Today's humstle is not a song, but segments from a song. One of my favorite guys who plays music is Jesse Winchester. He did a version of Otis Jackson's Tell Me Why I Like Roosevelt in his Learn To Love It album of 1974.
Winchester chose not to participate in the Vietnam War and part of the lyrics of his updated version were: 'because I am baptized by water, but I passed on the one by fire. If you want to fight, go on and fight if that be your desire. He went to Canada, rather than being drafted into the army. I lost touch with him over the years and was saddened greatly to hear of his death this past April 11th. He was 69. Music has always been such a big part of my life and this man was near the center of it.
A little about Jesse. He's had a rather prolific career and I have many of his records. He resonated with me. The lyrics I show you today are from a song called The Brand New Tennessee Waltz.
This has been a really shitty summer for me. Through previous posts, you may have read that we have property in North Carolina and that we had enabled a couple to sort of rebuild their lives and allowed them to live rent free on the property and to make repairs to it. Last week's post, Time off, AMEN was about us needing to get away from things for a few days. We had recently lost a large segment of business that we worked really hard to get. How big a segment? Well, it was growing toward $1 Million dollars per year. The reason (or lack thereof) was also mentioned in the post, Small Man's disease. That's only about effort and the loss of money so although really frustrating, it was something I couldn't control. I tried my best but in the end, the man with the smd decided to be untruthful and mete out his revenge and anger by firing us. Nobody likes to get fired. But in particular, nobody likes to get fired when the reason given for the firing is built on emotion, ugliness and untruthfulness. As far as North Carolina, our chosen couple had scuffled prior to our giving them the opportunity we gave them. When we got down there last week, they were traveling or maybe gone but the state of the house and the property was run down to a state where we scarcely recognized it. After two years of suspecting things were not quite right, we discovered that they had probably decided to bail on responsibility and as we sat, stunned in the late afternoon sunlight, and gazed upon the lost opportunity and the treason of it all, the land cried to us and told us that it had had high hopes for returning to a former glory. Now it sat fallow and the land and the birds sang to us and begged us to make things right-- again. And we drove back to town, and cried the whole fucking way back.
But yesterday, one of the lights of my life, my 5 year old grandson by marriage, who had been staying with us for a few days, got violently ill during the day- projectile vomiting, fever and periods of disorientation. He seemed to get better as the day went on and by the time his mother came to get him, he seemed reasonable enough to go home---- until the phone rang 2 hours later and we learned that he was on his way to the Children's Hospital- that he had been unresponsive at times and developed a terrible blotchy rash. Today, he will have to be sedated so that he can have a brain MRI to confirm whether or not he has Chairi Malformation. Thanks to Google, you can look it up if you're interested. It isn't pretty.
So today's lyrics are particularly poignant;.
So have all of your passionate violins- play a tune for a Tennessee Kid. Who's feeling like leaving another town- with no place to go if he did. 'Cause they'll catch you wherever you're hid.
Another day-- Uncertain and heart wrenching and I know lots of families have their own stories to tell. Before yesterday, it was about temporarily lost opportunities, money to be spent, trying to make it right again or to make me stop thinking about smd. Those are the tangible things. Shit on a balance sheet. Even as I watch with terrible sadness but necessary detachment the news of nearly 300 people who got on a plane a few days ago and got blown out of the sky by another fuck with smd and two warring tribes that have fought each other for thousands of years, at it again, all I see a kid with some much gumption and personality sitting frightened in a hospital bed. His name is Evy. If you could say a prayer for him, I'd appreciate it. If you knew him, you'd say he is worth every penny
While he was here for a few days, out of nowhere (it seemed) he said something to me that I thought was interesting at that moment. In retrospect, it was pretty prescient; "be prepared to go outside your comfort zone."
My mom, who was NOT religious and rarely mentioned God, told me once when I thought they world was going to fall in on me, (it wasn't) "God never gives you more than you can handle."
I gotta try to get my shit together.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
On second thought
Yes, on second thought I decided not to drag us all through a story of deceit, half or whole untruths, predatory business practices and anything else in that realm. What's the point? Am I ever going to get made whole by bitching about this horseshit? No.
But the summer of love goes on. Hamas fires rockets into Israel and Israel retaliates. Another Malaysian Air jetliner goes down in Eastern Ukraine under dubious circumstances. A candidate for Congress attempts to block a bus that he thought was carrying undocumented children en-route to a boys ranch in Oracle Arizona; when in fact is was a YMCA bus carrying children to a day camp outing.
During my travels last week, I saw many good people trying to enjoy what few days off they had. We'd go back to the hotel at night and flip on the TV and watch most of what I just described.
I have a life. Part of it is to be very aware of the world I live in. That world has all the potential of being a wonderful place. And many times not. Everybody seems mad at somebody about something. It 's heartbreaking to see this anger carried out on a daily basis, but it's just that people are scared; scared of what they think they know, what they really know but mostly scared about the unknown.
I write about these things. I mix in sports, music, social networking, politics and opinion. I call them as I see them. I really need a maven to help me promote my blogs more. But without anything other than an organic following, my thoughts have been parsed by 7500 people in 12 countries since I started shooting my mouth off in November of 2013.
I love doing it, but today was me calling off the dogs of a story nobody really wants to hear. At least I don't think you do. I didn't want to whet any appetites any more than I did with yesterday's post. The story is too goddamned depressing anyway and our lives have enough drama without adding too much more. There are dramatic stories that need telling and if I get a chance, I will tell them.
Maybe, together, we can dial down some of the fear that makes us so uncomfortable.
See you tomorrow.
But the summer of love goes on. Hamas fires rockets into Israel and Israel retaliates. Another Malaysian Air jetliner goes down in Eastern Ukraine under dubious circumstances. A candidate for Congress attempts to block a bus that he thought was carrying undocumented children en-route to a boys ranch in Oracle Arizona; when in fact is was a YMCA bus carrying children to a day camp outing.
During my travels last week, I saw many good people trying to enjoy what few days off they had. We'd go back to the hotel at night and flip on the TV and watch most of what I just described.
I have a life. Part of it is to be very aware of the world I live in. That world has all the potential of being a wonderful place. And many times not. Everybody seems mad at somebody about something. It 's heartbreaking to see this anger carried out on a daily basis, but it's just that people are scared; scared of what they think they know, what they really know but mostly scared about the unknown.
I write about these things. I mix in sports, music, social networking, politics and opinion. I call them as I see them. I really need a maven to help me promote my blogs more. But without anything other than an organic following, my thoughts have been parsed by 7500 people in 12 countries since I started shooting my mouth off in November of 2013.
I love doing it, but today was me calling off the dogs of a story nobody really wants to hear. At least I don't think you do. I didn't want to whet any appetites any more than I did with yesterday's post. The story is too goddamned depressing anyway and our lives have enough drama without adding too much more. There are dramatic stories that need telling and if I get a chance, I will tell them.
Maybe, together, we can dial down some of the fear that makes us so uncomfortable.
See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Small Man's Disease
Part of my summer of discontent is based upon unsuccessful business dealings with an afflicted CEO of a company with whom we were doing business. His affliction is that he suffers from the famed Napolean Complex, or "small man's disease". Wikipedia says the complex is "a pejorative slang ...characterized by overly agressive social behaviour, and carries the implication that the behaviour is compensatory for a perceived lack of stature."
We've all known people who have exhibited this type of behavior. This man's attitudes and resultant decision to refuse to pay for more than $50,000.00 worth of merchandise, based upon his perceptions have caused me more than a few sleepless nights. Some of the features of "smd" are indicated by a propensity to scream, speak in an unprofessional manner, hang up telephones in rages and finally refuse to pay for things that his company had approved.
The story is a long one and it still hurts to tell it. It is further, far from over so I need to be scant on specifics, as well as names, ranks and serial numbers. It's just one thing more that I have to deal with that gives me no closure or satisfaction. I am a rational human being and in the world of business, laws and situations favor the aggressor, not the victim. By the way, I feel I am the latter. What I have just written is all I want to write for today. It's just too difficult. Since I have regular visitors, I will feed you segments of the story over the next period of time. We'll call these vignettes the smd chronicles. Each post has a title, so if you see 'smd' at the end of a post title which has other stuff in it, that will be your episode guide. Whatever small portion of the episode I write about in the future will be written in RED, which is the appropriate color given to ink and other events where one is hemorrhaging money because of a dispute. I think you'll find the entire story a real doozy and as much as I want to scream from the rooftops to justify my frustration, I am secure in the knowlege that karma is a real bitch and people who fuck with it, will get theirs. But I still think my rational approach is a built in frustration in and of itself. When you get right down to it, when you feel you've been wronged, you want revenge, don't you? Or do you?
Stay tuned.
We've all known people who have exhibited this type of behavior. This man's attitudes and resultant decision to refuse to pay for more than $50,000.00 worth of merchandise, based upon his perceptions have caused me more than a few sleepless nights. Some of the features of "smd" are indicated by a propensity to scream, speak in an unprofessional manner, hang up telephones in rages and finally refuse to pay for things that his company had approved.
The story is a long one and it still hurts to tell it. It is further, far from over so I need to be scant on specifics, as well as names, ranks and serial numbers. It's just one thing more that I have to deal with that gives me no closure or satisfaction. I am a rational human being and in the world of business, laws and situations favor the aggressor, not the victim. By the way, I feel I am the latter. What I have just written is all I want to write for today. It's just too difficult. Since I have regular visitors, I will feed you segments of the story over the next period of time. We'll call these vignettes the smd chronicles. Each post has a title, so if you see 'smd' at the end of a post title which has other stuff in it, that will be your episode guide. Whatever small portion of the episode I write about in the future will be written in RED, which is the appropriate color given to ink and other events where one is hemorrhaging money because of a dispute. I think you'll find the entire story a real doozy and as much as I want to scream from the rooftops to justify my frustration, I am secure in the knowlege that karma is a real bitch and people who fuck with it, will get theirs. But I still think my rational approach is a built in frustration in and of itself. When you get right down to it, when you feel you've been wronged, you want revenge, don't you? Or do you?
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
And the hockey gods smiled
It's like We know you're going on a road trip. Let's give you something nice as a sendoff. #88 and #19 got 8 year extensions from the Blackhawks @ $10.5 million each. Lot of money, boys, but for my money, you're both worth it.
As Lindsey Barney prepares to give birth and husband Darwin takes a family leave from the Cubs, to do the good daddy thing, it is Arismendy Alcantara's moment to come up to the show for a couple of games. Good luck to him. Let's hope Barney doesn't become Wally Pipp. There are lots of ML ballclubs who could use his defense. He doesn't have to hit much.
Tribes vs Tribes. No, it isn't an intramural game between Washington and Cleveland. Just this year's death battle between Israel and one of its neighbors. But this is what has occurred in this part of the world for thousands of years. Neither side will stop so I think mediation, cease fires or any outside efforts to quell this will fail. Neither side has rarely "missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." It's beyond sad.
Rahm Emanuel is sad too. This is the other side of the gun debate. People are calling for the National Guard to come in and go house to house to seize guns of gang members. If it's guns in downtrodden neighborhoods, call in the Natiuonal Guard. If White bozos in purple and red states continue to pass open carry gun laws in their states- ah what the fuck! Why bring that up?For the foreseeable future that will be a hard thing to change
But change is coming. The utter lack of equality between the races is on it's latter stages. This is going to be a nation of color, sooner than we think. I think I'm at the perfect age. I won't have to see this play out in the future. It will be very grim.
Time to pack the car and head south, to my adopted state of madness, North Carolina.It will be good to get away. And I did promise a change of attitude. Root for me to be successful in doing so.
80 or so days to 2014-15 hockey season.
As Lindsey Barney prepares to give birth and husband Darwin takes a family leave from the Cubs, to do the good daddy thing, it is Arismendy Alcantara's moment to come up to the show for a couple of games. Good luck to him. Let's hope Barney doesn't become Wally Pipp. There are lots of ML ballclubs who could use his defense. He doesn't have to hit much.
Tribes vs Tribes. No, it isn't an intramural game between Washington and Cleveland. Just this year's death battle between Israel and one of its neighbors. But this is what has occurred in this part of the world for thousands of years. Neither side will stop so I think mediation, cease fires or any outside efforts to quell this will fail. Neither side has rarely "missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." It's beyond sad.
Rahm Emanuel is sad too. This is the other side of the gun debate. People are calling for the National Guard to come in and go house to house to seize guns of gang members. If it's guns in downtrodden neighborhoods, call in the Natiuonal Guard. If White bozos in purple and red states continue to pass open carry gun laws in their states- ah what the fuck! Why bring that up?For the foreseeable future that will be a hard thing to change
But change is coming. The utter lack of equality between the races is on it's latter stages. This is going to be a nation of color, sooner than we think. I think I'm at the perfect age. I won't have to see this play out in the future. It will be very grim.
Time to pack the car and head south, to my adopted state of madness, North Carolina.It will be good to get away. And I did promise a change of attitude. Root for me to be successful in doing so.
80 or so days to 2014-15 hockey season.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Time off-AMEN
We're headed for North Carolina for a few days of much needed rest and a change of scenery- and I need a change of attitude. I will be leaving behind a string of recent heartache and frustration- mainly stemming from a very bad stretch of business the past few months. Yes I still have a day job and most of the time it goes well. But lately, the assault of meanness has trumped the good in people and no matter how much you prepare for something negative you feel coming, when it hits, it still hurts. I will write about that soon. We'll be discussing small man's disease and the disgusting ways people use their own inadequacies to "get even".
Since the blockbuster trade made by the Cubs over the weekend, they have, not surprisingly been a little fragile, losing 3 in a row and wiping out my recent enthusiasm. But I'm a fan and I will hang in there.
I have Twitter followers and there are many that I also follow. One in particular seems to be in a state of terrible unease. I wish I knew this person better than to exchange things in 140 characters or less. But I don't and maybe that's a good thing. They seem a little unhinged right now and I wish that person well. But I don't think I can actually do anything to help. At least not presently.
Our country remains divided and polarized. The very idea of people feeling they need to sling an assault rifle over their shoulder as they buy a hamburger at Wendy's is almost beyond comprehension. Here's just a tiny smattering.
1. Fixing Elections
2.Not meeting with another on the tarmac as he lands in their state.
3. Not meeting with shooting victims' families, after he has vetoed a bill that tries to minimize the damage done by multi round magazines on assault rifles.
4. The vilification of the wife of a politician because she champions better nutrition for children.
5. A Supreme Court that thinks they can make a narrow ruling in a landmark case and that their decision will not have endless ramifications down the road.
You get the idea.
I promise to use the time off to reflect on what I have to be thankful for. I will mourn for those who are about to die- both people I know who are in hospice and in the very last stages of life, and those I will never meet who trek a thousand miles to try to enter this country for a better life and are met by angry people within our country screaming. Go home. We don't want you.
I'm not the only one who needs an attitude change.
Today's humstle is Bob Dylan's Ballad Of A Thin Man.
"something is happening but you don't know what it is do you Mr Jones?
Sorry to be a little morose. Sometimes it all gets to be a little much and one cannot just flip a switch.
Maybe I'll post one from the road.
See you soon
Since the blockbuster trade made by the Cubs over the weekend, they have, not surprisingly been a little fragile, losing 3 in a row and wiping out my recent enthusiasm. But I'm a fan and I will hang in there.
I have Twitter followers and there are many that I also follow. One in particular seems to be in a state of terrible unease. I wish I knew this person better than to exchange things in 140 characters or less. But I don't and maybe that's a good thing. They seem a little unhinged right now and I wish that person well. But I don't think I can actually do anything to help. At least not presently.
Our country remains divided and polarized. The very idea of people feeling they need to sling an assault rifle over their shoulder as they buy a hamburger at Wendy's is almost beyond comprehension. Here's just a tiny smattering.
1. Fixing Elections
2.Not meeting with another on the tarmac as he lands in their state.
3. Not meeting with shooting victims' families, after he has vetoed a bill that tries to minimize the damage done by multi round magazines on assault rifles.
4. The vilification of the wife of a politician because she champions better nutrition for children.
5. A Supreme Court that thinks they can make a narrow ruling in a landmark case and that their decision will not have endless ramifications down the road.
You get the idea.
I promise to use the time off to reflect on what I have to be thankful for. I will mourn for those who are about to die- both people I know who are in hospice and in the very last stages of life, and those I will never meet who trek a thousand miles to try to enter this country for a better life and are met by angry people within our country screaming. Go home. We don't want you.
I'm not the only one who needs an attitude change.
Today's humstle is Bob Dylan's Ballad Of A Thin Man.
"something is happening but you don't know what it is do you Mr Jones?
Sorry to be a little morose. Sometimes it all gets to be a little much and one cannot just flip a switch.
Maybe I'll post one from the road.
See you soon
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Baseball purgatory. Day 3
My beloved Cubbies just swept the Red Sox at Fenway. Mounting a 19 hit attack that yielded 16 runs scored andincluded 4 home runs, home runs not generally counted upon by the players who hit them, we journey on to Washington for a weekend series with the Nationals. After the worst March record in team history (ha ha they played one game in March {but lost it}, things didn't get any better in April or May. June however, brought the first monthly winning record in June since 2007.
The Cubs are pretty close to the laughing stock of baseball. I understand this. This only makes me root more for them. After years of spending money to watch the Cubs, I watched in dismay as the Ricketts* family bought them, Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in the Comcast baseball network for a reported $845 million. Dismay because much of the Ricketts family's politics are to the right of Attila the Hun, but the managing partner, Tom is a pretty good guy, moderate in his politics and a Northwestern Grad. He seems intent upon creating a good product on the field, but alas, as is my right, his father and brother's views make the team I love, an automatic boycott. That means when my friend calls me up and tells me he's got two for a Cubs game, I have to tell him no thanks. Parking, concessions, anything that contributes to the Ricketts family coffers will not come from me. It's like as if Charles and David Koch bought my favorite team and because they're such 'marons', I couldn't go anymore. Is Joe Ricketts as bad as Fred Koch? Pretty close. Life is complicated sometimes.
That aside, the Cubs who have not appeared in a World Series since 1945 (lost to the Tigers) and have not won a series since 1908. Invariably the jokes come fast and furious. The best one is to paraphrase the old line, "well anybody can have a bad year." In the Cubs case, you remove year and insert century.
Well the Ricketts' having spent all this dough for a team that is famous for one of the two most quaint (if not antiquated) ball parks in baseball, needed to bring a winner to the North Side. (The White Sox own the South Side-- that is where I live and suffer not being being able to go into White Sox bars wearing an Cub paraphernalia without risk of getting my ass kicked. {I'm serious} ). They decided that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery so they went out and hired Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, both alums of the Red Sox when in 2004, they finally broke their curse and rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the LCS to the Yankees to win 4 straight and then beat the most consistent team in baseball in the past 15 years, the St Louis Cardinals to finally emerge victorious in a world series. At least the Red Sox had been to World Series' more than the Cubs. When you finally get off the "schneid" , get the monkey off your back and win, you start to think maybe we can win more than one. That has happened to Sox and Theo Epstein and his staff were at the helm for this miracle.
July 5th 2014: FLASH. Yesterday, the Cubs rode a nice pitching performance along withsome timely hitting to a 7-2 win over Washington in the opener of a weekend series. Promptly after the game, the club announced that it had traded Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija to the Oakland Athletics for their top two prospects, SS Addison Russell, Pitcher Dan Straily and OF prospect Billy McKinney.
We'll see what the mood is like today. trades that subtract two of your best pitchers can either be a shock and send a team into a real downer or they can be seen as a challenge for those left behind . There will be more trades and the stockpiling of position players doesn't bode well for the following current Cubs; Junior Lake, Darwin Barney, Ryan Sweeney or pitcher James Russell- because you can't have two Russells on your major league roster. That's just bad luck.
Good news is a 4 game winning streak, a sense of "fuck management" if they think we're going to lay down and die by the remainders. Next 7 games (2 against Washington- a division leader) and the Cincinnati Reds ( a 5 game series including a doubleheader on Tuesday the 8th.) will reveal whether they tank or plow on. I think the latter.. But I'm a fan.
The Cubs are pretty close to the laughing stock of baseball. I understand this. This only makes me root more for them. After years of spending money to watch the Cubs, I watched in dismay as the Ricketts* family bought them, Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in the Comcast baseball network for a reported $845 million. Dismay because much of the Ricketts family's politics are to the right of Attila the Hun, but the managing partner, Tom is a pretty good guy, moderate in his politics and a Northwestern Grad. He seems intent upon creating a good product on the field, but alas, as is my right, his father and brother's views make the team I love, an automatic boycott. That means when my friend calls me up and tells me he's got two for a Cubs game, I have to tell him no thanks. Parking, concessions, anything that contributes to the Ricketts family coffers will not come from me. It's like as if Charles and David Koch bought my favorite team and because they're such 'marons', I couldn't go anymore. Is Joe Ricketts as bad as Fred Koch? Pretty close. Life is complicated sometimes.
That aside, the Cubs who have not appeared in a World Series since 1945 (lost to the Tigers) and have not won a series since 1908. Invariably the jokes come fast and furious. The best one is to paraphrase the old line, "well anybody can have a bad year." In the Cubs case, you remove year and insert century.
Well the Ricketts' having spent all this dough for a team that is famous for one of the two most quaint (if not antiquated) ball parks in baseball, needed to bring a winner to the North Side. (The White Sox own the South Side-- that is where I live and suffer not being being able to go into White Sox bars wearing an Cub paraphernalia without risk of getting my ass kicked. {I'm serious} ). They decided that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery so they went out and hired Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, both alums of the Red Sox when in 2004, they finally broke their curse and rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the LCS to the Yankees to win 4 straight and then beat the most consistent team in baseball in the past 15 years, the St Louis Cardinals to finally emerge victorious in a world series. At least the Red Sox had been to World Series' more than the Cubs. When you finally get off the "schneid" , get the monkey off your back and win, you start to think maybe we can win more than one. That has happened to Sox and Theo Epstein and his staff were at the helm for this miracle.
July 5th 2014: FLASH. Yesterday, the Cubs rode a nice pitching performance along withsome timely hitting to a 7-2 win over Washington in the opener of a weekend series. Promptly after the game, the club announced that it had traded Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija to the Oakland Athletics for their top two prospects, SS Addison Russell, Pitcher Dan Straily and OF prospect Billy McKinney.
We'll see what the mood is like today. trades that subtract two of your best pitchers can either be a shock and send a team into a real downer or they can be seen as a challenge for those left behind . There will be more trades and the stockpiling of position players doesn't bode well for the following current Cubs; Junior Lake, Darwin Barney, Ryan Sweeney or pitcher James Russell- because you can't have two Russells on your major league roster. That's just bad luck.
Good news is a 4 game winning streak, a sense of "fuck management" if they think we're going to lay down and die by the remainders. Next 7 games (2 against Washington- a division leader) and the Cincinnati Reds ( a 5 game series including a doubleheader on Tuesday the 8th.) will reveal whether they tank or plow on. I think the latter.. But I'm a fan.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Worst President??
A recent Quinnipiac poll has suggested that 1/3 of respondents felt that Barack Obama is the worst President since World War 2. 33% was the number, I believe. At the same time, the same people were asked who they felt the best President was in the same time frame. It was Ronald Reagan and the number was 35%. Finishing below RR was Bill Clinton @ 18% and JFK @ 15%.
I would love to know the sampling numbers and who was asked. But, we'll not be made privy to that information. That both are fishy to say the least, is pretty evident to me. But that's just me and as with anything, dear reader, you are entitled to your own opinion-- that is if anybody asks you.
It is a fact that time benefits the worst Presidents. George W. Bush, previously the President thought to be the worst, has experienced a slight uptick in forgiveness. Or is it that people are less hostile about his Presidency as time passes.
POTUS 44 has been the most vilified President in my lifetime. Had I lived in the time of Herbert Hoover or Woodrow Wilson, or Andrew Johnson, my opinion might be different. But I'm not commenting on the numbers that currently dog Obama. They will get worse as he is sued and if Republicans gain control of the Senate, he will be impeached, as the house will quickly dispatch their articles to a friendly Senate whom they are confident will convict.
I love the body politic, the whole process- formation of policy, the attempt to do the people's work. The 111th, 12th and 13th Congress will rank as the all time least productive, the most polarized and held in the lowest esteem of any Congress in our brief history.That's only the legislative branch. The judicial branch has also seen a better era in terms of its performance and the public activism of some of its lifetime appointees.
So, it's a tough and unrelenting job. No matter who occupies this office is going to age beyond their years. I cannot imagine the stress and frustration to remain dignified in such an atmosphere. So, I take no pleasure in this post today. But it begs a humstle, so today let's remember the old Blues man, Albert King and his Born Under A Bad sign.
I like my President. I don't think he's fought hard enough to balance the un level playing field that he encountered when he announced his candidacy. His rise and election were part of a perfect storm and his vilification is because of who he is and what he represents. It has brought out the best and the worst in all of us. Someday, his critics will chill and his numbers will go back up. But they're only numbers. When I think of the things that have happened in this brief century (so far), it's no wonder that the general resentment is so high.
So, that's my two cents. Please enjoy a safe 4th of July and try to remember-- we're a very young country, lucky in so many ways and our people are a decent sort. Exceptional? Sometimes yes and oft times not. I wouldn't want to live any where else-- even though these days I have to scratch my head more than I don't.
See you after the 4th. Count your blessings, pray for those who'd do better if they knew better. Hug your kids- or dogs or cats. Don't blow your hand off with fireworks and above all, try to be thankful. Everybody has a reason to be thankful at some point, for something. OK?
I would love to know the sampling numbers and who was asked. But, we'll not be made privy to that information. That both are fishy to say the least, is pretty evident to me. But that's just me and as with anything, dear reader, you are entitled to your own opinion-- that is if anybody asks you.
It is a fact that time benefits the worst Presidents. George W. Bush, previously the President thought to be the worst, has experienced a slight uptick in forgiveness. Or is it that people are less hostile about his Presidency as time passes.
POTUS 44 has been the most vilified President in my lifetime. Had I lived in the time of Herbert Hoover or Woodrow Wilson, or Andrew Johnson, my opinion might be different. But I'm not commenting on the numbers that currently dog Obama. They will get worse as he is sued and if Republicans gain control of the Senate, he will be impeached, as the house will quickly dispatch their articles to a friendly Senate whom they are confident will convict.
I love the body politic, the whole process- formation of policy, the attempt to do the people's work. The 111th, 12th and 13th Congress will rank as the all time least productive, the most polarized and held in the lowest esteem of any Congress in our brief history.That's only the legislative branch. The judicial branch has also seen a better era in terms of its performance and the public activism of some of its lifetime appointees.
So, it's a tough and unrelenting job. No matter who occupies this office is going to age beyond their years. I cannot imagine the stress and frustration to remain dignified in such an atmosphere. So, I take no pleasure in this post today. But it begs a humstle, so today let's remember the old Blues man, Albert King and his Born Under A Bad sign.
I like my President. I don't think he's fought hard enough to balance the un level playing field that he encountered when he announced his candidacy. His rise and election were part of a perfect storm and his vilification is because of who he is and what he represents. It has brought out the best and the worst in all of us. Someday, his critics will chill and his numbers will go back up. But they're only numbers. When I think of the things that have happened in this brief century (so far), it's no wonder that the general resentment is so high.
So, that's my two cents. Please enjoy a safe 4th of July and try to remember-- we're a very young country, lucky in so many ways and our people are a decent sort. Exceptional? Sometimes yes and oft times not. I wouldn't want to live any where else-- even though these days I have to scratch my head more than I don't.
See you after the 4th. Count your blessings, pray for those who'd do better if they knew better. Hug your kids- or dogs or cats. Don't blow your hand off with fireworks and above all, try to be thankful. Everybody has a reason to be thankful at some point, for something. OK?
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