Decision Day!

Yesterday was a day of decision for Benjamin Sloan Strait!

Benjamin is going to the Prom!  He asked a girl to Prom, and she said YES!  Of course, in modern parlance, it was by text, while they were in class together.  What can I say?  I used to pass notes back and forth to girls I liked (ye ancient mode of texting).

This will be his first school dance, except for one in Junior High, which he attended because he was a character in a movie Film Club was making.

He does have dance experience, working under the tutelage of Sarah and David Rollison at Cotillion.  Now, Benjamin helps Sarah with the new Cotillion classes.  And he did dance in The Addams Family (hey, he was better than me!).

Mama and Dad have tickets to Waitress in Jacksonville on the afternoon of the night of the Prom, but we intend to race back here for the Senior Walk.  

Also yesterday, Alison, as she was looking at registration information at a college Benjamin had been accepted at, asked Benjamin, "If we wait to see if the University of Georgia accepts you, are you going to want to go there?  Or are you going to decide on this other college anyway?"

"You're right, Mom," Benjamin said (or a reasonable paraphrase thereof).  "I've already decided I'd rather go to the other one."


Sooooo...

Georgia College & State University it is!!!

Woohoo!

Decisions made!

Prom, here comes Benjamin!

Milledgeville, get ready! 

Double woohoo! 

Bill Maher Wouldn't Like Me

Bill Maher, Grown-Up

 It's a shock.  But it's most likely true.

I've been watching Bill Maher for decades, dating back to his Politically Incorrect TV show.  I don't always agree with him, but the dialogue on his shows is usually informative.  He often has people of all political stripes on, and it is interesting to see them engage with each other.  I rarely found his monologue laugh out loud funny, but his panel is often good, and his New Rules inciteful.

But I have come to realize something.  In the highly unlikely circumstance that I should ever meet him and he gets to know me, I don't think he would like me.

You see, I'm a comic book fan.  And that means he thinks I'm not grown up.  And, according to his first response about it, I'm responsible for the circumstances that led to Trump - that a country with so many comic readers was ripe for Trump.  Anybody who regularly reads my blog think I was pining for Trump?  Heck, I knew what bad things would happen if the country elected an evil billionaire President - I'd read about Lex Luthor becoming President in the Superman comic books.  And I'd read about it in numerous articles and books, like the brilliant novel It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.

Bill Maher's New Rules Friday night, doubling down on his November response to Stan Lee's death, was way over the top, and a definite indicator of how he would feel about me.

Don't believe me?  Here is a small part of his rant -

"Tonight’s editorial is about Stan Lee who, if you missed it, died in November. And a few days later, I posted a blog that in no way was an attack on Mr. Lee, but took the occasion of his death to express my dismay at people who think comic books are literature and superhero movies are great cinema and who, in general, are stuck in an everlasting childhood. Bragging that you’re all about the Marvel Universe is like boasting your mother still pins your mittens to your sleeves."

"You can, if you want, like the exact same things you liked when you were ten but if you do, you need to grow up. That was the point of my blog. I’m not glad Stan Lee is dead, I’m sad you’re alive. [...] "Director Kevin Smith accused me of “taking a shot when no shots are f**kin’ necessary,” except again my shot wasn’t at Stan Lee. It was at, you know, grown men who still dress like kids," Maher said as he showed a picture of Smith wearing a branded hockey jersey.

"Can we stop pretending that the writing in comic books is so good? Oh, please. Every superhero movie is the same thing — a person who doesn’t have powers, gets them, has to figure out how they work, and then has to find a glowy thing. [...] "I’m sorry, but if you’re an adult playing with superhero dolls, I’m sorry - I mean collectible action figures - why not go all the way and drive to work on a Big Wheel?

Nothing I say or write here would make any impression on this man.  My blog is little read or noticed.  Perhaps deservedly so.  I could write a response to this that could go on for pages and pages.

I just want to point out the blatant cruelty of one thing he said;  "I'm not glad Stan Lee is dead.  I'm sorry you're alive."  I've never had anybody before express that they're sorry I'm alive.

For better or worse, comic books are a mixed medium (literally!).  Sturgeon's Law applies, as in everything else - 90% of everything is junk.  Yes, some comics I read for sheer entertainment.  But there are many meaningful comics and graphic novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus by Art Spiegelman, and the brilliant three-volume epic March, about John Lewis's life and the Civil Rights Movement.

We all carry on interests from our childhood.  I still find the time to "adult".  I don't cosplay, collect super-hero figures, watch anime or superhero cartoons (there are rare exceptions - but for the most part, no).  I'm a fan of storytelling.  I read comics, books of all kinds, watch television and movies, and I love to act and write.  I don't smoke (anything), drink very little, carouse, hunt, fish, golf, obsess over cars or boats or planes,  or take recreational drugs.  I want to make clear there is nothing wrong about any of these things, EXCEPT if they consume you to the point you damage yourself or others.  And that could come from any interest.  Heck, there are even some people who become so obsessed with church that they sacrifice themselves and their family.  Balance and moderation, Bill - you know, like you do with toking reefer.

My sons read comic books.  My wife reads comic books.  Yes, there are some great stories written for adult females.  There is a growing number of female comic creators, writers, and artists.

Sorry.  I could go on and on.  So I will cut this short, as even with my beloved blog - it is best to do in moderation and not become obsessed.

Will I give up watching Bill Maher?  No, I'm not much of a boycotter.  And in the age of Trump, I need to find whatever resistance to his Orangeness that I can find.  He has a variety of guests, and it is interesting to hear their points of view.  Who knows?  Maybe he'll even have the courage to put somebody on who can challenge his negative view of comic fans.  

Stan Lee, that immature rascal, dressed for his WWII military service. 

Let the 2020 Speculation .... BEGIN! : Saturday Political Soap Box 202

Hey, look!  My one and only meme!

Bernie Sanders announced his intent to run for President yesterday.   In 2016, I proudly voted for him in the primary, and was happy to see him push the party in the direction it needed to go in.

In the general election, I voted for Hillary Clinton.  She was clearly more competent than Trump (ok, virtually anyone was more qualified than Trump), and the second most qualified person in the country to do the job.

The most qualified person was Joe Biden, whom I proudly voted for twice.  He and Barack Obama proved to be the best American leaders of my lifetime.

This time, I don't intend to vote for any of them.

I think it's time to turn to a new generation of leadership.  That's not age specific. It's just time to give new figures a chance, a time to move to a new politics and approach.  Elizabeth Warren is close to the three I mentioned above in age, but she is more modern in her approach to issues and a fresher face to the American voting populace.

So far, we have announced; Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kristen Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, and Bernie Sanders.  Waiting in the wings, and more likely than not to run, include  Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Eric Swindell, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Sherrod Brown, and there may be many more I'm leaving off.  Unfortunately, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will not be the constitutional age to run for President until 2024.

For me, Elizabeth Warren is the frontrunner, but I have not committed to any candidate yet.

What is it that will shape my decision?  Part will be how well they actually compete with each other.  Many of them will be weeded out fairly quickly.  In any crowded garden, some wither away competing for the sunlight.

Here are my main criteria:

1)  This one is unconditional.  You have to be for Medicare For All.  If you call a single-payer, universal plan by something else, that's ok.  But you have to cover everybody - NO EXCEPTIONS, NO ONE LEFT OUT.  If you weasel on this at all, you're out! And yes, that right there eliminates ALL Republican candidates.

2)  You have to understand that the gravest crisis facing America and the planet is...global warming.  The candidates who have the best plans to mitigate climate change and green our economy are going to move to the front of the pack.

3)  You need to be generally progressive on a host of issues.  You don't need to be in lockstep or have the most radical plans, but you need to be concerned about and address - income inequality, raising the minimum wage, making college more affordable, and restoring us as a country that cares about democracy, at home and abroad.

4)  I will be looking most closely at candidates who raise their money from small donors and be less inclined to those that use PACS and wealthy donors, individual and corporate.

5) Finally, everything else being equal, I intend to vote for a female candidate.  It's time.  It's way past time.  As shown above, we should have already had our first woman President.  So, it's overdue, and it's not like we have to reach deep into the bench to find one.  We'll have a half-dozen or more highly qualified and capable women in the race.

Not only that, I think it's time to double down.  The Democrats should pick female candidates for President AND Vice-President.  Think that's too much?  I don't.  There's a lot of catching up to do.  Right now, the men have a lead in Presidents and Vice-Presidents of 93 to zero!  It would take a couple of centuries just for women to break even.

Not on my list of considerations is how well a candidate is poised to beat Trump.  First, Trump may not even be the Republican candidate in 2020.  His odds of resignation or impeachment are increasing daily. They have to be prepared to run not just against Trump, but the Republican agenda.  Secondly, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, if we re-elect Trump, knowing all we now know (well, what I've always known, but many have had to play catch-up), then we deserve our fall from the status of great nations, we are indeed a nation of the damned, and will descend into the trash heap of history, another once bright but now failed idea.

The good news is, many candidates meet all of my screening requirements.  

So, sorry, Bernie.  Forgive me, Joe.  Thank you for your service, Hillary.  If you happen to get the nomination, I'll happily vote for you over any Republican candidate.  And the same is true if we once again turn to a male candidate.

But for my top tier?

Go, Elizabeth!

Go, Kamala!

Go, Kristen!

Go, Tulsi!

Go, Amy!

I can't wait for you to join forces with the most powerful and competent Speaker of the House, not just of our times but perhaps of all American History...

Nancy Pelosi ROCKS!

A Little Time for Tuesday Tidbits

Got a few minutes in my revised schedule to write a brief blog posting.  So, I'm not going to let the lack of a topic stop me!

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Working M- W -F now.  That may change as tax season intensifies, but until then, I get my own mini-shutdowns Tu - Th - weekends! Woohoo!

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Fiction writing on Tuesday and Thursday are going good!  Making great progress on The Extra Credit Club.  I think I'm hitting the 60% completion mark.  There will need to be a lot of editing - always a flaw when you write over so long a period.  I noticed I gave the same character two different names.  I'm not a 19th-century Russian novelist, so I'll have to go back and clean that up.

The Extra Credit Club will be marketed to see if I can get a publisher or agent.  Which means y'all may never see it.  If that doesn't work, I will self-publish through Amazon.  I'm not spending big bucks again to get a novel published.

Crowley Stories has been a huge disappointment.  I have not been able to control the Amazon pricing or promotion.  The local response has been horrible.  I don't mean people dislike the book.  I mean they don't buy it or read it.

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Speaking of shutdowns, the Government shutdown staggers on with no end in sight.  Neither side can lose.  Both know whoever wins this will be able to control the agenda for the next two years.

Although the current shutdown is 176% Trump's responsibility (with a little help and assist from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell), I find this whole procedure a rotten way to run a government.  I can't stand that both sides use these budget bills as excuses to threaten a shutdown to try to leverage concessions.

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Football blows this year.  Alabama vs,  Clemson?  AGAIN?  The NFL playoffs have been a whole festival of teams I don't care about.  Everybody complains about how long it's been since their team was in the Super Bowl.  Well...TAKE A NUMBER!  I'M A LIONS FAN!

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That's it for now.

The Extra Credit Club awaits!

Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:1-11
12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.

12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.

12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

12:5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;

12:6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

12:8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

12:10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

12:11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

We all have different spiritual gifts.

Not everyone is a glowing extrovert who is burning with desire to go door-to-door to extoll the virtues of conversion.   Not many of us want to grab a street corner and start shouting.

Introverts can serve the mission of Christ as well.

It is not in what you shout, but what you practice, the shining light of your own life, however imperfect, as it struggles every day to do better, to do the right thing for as many people as possible.

It lies in becoming the hands and feet of Christ, of using your gifts to help, in whatever small way, to bring the Kingdom of Heaven closer to Earth.

For my parish, it is in the lunches we fix for impoverished school church, the meals we prepare for those waiting in line for charity from another group.

It is in the bicycles we refurbish and distribute to those in dire need of transportation so they can go to work or the grocery store.

It is in our visits to prison, hospitals, and nursing homes - not to proselytize or intimidate, but to spread love, hope, kindness, and giving.

It is in all the individual things that each one of our parish members does outside the church - caring for animals and animal shelters, supporting food pantries and clothing centers with material and labor, building homes and repairing homes for those in need, fighting for causes that will make a better world for all of us.

And we use all our individual talents to do it -

- through song, raising the spirits within the sanctuary, and singing Carols to our shut-ins.

- through our church readings and prayers.

- through our writings and expressions of communal joy, and to urge the better treatment of our fellow man.

- through our skills at construction and repair, for our church building, and for those in need.

Through a myriad of talents as diverse as our congregation.

Spiritual talents abound, and every church community is more productive for that diversity.

Let all our spiritual talents shine.

Introvert and extrovert alike, and everything else in between.  There is room and need for all our gifts!

Elect Barbara Griffin!

Another citizen takes a stand!

Barbara Griffin has stepped up to the plate and is running to serve the residents of Georgia House District 176.  A special election is taking place (February 12, early voting Jan 22 to Feb 8) to replace an incumbent who has taken another state position.

I have known her for many years now, and cannot think of a more passionate defender of the working person than she.

In the words of her devoted spouse, Lamar Deal:

VOTE FOR BARBARA GRIFFIN GA HOUSE DISTRICT 176
Why? Because Barbara Griffin actually cares about people; in fact, her entire career as a Social Worker began in 1973, when she got her Master's degree from the University of Georgia. She currently works in the dialysis field, helping patients navigate the health care labyrinth.
Barbara Griffin will work hard for:
- EQUAL ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE. Many South Georgians postpone getting medical care until they get very sick and end up in the ER, incurring higher medical bills for everyone. Keeping rural hospitals open means better health outcomes and lower infant mortality. More trauma centers (there are currently NONE in South Georgia) means saved lives. Barbara Griffin will work to bring quality healthcare to all Georgians.
- PUBLIC EDUCATION. A quality education means more opportunity for financial success. When companies look to expand one of the chief criteria is good schools. Rural Georgia needs a skilled workforce to attract higher paying tech jobs. Barbara Griffin believes in robust public schools from Kindergarten through graduate school.
-JOBS. Better jobs means a better quality of life, which begets more and better jobs. Barbara Griffin will work to bring those jobs to District 176.
- THE ENVIRONMENT. South Georgia has a sunny climate year round. Solar farms and residential solar are environmentally friendly and increasingly cost-effective. Industrial pollution and fossil fuels threaten our rural way of life by endangering wildlife and our health. Barbara Griffin will work to keep District 176 clean and beautiful.

Barbara Griffin is a hard-working, compassionate, intelligent woman. How do I know this? I'm married to her. I see her best qualities in action every day. VOTE FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL GEORGIANS. VOTE FOR BARBARA GRIFFIN.

This is a map of her district.  Yes, gerrymandering is another strange part of Americana.  You can check your registration at the Georgia Secretary of State site, and it should clarify what district you are in.  

There is also a Facebook page, Elect Barbara Griffin, GA House District 176, which I encourage you to join and like for all the latest updates and information.

If you live in District 176, early voting for this Special Election is January 22 through February 8 and election day is February 12.

Changing Monday Musings

Often, I would move.

Before Blackshear, the longest I was in any one place was Bridgeport, Michigan.  From First grade until my Senior year, it was my primary residence (well, also my secondary and thridadary for that matter).  And yet, if it weren't for Facebook and the efforts of my schoolmate, Benita Vierke Collins, I wouldn't know anybody from there now.  I have no familial connections there, few who would even remember me,

I have no friends or contacts from anywhere else I lived, not even through social media.

So, to live in the same place for over two decades, and know many of the same people over that time, is something new to me.  You cannot help but see the effects of the winds of change.

We lost a devoted and kind man recently, a special part of our parish community, recently, and had the memorial service Saturday.  Edwin Herrin was an extraordinary individual, one who had always made us feel warm and accepted at our church.  He always had a kind word for my family, and never missed his hugs with our family.

Edwin was an important symbol of change at our church.  When the winds of change came to our church, and we had to decide how welcoming we would be to the LGBT community, this conservative man, and his wife, Cynthia, decided to stay with us, at the same time that many others were leaving.  To me, he was a living symbol of the power of love.  And that beacon of hope and tolerance he lit, will be remembered and cherished at our church - always!

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My father, a sometimes stubborn man, taught many important, wonderful things.  One of the most significant was adaptability.  Yes, he could be stubborn and set in his ways, but when it came time to adapt to the next phase of life, he did so with faith and courage.  Over time, he lost his mobility, and his ability to do things he was used to doing.  Each time he would stoically make adjustments, and make the best of things.

It's not always easy to go through the different stages of life.  But my father showed me how to do it with as much grace as possible.

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Speaking of grace, my friend, Grace Lee, our 90-year-old superstar writer, had a pacemaker installed this week.  The surgery was a success, but she is battered and bruised, and recovery will take some time.  She reminds me of my father and with each obstacle that change presents, she is determined to adjust and get the most out of life.


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And change has already come to my new work schedule.  They prefer I work M-W- F, rather than TU-W-TH.  The most significant effect to you, my dwindling faithful few post followers, is that fiction writing will be concentrated on Tuesdays and Thursday, and I may (MAY) use some of the work days for blog posts.  We'll see,  This could also change.


My view numbers have declined.  It may be due to quality.  I can't rule that out.  But I think Facebook has become more selective in whose newsfeeds my posts appear on.  It wants me to pay them money to "boost posts" but that don't make no sense, as there is no monetary component to my blog.  Years ago, I was banned for life from them running ads on my blog.

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The winds of change may be finally coming to the Presidency.  The shutdown has backfired bigly on Captain Bone Spurs, and the jig is almost up with his many sins, especially becoming more explicit about his close ties to Russia.  I won't go into it here.  I'm running out of writing time, and either you believe it or not.  I'm told that I can never persuade the Trumpeteers to change.

But, you know what?  The winds of change do blow through. So, maybe I shouldn't give up so quick.

The winds of change blew through my church, and some of my fellow parishioners changed with it.  Like Edwin, they saw the light of love and hope.

Maybe that can happen again.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

I Dreamed A Dream: Saturday Political Soap Box 201

I dreamed a dream. A good number, in fact. Like most dreams, they evaporate quickly and don't stick very long.

Some, however, are hard to forget.

I don't feel particularly prophetic. Most of my dreams don't predict or resonate future events. My most frequently recurring dream is that there is a vast underground library underneath my house, accessible by a secret staircase hidden in a closet. That's not come true, but it is a fantastic place to visit. When I visit Chamblin Book Mine or a big public library, I get the closest feeling of my dreams coming true.

I often dream my parents are alive and that it is the most natural thing in the world. Waking up from those dreams is always hard, as I remember all over again that they are gone from this plane.

But other dreams, if not precisely prophetic, have resonances that ring in the future.

I often have dreams of shopping for books and comics. Once, though. I had a dream of shopping for something else.

As a kid, I loved James Bond movies and was frustrated I could only see them once. After they played in the theatres, they were gone. In the late '60s, I dreamed that I was shopping in a store and going through LP record-size James Bond movies, ones that I could pick out and play at home on some kind of record player attached to the television.

They resembled laser discs, which came and went, a perhaps superior technology that lost out to VCR tapes, which have been, in return, replaced by DVDs and now streaming.

And I dreamed about it long before it happened. All because I wanted to see James Bond movies over and over.

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Then there was the dream I had about how elephant-like aliens came to Earth and proclaimed that they were angels from God, heralds for the second coming. The Christian right, led by Jerry Falwell, believed them, and it became accepted gospel truth that you had to fall in line with these otherworldly pachyderms. They zealously helped Jerry Falwell follow some of the most extreme parts of the Christian right agenda. Non-believers were prosecuted and exterminated, as well as gays, women's libbers, and minorities - any who did not toe the elephant line.

Of course, the elephants weren't really messengers from God. They had their own agenda: to exploit the world and its resources, including human labor, for their own ends. It was all an elaborate con. 

Years later, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote a best-selling book about alien elephant invaders. So, that idea was not as far-fetched as I thought (and yeah, there's a whole history of my ideas that I am too slow to write, turning up in popular culture). 

And the idea of a group exploiting the Christian right for their own purposes? Yeah, that's as prophetic as anything I've ever dreamed. Including the almost elephant-sized pied piper of the Christian Right, Donald J Trump, leading them by the nose to wherever he wants them to go. All in exchange for  Supreme Court domination, from which perch they can persecute the LGBT community, outlaw women's reproductive rights, and establish a Christian theocracy.

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I had a dream that was burned in my mind, one I dreamed of in the early 80s, one that I had dismissed because it seemed so unlikely.

I dreamed, in a surprisingly clear fashion, that the first female President of the United States would be a Hispanic woman, one who was known by three names.

There was no one on the horizon then who fit that bill. And when Hillary Rodham Clinton ran, I thought - well, we can toss that out. And sure enough, she DECISIVELY won the popular vote and became....crap, forgot about Russian influence and the weird vagaries of the Electoral College. Anyhoo...

Now, she is on the horizon...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Some may contend the hyphen makes it one name, but if that's a problem, throw in her nickname, Sandy.  

She is constitutionally ineligible to run in 2020, as she will still be under the age requirement of 35. 

   

But on January 20, 2025, she will be 35 (her birthday is October 13th).


I am still hopeful that Elizabeth Warren (or perhaps another woman) will beat her to it in 2020.


Nevertheless, I have dreamed a dream.

I have seen the future.

And it is AOC!

Hats We've Worn by Grace Lee

Extra-special guest blog written by Grace K. Lee!

Hats We've Worn

by Grace K. Lee

This year I had my ninetieth birthday.  My family and I have worn a great many hats in my lifetime.  I still have and will keep my first two, for they are priceless, and will keep me forever warm.  They are FAMILY and JESUS.  That includes PARENTS, BROTHER, & SISTER.  Next came FRIENDS, then STUDENT.

I was just beginning to get my TEACHER hat adjusted, when a LOVE hat fell on me.  From the first moment on, it has always been a perfect fit.  I kept my TEACHER hat, but it was not long before I'd added one for a BICKLEY FARMER'S WIFE.

Somehow I came away from my first visit to the Bickley United Methodist Church with another TEACHER hat.  The Kindergarten teacher was retiring, and wanted me to take it.  I wore it gladly and proudly for around 40 years.

Now the WIFE hat was a big one,  Some people were surprised that it would fit.  It had a lot of other hats tied to it like the tails of a kite. It took all of them to keep the big hat moving.  The COOK hat, HOUSEKEEPER and HOMEMAKER hats, also some for driving TRACTORS, TRUCKs, and PULLING TRAILERS (for hay, tobacco, fishing and later for camping).  Oh!  I almost forgot to mention my 'GO-FER' hat.  Every day on a farm - there's always something that someone has to GO FOR!  I loved it all!

After 14 years, I had received 4 beautiful MOTHER hats.  I was, and still am, so very proud of them.  I discovered that they were also very large and each one had its own set of little hats hooked to it.  My PTA hat had got worn to shreds.  There were hats for encouraging HOMEWORK, 4-H, POSTERS, FAIR EXHIBITS & SHOWING FARM ANIMALS.  Also CHURCH and SCHOOL ACTIVITIES (band, annual staff, etc)  Then for seeing that each one was where they should be for everything - there was a CHAUFFERS cap.

We had some great hats for PARTIES, BIRTHDAYS, GRADUATIONS, & VACATIONS.  The years passed by too fast.  I must say that since we were a FARM FAMILY, everyone wore their WORK rats regularly,  There were also plenty of FUN hats - for instance, SCHOOL QUEEN, SADDLE CLUB, PARADES & SADDLE QUEEN.  It wasn't long before the COLLEGES & WEDDING hats were things of the past.

For my husband and me, there were CHURCH and SQUARE DANCING hats and meeting new FRIENDS.  The FARMWORK slowed, so I filled my time with things I had kinda neglected. I still had my COMMUNITY POLL MANAGER hat, and one as a member of the local HOME DEMONSTRATION CLUB.

I had a hard time with my WIDOW hat.  My family and friends helped to adjust it to fit.  I worked on my Family Geneology, and got me a hat for WAYCROSS FUN TIME BAND.  I really enjoyed being with them,  But some of the best-fitting hats I've ever owned are my GRANDMOTHER hats!

As a result of a freak home accident, I turned in my DRIVER's hat. I now live at Baptist Village.  I have a WRITER's cap which I'm very proud of and I write things about my past.  I suppose the only other hat that is of any use now is my TAG-A-LONG hat.  I thank God that I'm still able to use it.  I have switched my hats back and forth so often during my life that none have had a chance to take root.  The exception being my first two, FAMILY AND JESUS, which have grown exceedingly larger.  God has blessed me and my entire family all of our lives. ---- Thank you, Jesus.  A-Men.

The Year to Come In Politics: Saturday Political Soap Box 200

The Horror!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new Congresswoman from New York, DANCES, and, while in college, was part of a Boston University dance video that was riffing off dances in The Breakfast Club.  The scandal!

Good golly!  What are we?  Living in the movie Footloose?

Another incoming Freshman, Rashida Tlaib, Congresswoman from Michigan, uses coarse language to emphasize her and her district's passionate desire to see the highly impeachable Donald Trump impeached.

Oh, my!  I'm getting the vapors!  Somebody grab the smelling salts! The party that brought us Donald "Grab 'em by the P-word"  Trump, the man with fresh vulgarities and nastiness virtually every day, has decided to get on its moral high horse.

Sorry, Republicans.  Because of your bosomy intake of Captain Bone Spurs, YOU NEVER GET TO TAKE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND AGAIN.  Those days are gone.

Elizabeth Warren is running for President!

Aaaaand...the vilification begins!

It has been so strong, that even Democrats are wondering if she's damaged goods.  Did she make a strategic blunder by revealing her DNA results?  I don't know.  It don't seem big whoop to me.  Even if it was a blunder, so what?  I've read many objective books analyzing past candidate's races, and even the best ones are filled with gaffes and missteps.  The current Presidential occupant is Misstep-In -Chief.


The thing to realize about the coming year is this - the Republicans,  supercharged in hate by their fearful leader, will spend their time and political capital not on legislation or bettering the lives of our country's citizens, but on desperately trying to demonize everything about the Democratic Party and its leaders.  The greatest fury will be reserved for Democratic women.

They fear them.  And they should.  They're this country's best chance of moving forward.

It's going to be a rough year.  The President is going to test out what he can do without Congressional approval.  His base will be ecstatic, not giving a hooey about how dictatorial and anti-constitution his efforts will be.  No significant legislation will pass and be signed by Trump, so our problems will continue to fester. The most dangerous of these is global warming - we've run out of time to stop it and can only mitigate it.  Every day we don't act makes it exponentially worse.

It's going to be a hopeful year.  If the Democrats play it right, they can pass a raft of legislation, that even if it dies in the Senate, will at least give Americans a clear idea of where the Democratic Party will take us.  And Progressives are finally a force that has to be dealt with.  Who cares if they seem rowdy or impolite, as long as they get across their fierce message for a better future?


It's going to be a scary year in foreign policy, as Trump moves us more into the Axis of tyrannical evil, as he continues to favor dictators over democracy.  And this is the area that he could exert his most out-of-control impulses.  All the people that could check his extremism have left the building.  God help us all.

It's going to be a tough year economically.  I hope things don't get too bad, but the signs are not good.  A destabilized stock market is only one small part of what we may be in for.  The national debt is skyrocketing, the trade wars are battering us, we continue to clutch at old industries rather than moving towards newer ones, and we've deunionized to the point that individual workers no longer have an advocate against the large corporate interests and the wealthy.

It's going to be a year of reckoning.  The Mueller investigation,  Congressional hearings, old-fashioned newspaper reporting - all will make it clear how impeachable, corrupt, and unfit for office is the narcissist in charge.  Every Republican, mainly Republican Senators, will have to decide what is more critical - country or party.  I know what the decision should be.  I just don't know what the decision will be.

It's going to be a year of narrowing the Presidential field.  Some whom you think are going to run - won't.  Some who are not on your radar will emerge as contenders.  I cannot predict how it will shake out.  I think the interests of the Republican Party (and the country) would be best served by people like John Kasich, Mitt Romney, Jeff Flake, and Nikki Haley.  The interests of the Democratic Party  (and the country) are best served by nominating women to be the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates.  It's time to double down, folks.  This is no time to clutch our pearls and tear up at the onslaught the misogynist, sexist Trumpian horn is going to blare at Democratic women.

They fear Democratic women?

I say...

BRING IT!

A Grand and Glorious New Day!

Pictured above are a few of the 100 plus women (89 Democratic, 13 Republican) that will be an exciting part of the 116th Congress.

A grand and glorious new day has begun, especially if you are, like me, a believer in the U.S. Constitution and that its greatest strength is (drumroll please)  CHECKS AND BALANCES!

The natural state of our politics is divided government, where one party or faction does not control all the levers of power.  It requires everyone listening to each other, and a healthy dose of compromise.  

For those firmly on the right or left, that means you have to be understanding when your side does not win you everything you want.  You may have to give and take more than you expect to.  There have been many bipartisan efforts to adopt immigration reform, but they have been repeatedly scotched by those who will broke no compromise.  Yes, we should be able to have a measure of all things- border security, DACA, a path to citizenship, more judges and lawyers to speed the process for asylum seekers, and enforcement against businesses that continue to hire undocumented workers- you know, like Mar-A-Lago does.

Sometimes a unified government is vital to push agenda items that get stuck.  It certainly helped FDR in his struggles to pull our country out of the Great Depression.  And it helped improve civil rights under LBJ. 

Often, however, a unified government can lead to authoritarianism and corruption.  Only the most blindly partisan could look at the atrocious and undignified behavior of the current administration and not think they need a check.  How that check will go is anyone's guess.  Personally, I feel like we have a President that is the most deserving of impeachment in our history.  Will it happen?  I don't know.  Impeachment is a political act as much as a legal act, and Republicans control the Senate, and they vote on whether to expel an impeached President.

The best thing that could come out of this is for the House to pass measures that give the American people a clear idea where the Democrats would take the country.  This would help people vote in 2020 based on real policy choices, instead of personality and tribalistic impulses.

Even though Medicare For All will not become law, Democrats must pass a true universal coverage plan so that everyone knows what's at stake.  It's not going to be enough just demonizing Republicans for the next two years (I'm not worried about them demonizing Trump, because Trump IS a demon).

My conservative friends really need to look at those plans and make serious choices.  Hopefully, the Republicans will offer you carefully thought alternatives, but that may be difficult for them to do with a President who continually changes and spins a new web of lies every day.

My Progressive friends need to stand their ground where they can, but realize that Congressional leadership may have to make some hard choices, some that might not be very pleasing to Progressive ears.  Our time will come, but we cannot leave the nation ungoverned until then.  We have to be part of the team that solves problems.

It will be a very tough year, even with this ray of hope we have been given.  Trump will vilify and lie and rant and blame everyone but himself.  How well he is going to get away with it depends on my dwindling band of Trumpeteer friends.  Do you wake up, or just retreat further into your cult leader's cave?

Conservatives and liberals and everyone in between, let us work together in compromise and understanding, to check the power of an executive branch that often holds his own interests above our own.

Today is a grand and glorious day!  May its beacon of hope brighten the entire year!

Welcome to the New Era!

Yep.  This is me.  Trying to write blog posts in the afternoon/evenings rather than morning.

So, after careful consideration, I've decided to write on the topic of...

Yeah, I'm drawing a blank.

This is going to take some getting used to.

But don't panic.  I will get my groove back. 

Somehow.

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I'm having one of my longest breaks since I started my work career at 23.  Well, at least where I wasn't unemployed and desperately looking for the next thing.  I've only worked in the office like less than five hours in over two weeks.  I don't intend to go back until about January 8th.  It's almost like I'm a teacher or student or something.

It's been a little weird.  Boredom has not been a problem.  I have enough interests and projects where I'm not really the type of person that gets bored.  The oddness comes in not having to go into work. It gives me gitches of guilt knowing others have to go in.

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Tomorrow I'll see if I can get up and write on a fiction project.  Me and the boy are scheduled for haircuts at 10, and then I may take him around to put in applications at some places.  Then I'll come back home and read or write.

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It has been unseasonably warm for the last few days, even by Georgia standards.  I don't like to think about what I'm wearing, but now I have to consult the weather before I dress for the day.  For someone like me.

Contrast this year with last year, when at this time we were facing the imminent arrival of our first snowstorm since 1989.  What a difference a year makes!

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I promise.  I'll do better with blog topics in the future.  Well, I hope I will.

Only time will tell.