles today. First is Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Free # 10. "I'm a Poet, and I know it. Hope I don't Blow It." And try on Kris Kristofferson's The Pilgrim Chapter 33. "He's A Walking Contradiction- Partly Truth and Partly Fiction."

"Children Of Abraham"

Arlo Guthrie has sung some pretty important songs in his life. Children of Abraham, written by Larry and Claire Lynch is one of them. Just about every person who enjoys music can go to a website where they can find lyrics to songs that enter the "humstle" zone.

I was reading a Newsmax feed, this morning about The Rev. Franklin Graham, who is praising Vladimir Putin's stand against homosexuality. As I always do, I continue by reading the threads of comments. Because it's Newsmax ( a Rupert Murdoch company) the opinion is pretty one sided. It almost 100% laid the blame for homosexuality on the President, you know the guy between two ferns', yeah the guy who looks terrible in Mom Jeans.

It made me think of the exercise in futility of lamenting people who don't seem to be able to think for themselves, the ones who are foursquare lined up against their own self interests... probably not in the case of homosexuality, but in an abject fear that the life they planned for so carefully is being systematically taken away from them. And it all seems to be a thug from Chicago's fault.

Just a shorty today. Please check out the lyrics of the song. They are simple but powerful. It ain't hip hop or dub step. Just simple words that maybe wouldn't hurt to enter your brain space for a short while. I better catch you while I can, because for the next two weeks it's time for college hoops and the run up to opening day baseball-- which in the midst of Crimea, Putin, a plane we can't seem to locate and a President who is in a free fall of popularity because he didn't pick easy shit to work on-- I am looking forward to this year, more than in other years. Maybe baseball is my antidote for a world that I understand less and less. Because baseball is part of MY carefully planned life.

We all need to breathe---------------------ahhhhh. That's better.

Remember the words of the day. Don't buy stuff the Koch Brothers make that you don't need.

Benghazi??

I posted this on Facebook, but since my accounts are probably not linked correctly, (I never said I was smart), I'll post here too. If you somehow already read it, aw shit, read it again. It's 3 minutes out of your day.

I was doing some simple math. And lamenting about the very existence of people who get too much media coverage for dubious purposes. Would that be you, Dick Cheney or John Bolton? ( or fill in the blanks. There are thousands of them). I just need to mention my two sycophant poster children for war, Lindsey Graham and John McCain. There's still plenty more.

9//11/12- Four men were killed in coordinated attacks upon the US consulate in Benghazi. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glenn Doherty. We mourn their deaths. I have no doubt about their willingness to serve their country and the contributions they made in their lives.

3-19-03 Based upon "incontrovertible" evidence developed by our intelligence community, the United States invaded Iraq and its people. The purpose was to liberate the Iraqi people from their evil dictator, Saddam Hussein and to capture "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that he had purportedly used against his own people and would use in the future to destabilize the region.

Some Math**

Total American Dead from initial invasion: 4489- 3/19/03---Present
TAD since the scintillating "Mission Accomplished" event: 4347
TAD dating from the official American "Handover" to the Iraqi government of Nouri al Maliki: 3627
Total Iraqi casualties (Range of Peer studies): 654,000 to 1.2 million.

4489 +  654,496 minus 4=658,981 to possibly 1,204,485

TAD since the inauguration of POTUS 44, Barack Obama: 256.

So now we are witnessing the ill conceived annexation (that is my word for it, The entire process will take a little time) of Crimea and eventually Ukraine by the Russian Federated Republic. Further, we are hearing of the impotence of the President, the "fecklessness" of his foreign policy, the absence of global respect for the United States and the suggestion that we outfit our soldiers for future battles in "mom jeans".

I don't feel like beating the drums of war today. tomorrow isn't looking good either. 65% of the American public agrees with me.

So, today's humstles are: The Beatles, Bungalow Bill and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's OHIO.

Just so I'm clear, this is what I think and I use the words of Mark Felt, who also went by the name of Deep Throat. "Follow the Money." Russia is using economic blackmail to keep the European Union silent. After all it isn't about evil European dictators or WMD's, just as I suspect Iraq wasn't either. It was about fossil fuel speculation and the profits that could be gained by the manipulation or control of said fuels to cow other nations into silence.

So after a rousing week at CPAC, we continue to rue that reasons we have an epic and unmistakable divide in our country. It's about the money. So, maybe I should add another song to today's humstle mix: Billie Holliday's God Bless The Child. Because there's no "may have" in today's lack of social or economic equality. And those that "may have" are hoping to beat the drum so that the 'may have nots' will continue to go to war to protect what the "may haves", got. And from this perspective, that's where it's at.

All we can do is vote the "may haves" out, so as I said in the FB post, make it your business to level the playing field  by finding and helping to register one person to vote in the 2014 elections. then find 2 for 2016. And I'm making no major distinction as to whether the "may haves" are Whig, Republicans, Know Nothings or Democrats. If you study the wealth of your elected officials, you'll be reminded of the evils of Citizens United v Board Of Elections. And as always, I trust YOU. You'll know what to do.

Oh and don't forget what the Koch Brothers make that you don't want to buy.

See you tomorrow.

** Source: Wikipedia and its publishing of numerous Peer Studies.

That's what the world's in today---

The title is part of today's humstle, Ball of Confusion, by the Temptations. The national plate is quite full, almost to the point of needing a catering service to keep enough plates on hand. I remember the Hillary Clinton ad in 2008 about the 3AM phone call.

Let's list some of the plate's contents: A hefty hunk of steamin' junk ( Thanks, James Taylor) 

1. Hope and Change did not apply to fattening up the oligarchs, so that forceful action couldn't be taken against lawless players on the world stage.

2. An opposing party full of haters and, liars, protecting the oligarchs.

3. Still no relief for the unemployed, but a quick billion for Ukraine.

4. A disgusting and sophomoric confrontation between the two ranking members of the House Committee on Oversight. Two men who's legislative body has an approval rating of 13%.

5. A nasty partisan slugfest, filled with lies bought by dark, dirty money for the Keystone Pipeline. Amid the noise, the people who live near this pipeline are likely to not be consulted as to what THEY want

6. A President who became so tone deaf, as to feeling a need to play golf at a club that probably would not admit him as a member. Unofficial reason for not wanting him there- he bashes the rich and supports policies that necessarily need to restore a sense of fair play and hope to millions living below the poverty line. Class warfare and stoking up the 99%.

7. One of the stupidest governors in the U.S. has decided that Jimmy Carter is now the second worst President ever-- which was followed by a potential future Governor to mention POTUS 39 in the past tense-- like'dead ya know,' prompting Carter to remind that person, "Donald, I'm still alive."

Another part of the song, had the refrain, "And the Band Played on." 

I have no choice but to sip copious amounts of Booker's Bourbon and to cook great food this weekend- that is before the kitchen ceiling is taken down on Monday to mitigate mold and water damage from last week's ice, snow, melt and subsequent pipe bursting. 

Yes, I was at Soldier Field last Saturday night and cheered as the Blackhawks totally dominated the Pittsburgh Penguins. I expect the Bourbon to help me forget the upper respiratory thing that happens when you sit outside in snowy cold weather. 

I hope to be back by Monday because if nothing else, life is interesting. 

Where'd I go?

I was recharging my brain. SO much has happened. The world doesn't just stop. So what exactly is it that went on? And not in particular order.

1.Harold Ramis died. No matter what your age, he was involved in films that made you laugh. The past two years prior to his passing were no laugh for him. Assholes walk down the street and fall over from a sudden heart episode. Terrible assholes take a cap in the noggin and fall over- never suffer for a second. That wasn't the case for Harold. We all die but for the good ones to suffer, I just can't always make sense of that. His parents and mine lived across the street from one another in the 80's and I had an opportunity to meet him a couple of times. He was genuine and smart and he'll be missed.

2. Despite all the hand wringing about the two disastrous first months of the ACA's roll out, over 3 million people have signed up and I feel like the figure will approach its initial target by March 31st. Despite all the lies, the attempts at repeal and the clever (yeah, clever my ass!) to even get vulnerable Democrats to damn it with faint praise, the concept is taking hold. No one predicts the future, except for my call on the Superbowl, but this is an idea in progress- hopefully toward single payer. You of course, may disagree.

3. Weather has been a challenging thing this winter. 75% of the water area of the Great Lakes are frozen. Rivers and lakes will rear their heads when the spring thaw comes and the extreme cold temperatures in the Northern Hemispheres are absolute evidence that the earth is cooling and that climate change is a hoax. That means that greenhouse gases have no effect whatsoever on climate, no matter who says differently. Even Rupert Murdoch says that, as evidenced by weather in his home country of England. Oh wait, he was born in Australia? The burnt land down under?? Whatever is happening in the Northern part of the planet is exactly the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere.

4. Back in the good ol' US of A, 15 state legislatures, all dominated by conservative Republicans have bills poised to come to a vote that affirm the right of businesses to refuse service to gay people. I'm not sure why the people in those states have such advanced 'Gaydar' but apparently, they do. Arizona had passed such a bill recently, but that renowned woman of the people, Jan Brewer vetoed it, stating with great conviction that it wasn't a good fit for the fine citizens of Arizona-- didn't quite meet the criteria of not being discriminatory. She got her burst of righteousness after a large portion of the country threatened to boycott Arizona forever, businesses told her it was bad for business, and for a cherry on top, the NFL hinted that it might cancel the 2015 Super Bowl if she didn't veto SB # 1062. So, she did. And that made John McCain, Hillary Clinton and the cast of Kinky Boots very happy. I love happy endings, don't you?

5. An estimated 50,000 people took to the streets in Raleigh, North Carolina to expand upon their "Moral Mondays" outrage on a recent Saturday, I believe it was February 11th. Nothing to worry about, though-- you know, the standard Art Pope bullshit they've been pulling regarding the reduction in voters rights, cutting off of food stamps, unemployment benefits, the state's insurance regulators looking the other way while insurance companies raised some homeowners' insurance premiums by up to 25%. I am not selling my farm down there. Someday, I'll live there permanently and then those pricks will be sorry.

6. Canada has the best hockey team in the world. Ask Sweden and the U.S. teams. They'll tell you that's true.

I haven't posted since February 4th, yet I've been getting daily visits from people who read this blog frequently. Thanks. I'm back, for your dining and dancing pleasure.

For Twitter buds and whomever else is interested

Today has been interesting in terms of policy discussions on Twitter. A group of people have been tweeting back and forth about their frustration with the GOP regarding.... well, take your pick. I told them I would post my blog here because I regularly do that- given a general inability to say anything in 140 characters or less. Please read on-------------
                                         
 Some Thoughts On The Way Forward

My unhappiness is basically rooted in the landmark decision by the Supreme Court regarding Citizens United v Board of Elections. The very notion that unlimited contributions can be masked in secret by groups funded by wealthy oligarchs with an agenda is repugnant. There are countless efforts to petition the SCOTUS to repeal this ruling but that seems unlikely. Those interested in politics are well aware of the ramifications and what has transpired because of this decision, so further ado is repetitive.

In 1968, I was not a flower child. I was a freshman at Indiana State University and leaning toward a major in Political Science. In the 50's my parents hosted "teas" for Adlai Stevenson, we lived blocks from the campus of the University of Chicago and the people I met while growing up were absolutely fascinating. This was Chicago, where you voted early and you voted often and it is still one of the few cities that has rarely had a Republican Mayor in its modern history. Certainly not in my lifetime.
But this was 1968, Lyndon Johnson had announced that he was not going to run for reelection and the man that literally forced his hand was a Senator from Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy. McCarthy had a legion of students, hippies, progressives all who were pretty well shaven and dressed and that brigade was called "Clean For Gene." Even McCarthy himself, basked in the notion that he would trounce Hubert Humphrey at the 1968 Democratic Convention and ride into the White House on this anti war platform. There was nobody else in the field that had the mojo.

Until another guy showed up. My guy, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy who finally thought,  I can win. McCarthy is a one trick pony and if as rumored, my opponent in November was retread, Richard Nixon, I can be the 37th President of the United States.

Even though the draft was still a possibility for me, I jumped at the chance to work on a Kennedy campaign. The Indiana primary was considered crucial and the campaign chose among others, firebrand liberal politico from New York, Allard Lowenstein to kickstart the Indiana operation. The Kennedy people took me under their wing because I told them I was willing to drop out of school to work nonstop for Bobby in Indiana. Even though it was near the end of the semester, that's what I did. They taught me everything about precinct organization, setting up phone banks, dissemination of voter lists, how to query voters as to their preferences, everything from cradle to grave in terms of identifying likely voters, making sure they were registered, and registering them if they weren't and even picking them up on election day with their neighbors to drive them to the polls. As you may guess, I was an apt pupil, and the results kept RFK in the hunt, setting him up for the tumultuous western primaries in Oregon and California. You might also remember the rest. there are a lot of great stories of my weeks in intensive political activities and that sort of forwards me to............

.....What the Republicans learned from campaigns like Kennedy's. It caught the eyes of conservatives and were the grounding principles of the birth of the post Goldwater Conservative movement. Imagine the advantage of knowing the ropes AND having nearly unlimited money to elect people who were true believers.

So, (pant, pant) to my four friends, who today asked me how that knowledge translated in the present context, here it is. 

What I learned in 1968 was invaluable to the political aspirations of the late President's brother who agonized as to whether to get in the 1968 race at all. The work done contained no shortcuts and the truly remarkable thing about it was that there were very few paid staffers in those days. Oh, there were the Boston and New York people and they were always going to get paid. But us, we became the true believers and the foot soldiers as we demonstrated that by dropping out of school (which was very risky at that time) and volunteering because we believed in someone enough to work for free. Today, we have a significant unemployment problem in this country and people are looking for work. We have a President whose early effort in "community organizing" have brought him nothing but scorn from his opponents. Citizens United is the template for using a terrible decision to play the same hardball that is being played against us. Millions of dollars will be raised by the DNC for upcoming campaigns, congressional, Senate and in 2016, the next Presidential campaign. The money needs to be allocated to recruit people with the same zeal and the same anger to work their asses off to defeat the evils of the other side- in all policy areas that interest or concern us; women's rights, equal pay, voting equality, you name it. But the bottom line is one where the Democrats have taken some of their eyes off the ball and now have to play some serious catch up. What I'm telling my pals today, is decide what issues are important and petition the DNC to hire the people to do the same work we did in 1968. It is understandable that no one can be out of work and would be expected to work for free. That was then. Is it important to elect people in opposition to the dark money and their stooges? 

That's what I couldn't say in 140 characters. I DO talk a lot don't I? This is how it gets done though, this is the path to getting rid of these people. The whole money thing makes me sick too. But do you want to bring a squirt gun to gun fight? If you agree, pass this on, tweet it, FB it. Take a picture of yourself reading it and post it on Instagram. 

And consider boycotting Georgia Pacific consumer products: Brawny, Vanity Fair, Dixie. Because you know who owns that company. Every time you buy one of Charles and David Koch's products, you're helping them legally (dubious) continue to do what they've been doing. Ad just so I don't seem to making the KB's out to be the whole bogeyman thing, look for billionaires in swing states whose money is making the difference in thwarting any hope of a progressive agenda.

If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got. True That! 

The lessons of 1968 are alive and well. Use them to make a difference. 

SB 48 PS

Ok, so Seattle scored 22 more points than I thought. And Peyton was indeed the victim of a "duck hunt." Congratulations to the Seahawks who may very difficult to contend with for a long time; barring injuries, complacency and making too much money. That was a spanking!! And so on this site, I end my 2014 football predictions at 3-2.

Bill O'Reilly interviewed the President in what I think is the most predictable and boring things that Presidents do. Half the social sphere reacted as you would expect. But here's the bombshell. The other half did too. Bullshit factor? 100%.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman's apartment  apparently contained more drugs than the downtown evidence lockup. Money and fame doesn't buy you happiness or contentment. the latter is a good word, because the more I notice, nobody seems very happy about very much. Is contentment a dirty word?

Part of the moments of non contentment is our inability to control weather patterns. How can it be that one area is awash in precipitation and another is starved for the slightest hint of it? My conspiracy theory is that unbeknownst to most of us, serious people do have some control over the weather. So if you live in California, what would you prefer, a sky that won't bring rain filled with a migrating cloud of nuclear waste down upon a highly prolific crop growing region or the alternative opposite? Think about it. And our 43 rd President calls it "NewKuler"

The abortion rate is is the lowest it has been in more than thirty years. Our citizenry are weary of a fetid political system, awash in dark and dirty money that frightens a targeted group of people into electing monsters that pass exclusive and restrictive legislation? And all the while their claim is that they are libertarians who believe in less intrusion by government, unless it is state and local governments, tainted with the fear and carrying the opposite  messages that seem to resonate. Bullshit factor 100%. So as we prepare for another PC response to immigration reform, please remember that one faction , who seems out of touch generally (See reasons above) will insist that the total of undocumented people in this country can never have citizenship, Some of their spokespeople  estimate that number is nearly 25 million people. If you're not a citizen, you can't vote. That's defending our constitution!!

So we prepare to enjoy the Olympic games while naval task forces sit in the seas near the site of those Olympics as the world holds their breath and hopes we do not see a larger version of Munich, 1972. But just in case we do, our country is prepared to enter onto Russian soil to evacuate our athletes. Hows that for celebrating the human spirit of peacefu

When are we going to fucking wake up?? It ain't good, folks. But still, amidst it all, I am closer to content than not. How about you?

Don't forget. Charles and David Koch don't want you to buy Brawny, Dixie or other related Georgia Pacific consumer paper products any more. They have all the money they could ever want- inherited and continually misused.

I got no time for these ******* today. And tomorrow isn't looking good either.