It's a Half Year Later and on the Verge of a Brand New Year Thing

Dear America,

So it's been awhile, hasn't it. 

No question about that.

Last blog was published August 12, 2020; and isn't it just too bad so sad that not much has happened since then.

yeah...exactly.  

Hardly.

Half a year later and America has witnessed some of the most tumultuous months in modern history.

Between the pandemic and the presidential election -- consequences of which America has been profoundly changed -- this is a time of reckoning, rebound and/or total bust, depending upon one's point of view.  The politics of everything has infringed upon our natural cultural graces, having now escalated to an elevation that, for the most part, common man can no longer see common ground.  Our e pluribus unum is becoming less and less about our oneness and more and more about our separateness with the arrival of each new day, a travesty of the unimaginable kind.

So much so, we have even modernized the terms to more easily describe what's going on -- from  snowflakes (via Google: "a 2010s derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.") to cancel culture -- (from wiki: "a pejorative expression describing the use of boycotts and public shaming to hold people accountable for offensive words or actions, including attempts to have them removed from their jobs or from public platforms like social media.")  

Everything has a hashtag, too! From  #metoo to #justice to #blacklivesmatter to #justiceinpolicing to # #caresact, every movement and every meme has had its day of rising to the surface, bubbling over with instagram postings, tiktok twerking, and sparking social media offensives worthy of outsmarting any defense.  One person can take another person out in a nanosecond; nothing is safe from being branded -- from insensitive cultural appropriation to just plain stupid.  And sometimes, its just one person's word against another.   The truth?  God only knows.  

As if  #politicalcorrectness is ever #correct.

Poor poor Theodor Geisel, am I right?

The old G Thing here just so happens to have a book autographed by the late, great, Dr. Seuss -- it's called, Happy Birthday to You!

And having said that, I'm reminded of the reason why I'm jumping back into this Thing called G in the first place.  I have a birthday coming up.  And it's a big one.

A big one not in the usual sense...it's not a nice round number, capping off a decade.  Nope.

It's the final year before capping off such decade, and it seems to be allowing me a certain vantage point that has prompted me into making it a big deal with each new day that comes my way.   And given we are talking about sixty years in the making, I have written a list of sixty things I wish to accomplish over the next year -- covering everything from the mundane to the sublime, I've included things like professionally steam cleaning my floors and carpets to eating more scallops,

It's simply a list to remind me of the things I love and/or love to do, and remind me to do more of it.  In other words, this present decade and all that it encompasses is not going down without a fight, nor is the next one not ringing it without fireworks and mouthwatering Buona Forchetta pizza!

I will talk to trees more, but more important, listen to what they have to say right back. 

I will eat more scallops, but more important, give thanks for the little devils simply being on my plate.

I will write again, recognizing how much I have missed it.

I will make more Sunday dinners.

I will set course for the making of fifty-nine and something turn into fifty-nine and something something beautiful in every stretch of the imagination.  It's just a number anyways.

In some ways, I feel like I have only just begun.

IF this next year is anything like this past year....oh Lordy, are we in for a treat.

Perhaps, I'm still taking into account the effects of marie kondo...granted, she was without a doubt, the biggest influencer of my 2017.  What a year, what a year it was.  Nothing wrong with a whole lot of tidy. 

Of course, not to be outdone -- 2014 and 2018 were equally remarkable, forever etched in my mind bookending my girl's four years of college.  And now, as if wonders never cease, that girl is fully established in both career and in love.

Of course, it wasn't all gravy, baby, but now I find myself just rambling.  And there is no point to rambling with a point, right Joe (that being directed to Joe, the newly elected president of these fine United States of America).  Save more on him for another day for sure.

Besides, this is all about setting the compass for home.  This place, this blog, is my home away from home. And what I wish for most is for more days like this...tapping my fingers to the keyboard, contemplating this thing called life, and documenting this very day...day after day. 

For nothing, nothing, ever stays the same.  And thank God, right?

The thing is, if the climate can so easily change, then there is hope for us yet.

I look forward to reveling in the changes this new year brings me  -- with you or without you -- it doesn't really matter. teehee 

Today is simply about being a half year later and on the verge of a brand new year and THAT is something to celebrate.  (yup, it's the small things)

Until next time,

Make it a Good Day,

G

 

Dear America,

Hu was hard pressed...
to answer to a few questions on human rights violations...

hmmm. I don't know who?

Hu!

That's what I'm asking, who?

bada dump ba

I hear you; it was really stupid; whatever...

k then, what about this one --


the Chinese President was visiting and all we got was a t-shirt, with a picture of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian across the front of it and in big block Chinese characters the phrase "five more years" .

Then of course there is this one --

a straight faced President Hu outright denied any rumor of his country being a military threat, as reported by FoxNews.

(while his left arm was speaking to Robert Gates on Monday with a whole 'nother line of thought... regarding U.S.ARMS SALES to Taiwan, that "seriously damaged China's core interests, and we do not want to see that happen again," Liang Guanglie, China's Defense Minister sweetly forewarned.  'We hope that U.S. arms sales will not again and further disrupt' military ties or the overall relationship..." the article for NPR further detailed.)

Just "treat us with respect and as equals" (with a sinister laugh well placed here) and everything will be just fine, as so we are told by who?  Hu.

that's it.  no more who jokes, but what's up second, G?

yeah, and it just keeps on ticking.

I feel good.
Do you feel good?
I feel good.

Good.

Well, we are recording history here...a rather boring subject, generally speaking; we might as well have some fun.  whatever...

Did you hear that the Huffington Post and BET are having a baby? Kid you not.

Co-founder of BET, Sheila Jackson, and Arianna, have come together to bring us another choice for news, a spin off the old block, with a twist -- seeking to target, if you pardon the expression, the best interests and concerns of the African-American liberal.  Oh, and they have picked out a lovely name, too, "HuffPost GlobalBlack."   again, could I be making this stuff up?

I dare say, if a right wing outfit did this, people would be on them like white on rice. right?  I mean, really, can't we all get along and listen to the same Huffington Post, listen to the same news,  and be genuinely interested in the same 'best interests' of all Americans, as one body?  I thought this was the kind of change we could all believe in, and thereby magically come about, when a certain special someone was elected into the big white house.  C'mon, people, where is the love for all brothers and sisters, equally, and evenly distributed, respectfully listening and communicating with that still small voice to the very same thing? Can America not do that anymore?

and say it isn't so, plans to do the very same thing for the growing Latino market, es mas de tres y muy grande, is close behind.

So good global news is in the works all the way around.

We have the Chinese telling us 'no worries, be happy'; we are entering a new era of racial divide by getting all our news from different sources, clinging to well worn prejudices, judging the politics of the day with an eye of separation, instead of unification (hardly fair and balanced, if you know what I mean, but whatever...); and in joyful celebration of a global black and white gift that keeps on giving -- if only for five more years  -- only if we mind our p's and q's, -- kinda like a time bomb -- Mei Xiang and Tian Tian remain as the one true tangible symbols of better international relations between US and them.

(Unless of course, you throw in an innocent childlike exchange...as in the president's daughter, Sasha, being handed on a silver platter an opening... to test her Chinese dialect with the country's premier, no less...just wondering, was that over pot stickers or green tea ice cream?)

As cute as it all sounds, inquiring minds want to know, what on earth did she say...'I love Chairman Mao! tell me more, tell me more.'

and on that note, we will end the misery there, that's all folks...

Make it a Good Day, G

and thank you to Dana Milbank, for admitting, in print, how many times the left wing media has verbally attacked Sarah Palin...and advocating a "moratorium."  well done.  splendid.

"Let's take it one step further. I call on Douthat (who has mentioned Palin in 21 of his Times columns since 2008, according to a Lexis-Nexis search, and in scores of blog posts) to join my moratorium -- thereby forming a bipartisan coalition of The Post and the Times. I challenge columnists Eugene Robinson (33 Palin mentions), Paul Krugman (14), Kathleen Parker (30) and Maureen Dowd (45) to do the same.

"I also call on Keith Olbermann (345 shows mentioning Palin) and Rachel Maddow (183 shows) of MSNBC, as well as Sean Hannity (411 Palin segments) and Bill O'Reilly (664 segments) of Fox News, to take the pledge. Will Politico -- with 96 Palin items in the past month alone -- join this cause? Will the Huffington Post, which had 19 Palin mentions on a single day last week -- stand with me?"

however, you are missing the point that our dear President was making, entirely -- the president was directly speaking to the speakers of the vitriolic attacks, whether left or right, to stop; he was referring to the very kind of commentary, that you have now so nicely counted out for us -- as if we didn't already know from our own eyes and ears;  but case in point, the vitriol stops right after Maddow according to your own list  --  when you get to the players of Fox News, you come to fair and balanced reporting of Gov. Palin (not to mention, she is a Fox News Contributor herself, and a peer). 

Fair and balanced commentary is simply that, otherwise, who else would you suggest we "just not talk about" in your view?  Just who else, pray tell, do you wish to censor and why?  And really, how hard is it to be respectful, even when voicing one's criticism against a certain policy or action?  Is it that hard to do?  Personal attacks immediately take away from the merit of the message being told. 

And can't help but take notice to the "19 mentions" of Gov. Palin in a single day last week, according to the numbers on the Huffington Post.  kudos for that.  Wonder how many times she will be mentioned in the upcoming "HuffPost GlobalBlack" edition?

Dear America,

It was this time last year we watched the Health Care legislation being forced upon us -- against the will of the people -- and specifically upon a group of hold-out Democrats, who we all thought, ideologically championed life over the selling of their soul...

that was the case until a certain congressman named Bart -- Bart Stupak, of Michigan --  compromised himself and our dear America, in every stretch of the imagination, just in time for Christmas.

One man, just one man, paved the way for a monstrosity of health care entitlements to take hold  -- you know, the one being hailed only by a slim margin of Obama/Pelosi/Reid die-hards, having been kicked to the curb over the mid-term elections in utter embarrassment of it all, that now sits, lifeless, waiting for the Republicans to file in and do something about it.

Mitch Albom, an author I very much admire normally, wrote for The Parade weekly magazine in the Sunday paper had, to my disappointment, a totally different take -- simply titled, Mr. Smith Flees Washington, with Bart's disheartened mug looking down in shame.  Not for anything he did, of course, but for what "Washington" has become.

As Albom quickly pointed out  (although quite certain he would not agree with my angle) -- if not for the executive order that President Obama flashed under Bart's nose, the one that would, in theory, prevent federal funds to be used for abortion, the entire political landscape would be different;  kind of like how the leftist pundits, and maybe even a few staunch GOP elitists, having unfairly gravitated to the belief that "Palin cost the GOP the Senate"  -- you might say, Stupak cost the democrats the mid-terms!


For it was this moment in time  -- after months of townhall meetings, after months of laying the grassroots groundwork for the Tea Party, after months of being denied and dismissed as the able bodied electorate who firmly disagree with the direction this country was headed -- that changed everything for the American people.

Stupak, in one fell swoop, became an overnight (bad) sensation and made us sick to our stomachs; while in Washington, he received a not-so-kind reception in the House, having even been called "baby killer" from the floor one day.  I don't believe the right has any regrets for that, they should have chosen a higher road to take to communicate their true feelings, but no matter now -- a simple look at the glut of unintended consequences seems to speak for itself.

As we have all came to know, and continuing with Albom's narrative, Stupak decided to leave Washington shortly thereafter, realizing that he was just not cut out for the divisiveness and ugliness that has taken root, saying "every boundary of decency has been crossed." 

well yeah, but sorry to say, you're right there along with it, Bart.  are you kidding me?

Later, Albom adds this for color,

"Stupak sighs. 'Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?  Those days are gone.' "

Hold up while I get my tissues...

Last word from Albom comes with a heavy dose of nostalgia going down with the sweet syrup of a wish, posing a modern day can't we all just get along message, ending with a question:

"Can we become real-life Mr. Smiths and change the ugly tone of our national conversation?"

Maybe we could, Mitch, if we sent real-life decent people to Washington.  Maybe we could, Mitch, if, once we send them, they don't change and get caught up in earmarks and perks, and make the back room deals and turn on a dime -- or 300 million.  Maybe we could, Mitch, if we actually had real-life Mr. Smiths get there in the first place; while once there, perhaps even after NINE terms, we would still find them clinging to the exact principles and values that got them there.  Perhaps then, we might have something to write home about.

Stupak sold out -- and for what?  To make it appear that he never wavered, never faltered, never fell from one of his highest tenets of his policy and politics -- that being pro-life?  The Executive Order is, at its best, a  feel good action that does nothing more than sound legitimate, even if in the real world of appropriations and funding, it does nothing to protect real life from somehow finding a way around it...it is Washington, you know. 

Bart caved -- and he knows it -- and that is why he is about two steps out the door already.

He is disappointed way more in himself than the environment he is leaving behind  -- way.  It is written all over his face. 

Washington is a mess, yes; but I see a different version of Smith coming in to save the day.  It might be more like a Mr. Paul or a Senor Rubio -- or someday, maybe even a Mr. Christie (who's so close I could taste it); but clearly, Washington will not change until we change the people we send there (stealing a line from the Carly for California campaign...yes, this girl is still crying over that).

While, as luck should have it, we don't even need to send them there to affect change -- case in point, a Ms.Palin; now, anytime you wanna have a conversation about the difference one woman can make upon a political landscape, call me.

Ever since she burst out on stage, overshadowing the tired Senator from Arizona in a nano-second -- she has swept the American people off our feet -- "never mind if you disagree with [her] voting record" or not, piggybacking on an Albom thought once again.  Love her or hate her, she has turned heads and is (nearly, solely, contagiously) responsible for the revolution we see going on in Washington, and in every corner of America, today. 

The GOP was bowing their head in shame, as a whole -- and Palin changed everything, overnight; while for America, she has never been quite the same since.  We find once more, America, to be a place where reality and nostalgia meets on a red, white and blue silver screen -- and it's got a name, too -- it's called pulling a Mrs. Smith without ever having to be there, in a yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause, sort of way.

How ironic for Albom to pick Stupak as the source for his lamentation, of all people, of all moments of the last two years, after Pelosi hit a new low saying that "we must pass it [Health Care Law] in order to know what's in it!" , after all that's been said and done and manufactured and destroyed... we get Albom comparing Stupak to Mr. Smith -- the Mr. Smith.

that's a good gig if you can get it.

happy wednesday with just a girl and...

Make it a Good Day, G

"I think that, over the course of two years we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that, we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn't just legislation. That it's a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone. And making an argument that people can understand. And I think that we haven't always been successful at that. And I take personal responsibility for that. And it's something that I've got to examine closely as I go forward."  Obama

Oh, we understand.  And, we get it.  Where we went wrong, is having mistaken you to be a Mr. Smith, and...it's just that.... over the course of two years we were busy watching -- so focused on watching a bunch of stuff get done, we stopped paying attention to the fact that our leadership makes legislation.  That it's a matter of persuading politicians to run with the will of the people.  And giving them confidence we will re-elect them when they truly listen, when you bring both sides of the table together.  And setting a tone. And making an argument that a politician, such as yourself, can understand.  We haven't always been successful at that.  And take personal responsibility for that now...it's just something we have got to examine closely as we move forward.