To Tell The Truth, Facts Are Facts...And That's The Truth

Clever fellow once offered this impish insight.

"The problem with freedom...is that you have to give it to everybody."

Details momentarily.

First, in the spirit of fair play and full disclosure, the opening statement wasn't exactly a fact. It was more of a playful opinion.

The clever fellow offering the insight....was...and is...me.

And since I'm always at the head of any line ready to skewer Donald for his pathological addiction to glorifying himself, I should avoid any suggestion I might be infected with a little of the ol' bacterium narcissus my own self.

So, I was just kiddin' around.

But that's not to take away from the validity of the message.

And when it comes to freedom that, by its nature, has to be given to everybody, there's one particular freedom front and center these days, much to our intellectual, hell, even spiritual, chagrin.

That would be the ol' freedom of speech.

And, in the interest of brevity, another impish insight that the aforementioned clever fellow didn't originate.

Just because you can say something, doesn't mean you should.

Shutting the hell up is always an option.

But, if shutting up isn't do-able, for whatever reason, then perhaps its not too much to ask that what gets said, gets said only after careful consideration and, more importantly, after educating oneself enough to offer informed commentary.

Yeah, I know, right?

If education and factual information were orange juice and uneducated, misinformed yammering were vodka, it's absolutely no wonder at all that America is coping with a hellacious Vitamin C deficiency and its liver is just this close to terminal cirrhosis.

Old saying, attributed, often and equally, to either Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln...better to remain silent and be thought a fool...than to speak and remove all doubt.

Which, and prepare to be completely un-surprised, brings us around to social media.

Was a time that the village idiot or any of the substitutes, stand-ins or stuntmen for the village idiot in the village, had a broadcasting range, if you will, of a few blocks, maybe a couple of miles, maybe even all the way to the city limits. Or village limits, as the case may be.

And then along came Mark Zuckerberg.

Now, just as it's not kosher to blame the Wright Brothers for the plane crashes that kill thousands, its equally cheap shot to hold Zuckerberg accountable for giving the village idiot and/or idiots a boost in their frequency output that would put hitting the moon with a laser seem like hitting your favorite targeted teacher with a spitball.

But there's no disputing that by creating a means for mere mortal every day folks to communicate globally, the village limits that had contained the idiot(s) and the idiotic came tumblin' down like Jericho it its heyday.

That's the extreme end of the dilemma. Toward the more moderate center, we have to deal with people who are possessed of a fair to reasonable amount of intelligence, education, savvy and sensibility but who are, however well intended, still inclined to offer suggestion, opinion, even downright mantra without making sure their t's have been crossed, their i's have been dotted and their vaccinations are all up to date.

One example of a fire to which fuel is too easily added came across our radar this week in the form of that newest of methods used to convey points of view, positions on an issue and/or entertainment in the form of clever punchlines, witty observations or, saints preserve us, bullet point lists of where we've gone wrong.....the meme.

This particular declaration was a combination endorsement/defense of the most polarizing President in the history of the United States.

The largely undiscussed phenomenon in play in unprecedented fashion as a result of the Trump election in 2016 is a sociological term: confirmation bias.

The literal definition of the term reads as follows: "the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories".

Here's the inverse of that definition: the tendency and/or inclination of people to discount, disagree with, even completely reject any irrefutable fact about anything if that fact does not confirm the opinion and/or belief that they have about that particular thing in the first place.

I've talked about this a lot on air. Here's a more easily understandable illustration. 

Let's say that you believe, to a moral certainty, that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F. Kennedy. Tomorrow, in a starting news report, it will be announced that a new, heretofore unknown film of the killing exists, taken by another witness to the crime, a vacationer who just happened to be in Dealey Plaza taking a movie of the motorcade as it passed by the Depository. This film, though, pans up during the actual shooting and, very clearly, without any doubt whatsoever, shows someone who is NOT Lee Harvey Oswald, with a rifle in his hands, firing, at the car, the shot that hit Kennedy in the head and killed him.

The film has been examined and tested by photographic experts who are willing to swear under oath that the film is authentic and has, in no way, been altered, forged, faked or, in any way, falsified.

Confirmation bias will not allow you to accept that the film is legitimate, that there was someone else in that window, that Oswald did not, in fact, kill Kennedy. Even though you have no photographic expertise at all, you will dismiss the expert findings and, at least, hold fast to the opinion that the film is a forgery.

I mention confirmation bias because its going to play a sizeable part in what comes next.

Allow me to do a brief analysis/counterpoint to the points raised in the Trump meme. And just so we understand each other, be aware that I don't disagree with every thing that writer offers. I am not rejecting his or her assertions and/or Trump in particular, out of hand. For me, its not about my personal dislike for the man. It's about recognizing two things and trying to find a common sense way of dealing with them both..

1. We all have our own point of view, but that's a two edged sword. As Paul Simon eloquently said in his song "The Boxer", "...a man hears what he wants to hear / and disregards the rest..."

2. Facts are now, and will always be, facts. And the truth is now, and will always be, the truth. Whether you or I choose to believe them or not. Neither of us, none of us, are allowed the illusory luxury of having an opinion...about either facts...or the truth.

That said....

• I, too, don't care how much the media twists what he says. I don't care how bad he looks, I don't care about his sex life. I do care that he has little or no speaking skills but not out of some elitist, holier than thou attitude about being better educated. But from the knowledge, based on years of study and research and self education on the subject of the qualities essential in someone who occupies the most powerful and influential position on the planet. Just as I would be adamant about wanting a prospective heart surgeon to be unquestionably skillful at microscopic surgery with a fine scalpel as opposed to a sledge hammer, so, too, do I expect, and deserve, to have a president who has a grasp on the truth that the rats can be run out of the barn...without having to burn the barn to the ground.
• I, too, look at what he does and what his polices accomplish. Let's review your endorsements and see where I fall on them.
• "a booming economy". I am not an economist, a financial expert, I have no formal education in money matters. What are your credentials in that field? What can you tell me about your ability to see, specifically and in plain English, this "boom" you mention. Without Googling, please explain bull market to me, bear market. Define correction as it applies to economic movement. Share a few expert words with me on what level of market volatility will occur as a result of the tariffs.  Elaborate on the specific impact that the tariffs will have on specific products, specific industries, specific employment. 
• "low unemployment rates"...I am not a Labor Secretary. I am not a labor expert. I am not educated in sociology, business or industry. Please help calm our concerns, even fears, by explaining in simple detail what employment rate is optimum. Have we reached that number? Is this a firm number or can we expect some increase? Or are we going even lower? When will that happen, exactly, and how will we know that we can rely on those numbers to be empirical and enduring?
• "African Americans back at work"....I have to admit, I'm impressed with someone who has the resources, not to mention the education, experience and, simply, time in the day to have done the statistical work necessary to assure me and the rest of the nation, not to mention the African American community, that happy days are, indeed, here again. Please share your insight and what research tools, methods and applications you are using and have used to be correct in making that wonderful announcement.
• "American companies that had fled returning home"....now, see, here's one of those areas where we all have a tendency to get stuck in discussion mud. Because for every company that you can specifically name that has, in your words, returned home, I'm confident that I can name one, maybe two that are leaving or have left. Or, at the very least, are laying people off. Let's play. I'll start. Harley Davidson. Okay, now your turn.
• "oldest President staying up till 3 AM in a suit on Air Force one waiting see our prisoners returning from Korea"....at the risk of being rude, frankly, that one doesn't count. You see, it's been understood for a long, long time that this particular activity, and others like it, are, however well or poorly carried out, are a part of the job he asked to be hired to do. His age is irrelevant. He knew how old he was when he asked to be hired. If you ran an all night diner and a 70 year old man applied to be your graveyard shift cook, you wouldn't give him special props because he showed up to work every night.
• "China paying attention and negotiating..." again, not to keep pounding the same table, but I'd very much like to hear your input and insights based on your obvious experience and expertise in foreign affairs. Oh...that goes for the Israel thing, too. And Iran. Again, gotta tell ya, you've got a very impressive resume of deep, comprehensive perspectives of geopolitics.
•  "tough on terrorism"....if by that you mean we haven't heard much from Al-Qaeda lately, then, I'll grant you. Just a thought, though, I don't really know anybody personally who doesn't think of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism as a form of terrorism. Unless your resume also includes some kind of training and/or education that can identify and describe the difference between "global" and "domestic" when it comes to terrorists. But I frequently use the sound byte of him referring to members of those particular factions as "very fine people". At least, some of them. And how about mass shooters? There's a lot of terror, there. Of course, his hard line, get your act together or else dressing down of the NRA certainly gives one encourage......oh. wait. 
• I'll spare you the rest and hit the big silver bell I just can't resist. "a man who's delivering on every promise he made, not just talking to get votes." In very simple words and very simple sentences, would you please list those specific promises, specifically? And specifically describe how those promises have been kept? And, ah-ah, no fair, no generic answers allowed. For example, "he promised a booming economy and he has delivered a booming economy." See, we already covered that economy thing, boom and all.

I promised at the outset that I would not disagree with everything you offered in this meme. I'll go so far, at this point, to agree with a few things.

Yes, I agree, no one is without fault. Yes, I agree that we hired a man to do a job. If I was to nitpick, I would do so by saying that you hired him because I had nothing to do with it whatsoever, but, picky and all that.

I won't waste my time or your in trying to figure out why or how he has surpassed your expectations. As I explained earlier, confirmation bias makes that an exercise in futility.

Couple of quick final thoughts, though.

Due respect, he's not fighting the establishment. By nature of the job he asked to be hired to do and that he agreed to do, he IS the establishment.

And he's not doing it for free. He's paid a handsome salary. The fact that he, or says he, donates that salary to charity is irrelevant because he doesn't need the money, so there is no sacrifice, ergo, no charity. And his need, or lack of need, of the money is irrelevant. If he hadn't been born rich, he would still be paid a handsome salary for doing the job he was hired to do.

I don't listen to talking heads. I am a talking head. But I am also a thinking head and a contemplating head and make every good effort each day to stay as factually and truthfully informed as possible.

 Because I believe that facts are facts and the truth is the truth.

And I believe that its important, even critical, for me to do everything I can to determine what those facts and truths are.

Like I said, I don't listen to talking heads.

Not even the talking head who has surpassed your expectations in record time.


 

 

Fear, Actually, Could Possibly Be Eliminated With The Flick Of A Switch

Beto O'Rourke is running for the United States Senate from Texas.

He's trying to unseat Ted Cruz.

Who, you will remember from the Donald playbook, is either "worse than Hillary/the single biggest liar/son of a guy who was involved in killing JFK"...or...is the guy who now has Trump's "complete and total endorsement."

Depending on which poll and/or survey you hear or read, O'Rourke is either three points up or nine points down.

Frankly, given the "how low can we go" mentality a sizeable chunk of 2018 America has adopted these days, I wouldn't give Beto an ice cube's chance.

Which isn't to say that I don't wish, hope, dream, scheme and pray that O'Rourke pulls it off and sends Ted back to the assistant manager job at Stop and Shop where he belongs.

But this piece isn't about "Lyin Ted". Hey, Donald's words, not mine.

And it's not so much about Beto O'Rourke. Although I want everyone to be sure that I wish, hope, dream, scheme and pray that the young rising star pulls it off.

This piece isn't even so much about Donald.

What it's about is something Beto said in a conversation he had with Stephen Colbert during a recent appearance.

For all I know, the phrase he used could be part of his regular stump speech.

Cue Tommy Lee Jones in "The Fugitive".

I don't care.

What Beto said that rang my bell fell right into a category of which I'm perpetually, and eternally, fond. I've given it a variety of titles over the years, most especially in the last couple of years, but, for our purposes here, let's just use one of my more primal descriptions.

Oh. Hell. Yes.

When Colbert asked him, "where are you on the wall?"  he replied....

"We don't need a wall."

The audience, predictably, cheered and then O' Rourke went on to elaborate in a manner that most likely thrilled Democrats, pissed off Trump supporters, which probably then thrilled Republicans who most likely assume that Trump supporters will show that young, tall Texan with the funny Hispanic/Irish name "how we all does things in these here parts."

All of that is just business as usual.

The phrase Beto went on to use, in passing, as he described how Texas, and, for that matter, America could increase safety for the citizenry and deal head on with the immigration issue without walls and torches and dumb ass demagogues tweeting blowhard bullshit was simple, concise and clear as crystal.

At least, to me.

Colbert didn't pick up on it or, if he did, chose not to ask for elaboration because I suspect that elaboration wouldn't have fit into the seven or eight minutes of conversation guests are allotted before we find ourselves wandering around in eight or nine minutes of commercials.

But I would have loved to be in that interviewing chair. And, if the opportunity should arise between now and, say, November 2020, I'm going to do what I can to interview Beto O'Rourke and spend an hour talking to him about his ideas for this one, pristine, brilliant, common sense idea.

Three very easy to understand words.

Smart. Security. Solutions.

And there, right there, in three words, this young, articulate, clearly intelligent and patriotic young man not only lights the way toward resolution of an emotionally charged issue of primary importance to many Americans, many citizens of the world, for that matter, he, if only inadvertently, also puts his finger on the fundamental question that continues to go unasked.

Why are we not DEMANDING that the resources available in the year 2018 be used to deal with and solve the issue of immigration and citizen well being and, for lack of a more intelligent term, border security?

But, instead, we are stuck in a hamster wheel of debate, discussion, argument even battle with millions of people who buy the demagogic used car hustle of a fear mongering snake oil salesman who is accomplishing NOTHING in terms of increasing safety and well being and doing NOTHING but stirring the emotionally dangerous pot of hatred, bigotry and prejudice.

In your hand at this very moment or close enough to you at this moment so that you could reach over and pick it up, is a device that, among other things, is a public library, that provides access to hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions of people, that puts you on the Internet in less time than it took me to just say that and, as a result, gets you medical advice, financial assistance, teaches you things you did not know, clarifies things you thought you knew, but didn't, provides education, recreation, entertainment., twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year...oh...and it enables you to make phone calls.

And it is so relatively inexpensive and easy to own that you probably don't even KNOW anyone who doesn't have, at least, one.

So, now, tell me that in a culture possessed of the technological know how to make that happen...and let's don't even get started on the technology of modern medicine, both computerized record keeping and super computerized diagnostic and treatment systems,  eCommerce, including but not limited to shopping for groceries online and just having them put in the back of your car, not to mention the more advanced arrival of 3D printing and virtual reality......  there aren't any number of ways that that same technology can be put to work and to use dealing with and solving the issues of immigration, citizen well being and, still for lack of a more intelligent term, border security?

And the resolution of those issues by way of the path of technology could be summed up simply, without a whole lot of technobabble or geek speak, in a language that everyone could understand and relate to.

Forget I can name that tune in four notes, Bob.

I can name the answer to the question of how we make our country safer while freeing our population from being manipulated by anxiety and fear and hatred and bigotry and prejudice in just three words.

Three very easy to understand words.

Smart. Security. Solutions.

I don't know Beto O'Rourke.

Never met the man.

But something tells me that what he means when he uses the term "smart security solutions" is likely very much what I mean when I use the term "smart security solutions."

And those of you inclined to be skeptical, distrusting or even inclined to ridicule and dismiss the idea that the solution to the emotionally charged issue of immigration and citizen well being and, one last time, border security, can be found by traveling the road of technology in the year 2018.

Let's talk about it.

Text me. Or email me. Or post something on Facebook. Or Instagram.

Or Twitter.

Or just call me.

Turns out that device in your hand does that, too.

When It Comes To Christianity These Days, X Marks The Spot

John Lennon said it a long time ago.

And it's as true as true can be all these eons later.

"Jesus was alright", the Beatle proffered, "but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

The annual Emmy Awards took place recently. And along with the predictable half baked attempts at forced witty repartee, mundane and/or meandering acceptance speeches that were allowed to go on far too long, heartfelt, poignant speeches that were inevitably cut short by the orchestra signalling the panic button the director pushes when commercials are in jeopardy and the usual batch of same old, same old award show came, in the clear light of morning, the inevitable arm chair quarterbacking....

...and the conservative right pissing and moaning and whining about the liberal left making fun of the conservative right who are, if you think about it for a second, probably largely taunted because the liberal left knows that the conservative right will piss and moan and whine about it.

Kind of a big brother giving a little sister shit just to get a rise out of her sort of thing.

Saturday Night Live cast members Colin Jost and Michael Che were the hosts (gee, no danger of conservative bashing in choosing those outrageously bi-partisan dudes).

Bill O'Reilly, the once upon a time host of the number one rated show on Fox News until his host/producer skills were simply overtaken by his knack for sexual bullying and general assholishness was Reddy Teddy first thing the morning after with his contribution to the pissing and moaning and whining donation barrel.

"...Another award show, another night of hate in Hollywood. During the opening monologue of the Emmy Awards last night, hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che wasted no time taking swipes at Christian conservatives. Michael Che said his mom would not be watching the show because “She says she doesn't like watching white award shows because you guys don't thank Jesus enough… The only white people that thank Jesus are Republicans and ex-crackheads.”..."

Okay, first, subjectivity notwithstanding, the joke just really wasn't all that funny.

First rule of mocking religion. You must be very funny. Unarguably funny. Beyond any reasonable doubt funny.

Funny AF.

Because religions don't like to be mocked. Religions or, more to the point, the more zealous members of assorted religions don't have a hint of a sense of humor about themselves.

Ask one to define self deprecation and they'll likely offer it's another term for baby filling his diaper.

So, if you're gonna go skippin' down Mockery Lane toward Religious Blvd, you better be damn sure that you can, when they come at you all morally outraged, fresh new stick protruding from the rectal region, at least have one irrefutable defense on which to fall back.

"well....you gotta admit.....it was funny...."

Christian conservatives, actually, these days, particularly Christian conservatives and particularly these days, have no sense of humor whatsoever.

And they really should give serious consideration to lightening it up a little. I cant provide credentials that verify my qualification as a Biblical scholar, but my Spidey sense tells me that it's a good, safe bet that Jesus enjoyed some laughs along the way. If he was, in fact, the human incarnation of God and if, in fact, he was capable of the wisdom, insight, compassion, tenderness and love for mankind that we are told he was, then, it only makes simple common sense that he could take a joke.

At the same time, I've got a feelin' that he wouldn't be doing a lot of laughing today, as least in so far as the behavior of some of his self proclaimed disciples is concerned.

Because, if you'll indulge me the metaphor, Jesus may still be the CEO of one of the most powerful and righteous and beneficial and life affirming organizations in the history of existence.

But his board of directors have wandered off the reservation a little.

A big, ol chunk of his sales staff needs to be shown the door.

And his stockholders?

Well, a lot of them have been doing a considerable amount of bending the by-laws in the last couple of years.

More than one too many times, for my sensibilities, in the last thirty months, or so,  I have seen, heard and/or read testimonials, endorsements, celebrations, defenses, rationalizations, justifications and good old garden variety excuses coming from, again, self professed Christians and/or Christian conservatives on behalf of the current government of the United States and, if only because it's his watch, the current president of the United States.

And I gotta tell ya. I'm a pretty smart guy. And yet I'm a little confused. And more than just a little perplexed.

Because what I'm seeing and hearing and reading, in large measure, doesn't come within a camel's chance of getting through the eye of a needle of resembling anything I can reasonably comprehend, let alone endorse, as "a Christian attitude."

So, for those who are qualified to offer expert analysis and Scriptural context to the Trump transgressions I find both most perplexing and most offensive, here's your public forum opportunity to enlighten me, educate me, clarify for me and, essentially, set me straight as to the Christianity on display in the following sampling of comments, incidents or experiences in the last two or so years.

Let's go alphabetical for the sake of organization.

ABC-Washington Post Poll--"disgraceful, very dishonest"....no proof of accusation offered...Bible chapter and verse justifying the accusation, please...____________ 

Amazon "costing US Postal Service massive amounts of money"....statement proven to be incorrect/a lie...Bible chapter and verse defending the statement, please...__________

American delegate system--"totally rigged, books are cooked, rigged!"...again, no proof or evidence...Biblical reference justifying false accusation, please..._____________

Ruth Bader Ginsburg--"incompetent judge, her mind is shot"...Bible chapter and verse celebrating slander, please..___________________

Ben Carson (now his Secretary of HUD)..."many lies, has never created a job in his life, well, maybe a nurse"...Again, Scripture supporting slander, please.._________________

Ted Cruz (now being endorsed for re-election)..."his father was involved the the killing of John F. Kennedy"...Scripture justifying accusation, please______________

Megyn Kelly..."blood from her eyes or her whatever"..Bible chapter and verse dispensing with respect for women, please ______________

Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists..."some are very fine people"...Scriptural endorsement of hatred, prejudice, bigotry and racism, please..__________________

Puerto Ricans critical of US response to Hurricane Maria..."politically motivated ingrates"...Bible chapter and verse encouraging turning one's back on those in need, please ____

Serge Kovaleski (reporter with congenital disability mocked at rally)....Bible chapter and verse endorsing ridicule and torment of those afflicted, please _______________________

Children being taken away from their parents and kept in animal cages....Scripture, please_________

A nominee for the highest court in the land who, upon being confronted with serious accusations of wrong doing and poor character, opts to whine, cry, accuse, condemn and display a tantrum unbecoming of a five year old, let alone a nominee for the highest court in the land.

Find me anything even remotely excusing that attitude and behavior.

Old or New Testament.

Give it your best shot.

There are a number of Christian "leaders" who read this blog and/or hear this podcast. I am, in fact, personally acquainted with some. With no malice intended and nothing but a willingness to be shown the error of my thought process, here's my request.

Please provide me, via social media or email, the particular Scriptural references I have requested. Upon receipt, I will publish and/or broadcast those clarifications publicly with no editing or revision.

I will assume that no reply of any kind indicates a concession on your part that my original theory is correct.

That the particular brand of "Christianity" being engaged in during this particular time in history is, at best, insincere and, at worst, egregiously antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ as documented in the Holy Bible.

Personally, I have a theory. I think the more zealous, determined, even, perhaps fair to say, radical of those who profess the Christian faith but buy the Trump bullshit are, at the heart of it, not following Christ, at all.

They are, if only in their own minds,  justifying the means in order to achieve their ends.

The resumption of a ban on abortion. A "cleansing" of the racial composition of the American population. A specific intent to either return, or simply turn, America into some romanticized vision of what they want to remember as the "good old days"....translation: 1850.

And very few of these folks are blind to the horrific way Trump conducts himself, let alone the presidency, but that doesn't matter. If he's what it takes to get them back to the 19th Century, then, as the kids say, whatevs.

The thing is, though that that's not any thing even resembling the teachings of Jesus.

Your real hero, there,  Christian soldiers is......wait for it, you're gonna love this....Malcolm X.

And this paraphrase of his mindset.

"...we declare our rights.....which we intend to bring into existence by 'any means necessary'.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the radical right Christian conservatives and the symbol of their hopes, their dreams, their plans, their schemes.....Donald J. Trump.

Or as he's known from this writing on....

...Mr. Any Means Necessary. 

That's the problem with disciples.

The reasonable, informed, educated authentic ones stay true to the tenets and teachings of their mentor.

And, then, there's your thick and ordinary.

Who twist it all up.

And ruin it for the rest of us.

Among the many iconic scenes in the classic movie "Casablanca", there's one lesser remembered that comes to mind at the moment.

Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), in her tearful panic to get Rick (Humphrey Bogart) to give her the letters of transit that will enable her to assist husband Victor Laszlo to escape the Nazis, reminds Rick of better days.

Ilsa: Richard, we loved each other once. If those days meant anything at all to you...

Rick: I wouldn't bring up Paris if I were you..... It's poor salesmanship.

Many of today's "Christian conservatives", no doubt, continue their campaign to bring others into the fold.

Some, if not all, include, in their pitch, their excitement at having Donald Trump in the White House.

Cue Bogie.

Don't Think I'm Cray Cray, But, I'm Definitely Sorry, Not Sorry...Just Sayin'

That Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Now, there was an articulately insightful guy.

"Music", he wrote long ago, "is the universal language of mankind."

Most music lovers, one hazards to guess, would be down with that.

Musicians, most especially, would buy the premise.

I'm a musician. Have written, to date, a few hundred various and sundry pieces of music, jingles, songs and/or unfinished chunks of what I'm confident would have turned out to be critically acclaimed, award winning, sold out for the next two years Broadway masterpieces.

If I had, you know, actually ever finished them.

When it comes to the discipline required to turn the blank sheet music page into a critically acclaimed, award winning sheet music page...let's just say I ain't no Lin Manuel Miranda.

So, tunesmith hasn't exactly been one of the more diligently pursued of my life pursuits.

Wordsmith, meanwhile?

Now there's a pastime for which I've manged to muster a little more stick-to-it-iveness.

As evidenced, if by nothing else, by the very words you are reading as you read these very words.

And it occurs to me that the observation of Mr.Wadsworth the Wordsmith, there, might be fair and reasonably tweaked a little to underscore an opinion to which I've subscribed for a long time.

Language, I'd offer you, is the universal music of mankind.

See what I did there?

And without spending valuable time, letters, words and sentences pointing out the obvious logic of my little juxtaposition there, let me finish the original thought with a supplemental thought.

If language is, in fact, the universal music of mankind, then there's, inevitably and unfortunately, a lot of really annoying shitty songs out there.

All due respect to Mariah Carey and her recent undeniably embarrassing effort to stay hip and groovy in the kids' eyes with this "GTFO" nonsense. (Parents, you'll want to either Google to decipher the acronym or just ask the nearest six year old)

After all, I'm not talking about literal songs here anyway. I'm talking about language, words, sentences, paragraphs, "songs" only in the metaphorical sense.

Which brings us to "phrases".

And a whole batch of those terms, or just words, that, currently, as opposed to setting our toes a tapping, send our teeth a-grinding and our fists a-clenchin'.

Let's run down our top five this week, cats and kitties........

5. Cray cray---the term has just as many syllables as the actual word and by using the actual word, you don't sound like a moron.

4. Literally---as in, "...it's not even autumn yet and that old oak tree in my front yard has dropped, like, literally a million leaves already"....okay, first of all even if we cut a little slack and concede that an actual million leaves could, in fact, fall from just one tree, the means necessary to authenticate that number is, at best, impractical....oh and, like, this, like, other grating little habit of, like, you know, using the word "like" after, like, every couple of, like, words, is, like, annoying all on its own...it's exhausting having to remind you of that....I mean, like, we've talked about this, like, more than a million times...literally.

3. Just sayin--let's be straight up with each other, okay? This is simply an attempt to end run being rude and/or obnoxious by throwing in a little wanna-be disclaimer at the end. "...wow, that Kim Kardashian sure has a fat ass...just sayin."

2. sorry..not sorry---this is a relatively new entry in our countdown....we've made it our pick of the week, probably headed for the top of the charts...evenutally...the term is fairly self explanatory but, for purposes of definition, allow me to throw a couple of generational applications at you....the term is a three word version of the very effective one word expression "psyche!".....if you're a little older, the word sorry is the football and the words "not sorry" are Lucy yanking it away as Charlie Brown comes a kickin'. In that example, of course, you would be Charlie Brown.

And....at number one on the charts for a record smashing ninety consecutive weeks.......


1. Trump base.


Yeah, that one is going to be number one for a while yet. If only because we seem to hear it a lot.

An awful lot.

Awful as in "awful calamity", not as in "a whole bunch".

It certainly does meet one criteria, in particular, that qualifies it for our list. The mere sound of it sets teeth to grinding and fists to clenching.

And repeated hearings just exacerbate the grinding and clenching,

Trump base. Trump base. Trump base. Trump base. Trump base.

I think there was even a little sphincter tightening by that last one there.

It's number one on the list of overused and egregiously annoying because of the frequency with which it is inflicted upon us.

But, there are more primal reasons why it's a thorn in the paw of our vocabulary.

First, it symbolizes and represents the very worst of all the things in human nature that can be charitably, but spot on correctly, labeled "not good".

Bigotry, prejudice, misogyny, hypocrisy, demagoguery, racism, sexism, intolerance, religious persecution, fearmongering, fear pandering, ignorance, lack of education, lack of sophistication, lack of simple understanding of simple concepts and, more insidiously, lack of deeper understanding of more complex concepts.

Like freedom...and liberty....and rights.

And, here's yuuuge one.

Rule of law.

Trump base is, even if inadvertently, code.

The code word given to a demographic currently living in the same space and breathing the same air as those of us who don't buy the idea that hatred and selfishness and disrespect and/or destruction of sacred American institutions and values is the answer to any problem, let alone the myriad problems that a nation, any nation,this nation, faces as it exists and evolves.

A demographic that, two years in and two years no wiser for it, still clings to the desperate, ultimately doomed to fail dream and/or wish and/or hope that a petty, insecure, vindictive, borderline illiterate whose entire life has been a textbook example of the side effects of a totally self absorbed personality can, for one second, accomplish anything as president of the United States beyond ending up in the history books as having proven the theory that for every group of 45 men, there is, at least, one man who simply doesn't belong.

At all.

Under any circumstances.

But that's not even the really pointy part of that vocabularic thorn.

The really pointy part is that the Trump base is, in at least some very critical aspects, largely an illusion.

There's no question that it exists.

But what "it" is, as opposed to some monolithic force of nature, without peer, all knowing, all seeing and impenetrable, destined to defeat all foes and vanquish all opponents, is nothing more than a group of people who cling, either in ignorance or stupidity or fear or even borderline desperation, to the hope, to the dream, to, simply, the need to believe that this petty, insecure, vindictive, borderline illiterate is the answer to their problems.

And the illusion being indulged outside the circle is that the Trump base has the will, desire, resources and savvy to insure that their idol of orange clay will not only be the be all and cure all for their problems, but will remain in power for as long as they and/or he decide that will be. And that their political "clout", as it were, is more than sufficient to insure that any politician hoping to achieve, or keep, elected office had damn sure better tow the line, pay homage to the king, give lavish praise to the Emperor's choice of new clothing.

"It's good thing, you done there, Donald....a real good thing..."

When, in the clear light of day, the vote tallies from two years ago tell a much, much different story.

A few thousand votes here, a few thousand votes there......

And there would be no Trump base.

For there would be no Trump.

Save for the petty, insecure, vindictive, borderline illiterate stiffing vendors and berating staffers and having the five letters of his name erected in as huge and gaudy a fashion as possible on every single piece of sky and/or land and/or wall he could hustle.

Trump base.

Does sound a little like a musical instrument, come to think of it.

But, what occurs at this point, is the third of the most primal reasons why this term offends those with the sense and decency to be offended.

Because the word "base" has the same meaning as another word.

Pedestal.

Idols, kings, queens, even history's greatest contributors and benefactors might deserve to be placed on one.

Presidents?

Not so much.

And certainly not, ever, this president.

Just sayin'.

Oh.

And should you be one of those who finds offense in what I've shared with you here.

Sorry.

And...you know the rest.







 

The Only Thing We Have To Fear...Is His Fear...

Understanding Trump...Chapter 9......It's Very Clear...His Fear Is Here To Stay.....

New reports have sizeable and, inevitably, provocative tariffs on China's products about to be trowled out from the Oval Office.

the problem with the "trade war" is the same problem that exists with everything this doorknob does.....

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING he says, tries to do, or does has anything to do with making life better for anyone, let alone an entire nation he supposedly "leads"

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING he says, tries to do, or does has everything to do with his pathological need to win whatever pissing contest comes across his radar.

It matters NOT AT ALL, EVER, if his actions might, even in the slightest, be ill advised, poor strategy, possibly harmful or even potentially catastrophically damaging. The intention, and goal, is ALWAYS to prove to himself, under the deluded guise of showing others, that HIS WAY is the BEST WAY is the ONLY WAY because to admit any other possibility is to have to face, within himself, that he might actually be mistaken. Or wrong.

The palpable inner fear of exposure and the ever gnawing need to try and "make it go away" that is a standard feature of the empty self esteem model simply will not, because it cannot, permit that to happen.

THAT FEAR and its grip on his core...is why.....

....he has NEVER been able to live without a spotlight on his "success".

....he has ALWAYS resorted, and will ALWAYS resort, to bullying and denigrating others, as opposed to inspiring and motivating them with strength and confidence

...he CANNOT stop reminding everyone, via social media and/or public pronouncement, at all times (as a desperate means of attempting to convince himself) that he is the "smartest", the "best", the "most successful", etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

...he CANNOT EVER allow himself to be held accountable, take blame, or responsibility, for any hint of misstep, mistake or failure...while.....

...he MUST ALWAYS take credit for ANY hint of accomplishment, no matter how much, or how little, he was involved...

...he is unfit to hold the office because he will ALWAYS put his own interests and needs first. ALWAYS.

ALWAYS.

Because, the FEAR gives him no other option.

What those who continue to support him continue to fail to understand (either because they won't or, because of their own fear issues, can't) is that his "genius" is not in being the strong, capable, inspiring leader of a nation they have longed for, and imagined in their daydreams.

His genius is in having convinced a sufficient number of people, in a sufficient number of states, resulting in a sufficient number of Electoral votes that he was going to be the answer to all their hopes and dreams.

The answer to their prayers.

And, in that way, the cure for all their fears.

When it is not now, has never been, and will never be their fears he is trying to overcome.

It is his own.

Apparently, This Whole "You Can't Take It With You" Thing Has Been Reassessed...

Often, probably too often, commentaries like this tend to wander into the briar patch of being overly wordy. And wordy usually begats a lack of understanding and a lack of understanding begats boredom and, as a result, to put it simply, a lot of people ain't gettin' all that much outta what's bein' said here.

I admit I'm guilty of that. Now and then. Once it a while. On occasion when I've already made the point but, for some reason, feel the need to go on and on making and re-making the point that I've already made only to end up sounding repetitive and redundant and......

...you know.....wordy.

So, this time around, I'm going to try and resist the temptation to go all Thesaurus on you and pare it down to some basics.

Your average Joe and Jane don't really know very much about politics or government.

Your average Joe and Jane don't really know very much about how politics and government work.

And your average Joe and Jane don't really care that they don't know. Or, at the very least, they're not all that interested in learning.

The first, most obvious reason is that all of us tend to want to know about things for only two reasons.

We're either interested in it in the first place.

Or, for some reason, we have a need to be interested in it.

I know a lot about the Kennedy assassinations. The subject has always interested me and, so, I've read, seen and heard just about everything there is to read, see or hear on the subject.

I know very little about how my flat-screen delivers that really amazing hi-def picture. I'm not particularly interested. I had no interest in electronics, as a kid. I didn't join the A/V Club, I didn't have a ham radio, I just really didn't care all that much.

My interest in how flat-screens work is pretty much limited to how to find the right person to get it working properly again when it goes on the fritz.

The need dictates the level of interest. Or, at least, involvement.

Politics...and government...are just like the Kennedy assassinations.

And flat-screens.

People who are interested express their interest by taking an interest.

And those who have no interest....

...take no interest.

But here's an interesting thing.

Turns out that a lot of average Joes and Janes are, apparently, interested in one...and only one...thing.

Money.

Suddenly reminded of a wonderful anecdote.

Two politicians are feverishly debating. One finally loses his cool and rages at his opponent, "oh, for the love of God, man, you're LYING!"

To which his opponent responds, "yes, I am...but...hear me out..."

You may or may not agree with what I have to share with you, you might even be convinced that I'm lying.

But..hear me out.

By the way. I'm not lying.

Let me tell you how I know that money is the one thing in which you are interested.

You've been trying to get me on board with the concept for almost two years now.

You tell me....

...stock market is flourishing.

...unemployment is way down.

...consumer confidence is high (for those not hip to the jargon, "consumer confidence" is a five dollar term for the half dollar definition: people more likely to spend money on stuff than they were when "consumer confidence" was low.)


There are a number of other "you tell me"s I could list here but, let's just stipulate that they're all just one variation or another on the three I mentioned.

Okay.

Your telling me these three things (and/or any one of the number of other variations of these things) tells me four things.

One, two and three, of course, are that it is your opinion that the stock market is flourishing, unemployment is way down and consumer confidence is high.

All of which, by the way, are not only currently, but have also historically always been, prone to sizable fluctuation at any given moment, not to mention that these "facts" are based on statistics and percentages and trends and movements and all kinds of unseen things, clearly open to interpretation (which means one person's beautiful, drenching rain is another person's torrential downpour spawning a flash flood and washing away the new Corolla).

And the fourth thing your telling me the three things tells me?

That money is the one thing in which you are interested.

Now, keep in mind, if you're with me to this point, you've obviously earlier made, at least, a mild commitment to hear me out.

So, hear me out.

Let's say, for the sake of argument and/or in the spirit of fair play, that money is, in fact, not the only thing in which you are interested.

Let me, then, explain to you why I operate under that assumption.

Because, frankly, that's the impression you're making.

Because you seem to be very satisfied, impressed, even happy and vocal about...

1) the stock market flourishing.

2) unemployment being way down.

3) consumer confidence being high.

But you don't seem to be particularly concerned, let alone see as any kind of problem, that...

1) Your healthcare program has not only not improved, it has probably gotten worse and is very likely going to cost you more in the immediate future (and, I gotta tell ya, given your interest in money, I'm more than a little surprised at ya on this one)

2) Your (or your Meemaw's or your Paw Paw's) Social Security, Medicaid and/or Medicare is in serious danger of being cut way back or even eliminated all together (again...money...hello).

3) The massive, disaster movie proportion wave of murdering, looting, raping and pillaging aliens pouring over our borders hour after hour are not being held back by the wall that we were all promised over two years ago.

4) Pretty much most of the bedrock American institutions that every one of us, from the moment we were old enough to read, were taught were institutions that we needed to honor and respect.. they're being attacked, ridiculed, mocked, humiliated. FBI, CIA, National Security Council, hell, pretty much the whole Justice Department/American Intelligence Community tamayta.

5) The free press....right there big as life in the First Amendment....not the Second....the very First...important enough that our beloved Founding Fathers put it First..which comes before Second...so that must mean the freedom of the press is even more important than....wait for it....the right to own every damn gun ever made, as many as you want, however and whenever you want? That free press is being attacked, too. Enemy of the people, I hear tell. Now that's some serious hammer smashing shit, wouldn't you say?

Hmm..not interested, huh?

Yeah.

How about the Russians, at the very least, putin'...sorry, puttin' their nose where it don't belong? And speakin' of Russia, how about pretty much every damn country in this world that has been even close to being a friend of America for the past hundred years, anyway, pretty much writin' us off as a waste of time and energy?

Yeah, world affairs and all that dusty stuff. Who has time for all that? We gotta go get ice for the tailgate party.

Wait, here you go.

Bunch of laws that were passed a long, long time ago to keep the water clean and air breathable so your kids and grand-kids and their kids and their grand-kids could, you, know, drink and breathe... without dying...Gone. Rescinded. Revoked.

Still no interest?

Hmm.

Any thing with this it's okay for Nazis and White Supremacists to march in American streets and then be told by the head of USA, Inc that some of them are very fine people?

Any interest? Concern?

How about just plain ol' meanness. Nastiness. People we look to for leadership and inspiration. People we hope will call us to rise up, to be more, to give more, to contribute more, to lift the bar of humanity so high that even on a super cloudy day, you wouldn't be able to see it, even if......

Yeah....

All that lofty, mushy, Hallmark Card crap...what's that expression people usin' now...oh...yeah...snoflake.

Please.

Go coat somebody's else's driveway, why don't ya, you buzzkillin' libtard.

We got celebratin' to do.

...stock market is flourishing.

...unemployment is way down.

...consumer confidence is high

See, it's hard, seeing what I see and hearing what I hear from you, to make me think that you really have any, much less an active, interest in anything besides money.

Because we both know that every single one of those three things that you are satisfied, impressed, even happy and vocal about...along with all those other things I mentioned, originated, are the result of, and currently come from... the same individual.

And we both know who that is.

And since all of those things that I mentioned can, pretty sure, be described as,well, let's just say, not cool and you aren't all that interested or concerned, you leave me with no other option but to believe that Randy Newman is your cheerleader.

It's money that matters.

Classic film.

Citizen Kane.

A fictional movie loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst who was one of America's very first, very, very rich.

You might say he was one of the first one percenters.

Kane dies in the beginning. Oh. Sorry. Spoiler alert. Kane dies in the beginning. And then the whole movie is basically his life story, told in flashbacks, as a reporter tries to uncover Kane's life story.

Along the way, the reporter interviews a Mr. Bernstein, one of Kane's underlings who puts all of what I've shared with you thus far into perspective.

"He made an awful lot of money", the interviewing reporter says.

 Mr. Bernstein, with his reply, hits nothin' but net.

"Well...it's no trick to make a lot of money....if what you want to do is make a lot of money."

I'd only tweak that wisdom just a touch in terms of what we're experiencing in America right now.

There's no trick to make a lot of money...

...when...all...you want to do is make a lot of money.

Inferior and unaffordable healthcare, gutting or loss of programs to give comfort and ease the fears of Mee Maw and Paw Paw in their final years, panic in the streets over hoards of aliens in our streets, disgracing foundational American institutions, threatening to block the free flow of information, amateurish and/or incompetent relations with foreign countries, be they friend or enemy, giving Nazis and other haters of minorities a semi-shout out or just plain not giving a shit that your kids and the grand-kids and the future kids might just go thirsty or asphyxiate.

Clearly, a whole lot of average Joes and Janes just aren't all that interested.

And, hey, who wants to be the one to pee on the parade when there's such happy news in this battered but never broken ol' Republic.

...stock market is flourishing.

...unemployment is way down.

...consumer confidence is high.

God Bless America.

And God bless...

...these interesting times.

Idiomatic...Idiotic...So Close...and Yet So Close...

Let's talk about idioms.

Here's the cold and clinical dictionary definition.

id·i·om

ˈidēəm/

noun: idiom; plural noun: idioms

1.

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

Wow.

If my favorite, long ago English teacher, Mrs. Baker were here, I'd say to her "there...right there....that's the reason a lot of us were looking kind of glazed in class a lot of the time....honestly trying to learn but thinking to ourselves 'wha?....please....give us something we can use....'..."

Okay.

Here's some idioms.


It's raining cats and dogs. 

The ball's in your court.

I fell flat on my face.

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


Okay. Got it? Or as my dad used to say, gruffly, tongue in cheek..."capice'?..."

Here's another, less abstract, example.

Burning down the barn to kill the rats.

Which brings us around to AnOmaly.

Not the anomaly which deviates from the norm, the standard or what is expected.

I'm referring to the AnOmaly who is.....well.....

Here's a quick bio line from his Facebook page.

"...An0maly is a world-renowned news analyst, hip-hop artist, activist & social media influencer..."

Despite occasional purported evidence to the contrary, I have a healthy respect, even admiration, for those who are gifted and/or talented enough to offer a diverse resume'.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't chuckle, just a skosh,  at the "news analyst / hip hop artist " conjoining there

Not sure exactly why, but at the moment I read that, I was reminded of a classic Bob Newhart stand-up routine from the early 1960's.

"The Grace L. Ferguson Airline And Storm Door Company"

And while I'm literate enough to clearly understand what the words social, media and influence mean, I'm not so crystal on what, exactly, qualifies one to be a social media "influencer."

Or, at least, be one to the extent that it deserves to be a title.

It occurs to me that I do a little enlightening, a little thought provoking and, more than likely, more than just a little pissing people off via the ol' Interweb here, so I guess I can add social media "influencer" to my own skill set stack.

Actually, come to think of it, the phrase would look both cool and enigmatic on the business card.

None of this good natured poking is, by the way, meant to be any more than good natured poking.

Because AnOmaly is very obviously an articulate and intelligent young man.

And these days, things being what they are, I'll trade being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, in a heartbeat, for the chance to be admiringly awestruck for articulate and intelligent.

I was unfamiliar with AnOmaly until I came across this video.

It was published on the political commentary website of a friend of mine, who, in turn, posted the link to Facebook.

Offering only the request/direction..."listen".

Upon which I hit "play" and, in very short order, was asked by AnOmaly to "please hear me out."

So I listened.

And I heard him out.

(Oh...and just so I can be true to AnOmaly's obvious admiration for "blunt" truth.....I've clearly never met the man, so, no offense is intended by my possible rudeness in calling him "AnOmaly" as opposed to, say Mr. AnOmaly, for example, but AnOmaly is all I got. I even spent a few minutes on the Google (yes, THAT viciously slanted, prejudiced, infamously rigged Google) to try and find Mr. AnOmaly's real name, but my search for it, much like my search for talk radio these days that doesn't make me want to punch the speaker, was in vain......and, hey, I'm down with you, AnOm....since I started waxing political big time a coupla years ago, many is the time I wish I had had the foresight to come up with a non de plume of my own......"PoeLittyCo"....what da ya think?)

Meanwhile, back to the listening.

And hearing him out.

The hearing takes fourteen minutes, give or take.

I'll be right here when you've listened.

And heard him out.






Okay.

Here's my two cents.

Six cents, adjusted for inflation.

I don't have any doubt about the gentleman's sincerity.

And I don't see any demons lurking.

At the same time, the challenge presented here is resisting the now almost primal instinct to start engaging/debating/arguing point by point by point the assertions he asserts and the opinions he opines.

Because political discussion/debate/argument/back and forth bitchin' hasn't changed, structurally, since the rest of the Founders sang out "sit down, John / for God's sake, sit down."

And, of course, long before that.

Pete Seeger's iconic lyrical adaptation of the Book of Ecclesiastes , made top ten terrific in the 60's by The Byrds, reminds us "to everything / turn, turn , turn / there is a season / turn, turn, turn"......

...and if Pete were offering up a, God forbid, 2018 "re-boot", he would be spot on to go a little more political and suggest "for every black / there is a white / for every red / there is a blue / for every left/ there is a right / an excuse to gather / and throw stones at each other".....

But, I'm not only a newly designated social media influencer, kids, I'm a certified primal instinct resister.

So, as just as it is with any feature film that offers me the mesmerizing acting genius of Mariah Carey...I ain't goin' there.

Here's the thing, AnOmaly.

And, at this moment, I want to step out for just a quick sec and solicit some congratulations for, thus far, avoiding the ba dum bump-ready use of phrases like.....

"Here's the anomaly, AnOmaly"

Until, of course, just now.

Back to the thing.

I listened. And I heard you out.

And, believe it or not, I hear you.

That's not my issue with what you think, believe and have to say about it.

My issue is what I didn't hear.

And since the day Donald Trump began campaigning for the job, I've been "didn't hearing" from a lot of others what I didn't hear from you a lot.

A whole lot. From a whole lot of others.

I realized, just now, that I've never come up with a quick phrase to define it. And since it takes a considerable amount of time and energy to lay it all out, I probably should have "sound byte"-ed it by now.

But I like my medicine with a spoonful of sugar, so, in the spirit of whimsy, let's refer to it thusly.

"The Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But....."

It's really more of a "sidestep" or even a "slight slowdown where there oughta be a full stop at the intersection", but the former is a little boring and the latter is way past verbose.

So, let's stick with "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But..."

And the "that" to which I refer here is, to my way of thinking, then, now and forever and ever, amen, the linchpin, the touchstone, not only the whole, but the essential, kit and kaboodle when it comes to opposite sides finding a way to get back, get back, get back to where they once belonged,

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting (small drum roll only, here, because pretty much no one is going to be surprised at this pronouncement), the "that" in the "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But..."

Donald Trump.

Now, as the jaw instinctively clenches and the fist instinctively tightens and the knee instinctively begins to jerk, here's what I need you to do.

Listen.

And hear me out.

All of the points that AnOmaly raises are valid, reasonable and fair. With the understanding, though, that valid, reasonable and fair each get an asterisk because each of them falls neatly and unavoidably into the category of "subjective". You see fair, I see unfair, you see unreasonable, I see reasonable, reasonable, unreasonable, fairly, unfairly....

...if only we could call the whole thing off.

That's been the way of things since not only long before the Founders pleaded with John to put a sock it it, but, arguably, all the way back to the Garden.

You see natural fructose, high fiber, low calorie nutrition, I see forbidden knowledge of good and evil....delicious / malicious /  sustaining / uh oh, it's raining.......

Well, that brings Noah into the plot and that wanders us a little off the point.

And that point is this.

At any given time, in the timeline of mankind, there is an ever present need to confront our flaws and failings, to take stock of our psychological, spiritual, cultural, societal evolutions, ideally, find some way to work together or, at the very least, not beat each other up or down so badly that the wounds are fatal, to keep the civilization up and running for another year, five, ten, twenty or the foreseeable.

Put simply, we are, out of necessity if no other reason, faced with finding a way to live life not because of that which we have in common, but in spite of that which we do not, cannot, probably will never agree upon.

For all of the contemporary, hip and happening, cultural cool cat approach AnOmaly brings to the issues of the day, those issues still remain as simple and basic as they have been since the apple hit the fan.

And "those issues" boiled down to a single issue come down to this.

Conservative versus liberal.

Liberal versus conservative.

Liberal / conservative / conservative / liberal.

Let's call the whole thing off.

Really. I'm serious.

The "whole thing" in this instance being defined as the naive notion that one side or the other will ever be the "winner" in the ongoing, destined to be perpetual dogmatic tug of war.

We're meant to keep tugging. Because it is only in the back and forth that we move forward. It is only in the give and take that progress, of any kind, takes place.

It's the philosophical and political equivalent of the pearl created by the oyster.

Ain't no frippery without a whole lot of friction.

Ain't no ruby without a whole lot of rubbin'.

Agree to disagree. Remember that oldie but goodie?

Even more profound.....disagree without being disagreeable.

I know, stop, right? Yeah, I'm getting all misty, too.

AnOmaly's perspective is an interesting melange of uptight right, peace and love left and can't we all just get along as long as you go along, but it stumbles into the same tar pit that all points of view stumble when they are mostly just differently dressed editions of the classic bottom line "them vs. us."

"Us" ain't gonna ever do it completely "them's" way.

And vice versa.

Or verse visa.

And I promise no more Gershwin punchlines.

But, here's where my head nodding and hmm-mm-ing at the beginnings of some common ground discovery as I listened and heard him out, came to an abrupt finito.

It was the first occurrence of the "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But...."

The first time that he referred to Donald Trump.

"Is Donald Trump really the worst president of our era? I don't think so. I think he's the loudest. I think he's the most blunt. I think he throws the most words in your face. But if you look at his actions, I'm actually impressed."

Hmm.



Let's spare each other yet another rambling back and forth with the entire catalog of Trump's contributions to the nation and history and just do a quick check off of the greatest hits, so far.

• Pledge to replace Obamacare with quality health care for every one. Nope.
• Pledge to build a wall to "protect" America. Nope.
• Completely overhaul and reform the tax code giving all Americans huge tax relief. Nope.
• An immigration "policy" that has, so far, pretty much only torn children from their mothers' arms.
• Pissing off pretty much every other nation friendly to America and insuring that none of our allies take him seriously for one second, let alone respect and wish to work with him.
• Constant denigration and undermining of bedrock American institutions.
• Revocation and/or reversal of policies designed to keep America's air and water clean.

And, just for laughs, let's wrap this Cliff Notes version of catastrophe off with the refusal to be unmistakably "blunt" and "tell it like it is" to white supremacists, neo-Nazis and assorted other gangs of glee and giggle, giving them the impression, if only by default, that their behavior is A-OK because, after all, they are "very fine people".



"Is Donald Trump really the worst president of our era? I don't think so. I think he's the loudest. I think he's the most blunt. I think he throws the most words in your face. But if you look at his actions, I'm actually impressed."

Hmm.

That's what I heard from this articulate, young fellow who freely admits that he "goes out on a limb and tells Republicans to stop being mean, to stop hating certain people."

Speaking of "most blunt", I have to be blunt and tell you that my sarcastic response light is flashing at the moment in a manner that is very likely to cause seizures, but I'm going to honor my inner goal to stay on point and do it with dignity.

"Go out on a limb and tell Republicans to stop being mean, to stop hating certain people."

The sarcastic me would be whipping out something that punch-lined with some form of "I'd like to buy the world a Coke".

But, respectfully, is it either unfair or inaccurate to offer what the gentlemen offers sounds incredibly naive'?

Because history has taught us over and over and over again how easily we can make the person with the gun put it down by simply asking politely.

But, put a pin in that.

Let's back to "loudest" and "most blunt" when it comes to Trump.

Again, that's what I heard.

But, as I said before, what keeps me standing on the soapbox here in the pulpit is not what I heard.

It's what I didn't hear.

What I didn't hear is...

Donald Trump....

...is a bully.
...is a liar of a magnitude unheard of in the history of man, let alone the history of politics.
...is a practitioner of motivation by playing to fear, prejudice, hysteria, panic, bigotry, racism, sexism, the ism's are simal as in infinitesimal.
...is a brutal and petty man, given to denigrating, humiliating, degrading, devaluing people, any people, all people for petty reasons, often for no other reason than said people have had the astonishing audacity to not adoringly agree with every word, thought and deed that comes out of his mouth or brain.
...is not only representative of, but clearly an advocate for, the very worst of our universally human character flaws, not only not calling on our better angels, but convincing too, too many people, much, much too easily that those better angels are somehow something of which we should be ashamed and embarrassed. Tough it up, snowflakes. Go make your pussified snow angels somewhere else.

That last one occurred to me as AnOmaly began elaborating his disdain for the dreaded spread of the "PC culture"

For the record, I'm on board. And AnOmaly wisely calls on another generation's hip spokesperson to underscore the point.

"Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners"--George Carlin.

Agreed.

But here's yet another thing.

That's not all fascism is.

The kindness, politeness and respectfulness to which you refer, can be damaging, even toxic, when taken to extremes.

But, isn't that true of pretty much anything and everything in the human experience?

Old joke. You can't be too thin or too rich.

Not true, actually.

We can be "too much" of just about anything.

That's yet another thing I didn't hear while I was hearing you out.

You devote a sizable portion of your op/ed to the unprecedented amount of venom and viciousness that is directed at the Donald. And, again, please correct me if I am mistaken, but his own behavior and presentation are never addressed with more than just a quick reference, another "blunt truth" or "straight talk". I've written and broadcast extensively on this little pebble in the Cheerios since the day this candidacy was spawned and my take on it, and my calm, measured, long and respectfully considered self assurance of the validity of that take, haven't changed a micro since day one.

You offer that "there's a difference between being nice and being kind and respectful and political correctness and being straight up naive'."

Again, agreed.

But I'll offer you that there is a difference between being "blunt", "straight forward" and....wait for it....the one that has always banged around my brain like a turbo tambourine, "telling it like it is"...AND being a crude, rude, obnoxious, profane, obscene, insulting mouth in search of a steering wheel or, total best case scenario, brake pedal.

I'm going to take a page from your book, AnOmaly and go out on a limb here.

You're far too intelligent and articulate for me to believe for a second that you can't clearly see and hear the mouth that I am describing.

And far too intelligent and articulate for me to believe for a second that you don't know to a certainty to whom that mouth belongs.

But I can't be one hundred percent certain of that.

Because I didn't hear you say that.

What I heard you say was he is blunt and loud.

And, given that, it's hard not to assume that it's likely were I to speak with you in person and say "he's crude, rude, obnoxious, etc,", your reply to me would sound a little something like.....

"Oh. Yeah. Well, There's That, But...."

Here's the last thing.

There is no "but".

There is no excuse. There is no justification, rationalization, normalization or exemption from responsibility for this man and his presentation. Nor is there any pardon for those who continue to support and endorse him.

Own the man. Own what the man presents. Displays. Contributes. Commits.

And, just so we're clear, permit me to offer you this by way of an honorable assurance of my agreement with your wishes for our society but my polar disagreement with your preferred way of achieving them.

This nation, as it always has been, is in need of confronting our flaws and failings,taking stock of our psychological, spiritual, cultural, societal evolutions, ideally, find some way to work together or, at the very least, not beat each other up or down so badly that the wounds are fatal, to keep the civilization up and running for another year, five, ten, twenty or the foreseeable.

Maybe that need is more dire than in recent past. Perhaps even more dire than ever before. Frankly, too much time is spent these days splitting those hairs.

A forest fire is a forest fire is a forest fire.

Which brings us back to idioms.

The big, bold, beautiful barn that is the United States of America has a particularly nasty problem with rats in this particular period of our history.

And those of us who share space in that barn, who live and work in that barn, who raise our families in that barn, who want our kids to be safe and our hopes to be realized and our dreams to come true, we all, all of us, need to find the way to deal with that particularly nasty rat problem.

First, best way is facing some bet the farm facts.

It's a noisy barn, a chaotic barn, even, at times, a pretty damned annoying barn. But it's our barn. Yours, mine, his, hers...theirs.

And we're not gonna fix that barn by fighting amongst ourselves. Rats don't go pausing from gnawing just because we can't get our shit together.

Humans being humans, though, the smart move is to decide amongst ourselves who can organize us, motivate us, inspire us, encourage us, build us up, buoy us up, prop us up when we need it so that we can keep this rickety old building up and running and get about the business of sending those rats on their way.

Of course, we could just burn the damn thing down. That would sure take care of the rat problem.

But, then, we wouldn't have a barn anymore would we?

Think about it, though. It'd be pretty easy. We just light it up with the flames of hatred and fear, prejudice, hysteria, panic, bigotry, racism, sexism. Denigrating and devaluing each other.

Or just putting somebody in charge who would keep those flames burning hot and hostile till the job was done.

Ashes by morning.

Ridiculous, right?

Only a fool would burn down the barn to kill the rats.

And only a fool would fail to see someone standing right in front of them playing with matches.

And you're clearly no fool, AnOmaly.

You see those matches, don't you?.

Of course, you do.

Right over there.

In the hands of that guy you say impresses you.