How Did We Wind Up in This Mess? Saturday Political Soap Box 132

How did we wind up in this mess?

How did we end up here?

We're witnessing the nominations of each political party being sewn up by the candidates with the highest unfavorability ratings.  And it's not just the normal one party's supporters don't like anyone that's on the other side.  These are historically high negative ratings for leading contenders to have.

How in the world did that happen?

Like many things, there is no one reason.  It is a kaleidoscope of things that are taking us to the brink of our political collapse.

First, there are the independents.  They are actually a much more mixed group than the name suggests. Most independents lean conservative or liberal.  Although there are some people who vote for someone like Ted Cruz in one election, and then in the next vote for someone like Bernie Sanders, they are fairly rare.  Most call themselves independent, but they normally vote within a certain very narrow range.  It is just a modern thing to do, when asked, to call yourself an independent.  And with the way the parties are behaving, who can blame them?

Even I would call myself an independent.  But that doesn't mean my vote is up for grabs by the likes of Ted Cruz.  I'm generally, in most positions but not all, a progressive.  Although, given the nasty division in our body politic, I vote Democratic 95% of the time, that doesn't mean they have a lock on my vote.  If the Republican, Libertarian, or Green Party (the Greens are not on the ballot on Georgia, but they should be) present a candidate that better represents my views, I will gladly vote for them.

The messy part with the growing number of Independents is they don't always get a chance to vote or register an opinion in the different state primaries and caucuses that are held.  I don't know what the effect including more independents would have been on Donald Trump (although my gut tells me it might have helped him), but I have seen polling that indicates that Bernie Sanders does much, much better when independents are included.

So the exclusion of the growing number of independents is skewing the process.

Secondly, party rules are interfering with the process.  Don't get me wrong. The political parties are like private clubs, and they can set the rules to select their candidate any way they want.  They don't even have to have primaries and caucuses if they don't want to.  And it's done state by state, so each state can set up whatever they want within the broad framework allowed by the party.

The Democrats have superdelegates, 712 of them (15% of the total delegates), and they usually weigh in on the side of Corporate Democrats.  It's specifically designed to hamper grass root campaigns of progressive candidates.  It started after the McGovern nomination, and because he lost so badly they wanted to prevent it from happening again.  Unfortunately politics change, and it is leaving the Democratic Party in the hands of corporatists who often do not have the interests of the working class and the poor first and foremost.

The Republicans have fewer superdelegates (7%), but they also have winner-take-all primaries and strange state delegates rules that allows some of them to defy the results of their state primaries and caucuses.  The winner-take-all primaries skew results to a candidate who might be just the flavor of the moment, or wins the state with a very low percentage but still comes out on top because there are so many competing.  Trump won Florida with less than half the vote, but still won all 99 of  Florida's delegates.  Cruz is taking delegates at state conventions in states that Trump won, taking advantage of arcane rules (Ron Paul did the same thing in 2012).

In both parties, the rules are designed to elect the most corporate candidate possible, not the one with the highest popularity.

Given that, it is quite clear that establishment Republicans did not want Trump to be their nominee.  And they still might get their way.  I would argue that as terrible as Trump is (and is by far the worst major candidate since at least George Wallace), he is still a corporatist, and for all his erratic rhetoric, will serve those corporate interests.  That said, they really don't want him.  There will be whole wings of libraries devoted to books that try to explain all the mistakes that were made in trying to stop Trump from getting the nomination.

Thirdly, I blame the group that everybody always attacks - the media.  They have given Trump so much free publicity, it boggles the mind.  Even MSNBC, once a force for moderate liberalism, plays into the hands of Trump, by constantly cutting away to his appearances.  They sure to god don't do that for Bernie Sanders, who they break away from in a heartbeat to go to someplace where Trump is spewing verbal diarrhea.

The years of heated rhetoric barfing out from Fox News haven taken their toll.  When you spend so much time hating and ginning people up over ridiculous issues, it eventually comes back to bite you in the posterior. Trump is a creation of all the hate and venom that has vomited out of the mouths of Fox News personalities.

Finally, and most importantly, I blame the American people, both those who vote and those who can't be bothered with performing a civic duty.  The candidates that are leading are there because many of you voted for them.  My county, Pierce County, had a choice.  It chose Clinton and Trump.

Republicans - a plurality of you voted for a narcissistic, racist, sexist, xenophobic con man.  That is on YOU and your conscience.

Democrats - even though you KNOW that politics are changing, and that Corporate Democrats can only take us so far and have lost touch with their working class base, a majority of you STILL voted for voted Hillary Clinton, a candidate you KNOW has high negatives and little appeal outside of the Democratic Party, a candidate who does not really represent your opinions and interests (I know because I have seen my friends who support Clinton abandon or compromise their positions, like suddenly not favoring true universal health care), a candidate that represents the past rather than the future (and this in a change year election) -you know all this and you still support her.

This will be a terrible election year.  The choice will be brutal, and the campaigning will reach lows you didn't even think possible.  Yes, I will suck it up and vote for Clinton.  I can't hand the keys to the nuclear codes to a madman, and that's what Trump is.  He's like Lex Luthor, but without the intelligence.

Thank you, political parties and the media and the American people, for putting us in this mess.

But I have hope.  As a Christian, I have to believe that we can work towards making the world a better place.

And it is coming.  There is a new, emerging Progressive majority, a revolution that will revitalize the American political system, a spirit that will allow us to move forward and dream again.

You say you want a female President?

How about this ticket?

Elizabeth Warren/Tulsi Gabbard 2020!!!

You heard it here first.

My Europa: Part 1

My Europa

by T. M. Strait

1

What an icebreaker!  Nautilus IV had achieved its major goal, beginning to penetrate the layer of ice that covered much of Europa's surface.  Dr.  Arjun Chopra looked anxiously at the time delayed pictures coming across the huge video screen at NASA headquarters in Houston.  He and about a dozen other scientists who had been vital in planning this mission were standing, willing the Nautilus IV to break through.

It seemed ridiculous to try to telepathically control something that was 390 million miles away, and what you were seeing had actually happened roughly 43 minutes ago.  Nevertheless, it was hard to keep in check the human desire to control and influence.  They couldn't do much about what they were seeing.  They had long ago ceded control to the sophisticated robotics that were at the heart of the Nautilus IV.

"C'mon, Nautilus!  You can do it!", urged Dr. Rose Piper, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, as if to focus more intently on the screen, moving aside the curly blonde hair that had fallen in front of her face.  She was short and heavy set, with a beautiful face and porcelain features.  Arjun admired her greatly, even though he was afraid to express that admiration.  He was tall, skinny and awkward, and far too shy to have much success with the opposite gender.

"You do realize by now that it's either happened or not.  There's nothing we can do about it," chimed in Dr. Dwayne Morgan, the team computer expert, who looked more like a linebacker than a scientist.

"We carefully selected this location, Dr. Piper," said Arjun.  "Landing in a chaos region, specifically Conamara Chaos, offered the most promise for a breakthrough.  The last probe around the Europa, the '29 Galileo Expedition, showed that this is where the layer of ice is the thinnest.  Add in the observed recent eruptions of water vapor plumes, and we have a perfect place for Nautilus to determine what kind of ocean lies beneath the surface."

"Look!" cried out Rose.  "It's breaking through!"

Oh, my God!  It was happening!  The ice had cracked and the water was spewing up around Nautilus' powerful drill.  They all broke out into applause!  Rose hugged Arjun, and he couldn't help but place one hand on the back of her head, touching her wonderful blonde hair.  He drank in the odors of her strawberry peach shampoo, and it was almost more intoxicating than the Nautilus preparing to descend into Europa's ocean.

It was only an hour later that they stood in open-jawed wonder at the sights they had seen.  Somebody had to be told.  And eventually, when the whole world knew, nothing would ever be the same.

Spring Into Local Books!

Love books?

Want to read the best by LOCAL AUTHORS!

Then come on out to the Heritage center April 28th!

The OHC Writer's Guild will have an OUTSTANDING TABLE!

including....

APRIL LEE .... writer of My Year as a Real Woman - Part One: Drag Queen in Training 

AND the brand new short story collection

Looking Back Through the Lens

DAVID ROLLISON......writer of the exciting Mike Kelly thrillers, much of which are based in St. Simons and Southeast Georgia....Black Sky, The Black Dagger, Black Fire and Indigo Island

GRACE LEE...two collections of stories and poetry by our Guild's finest young writer, 87 year old Grace Lee!

LESLIE CRANE...a sensationally gifted and talented Christian fiction writer, we wilh have two of her recent hot sellers available --- the Christian supernatural thriller The Life I Left Behind, and the exciting christian historical romance set in SOUTH GEORGIA, Come to Me Like Rain.

T.M. STRAIT...yeah, I'll be there too.  Collections including Old Pat T and the Great Bathroom Wars and Other Tales of My Youngin' Days, The Strait Line Chapbook, and Crowley Stories (a great collection of stories set in SOUTHEAST GEORGIA).

So get your read on and come on by!

Back to the Grindstone Monday Musings

Well, it was great to have my Fridays back!  And, as an extra bonus, I had Thursday off as well.  Woohoo!

But now it's Monday again, and time to get into the routine for the rest of the year.  There is plenty to do, including catching up with regular work, quarterly payroll reports, and non-profit tax returns (yes, they still file a return, called a 990, even if they don't remit income taxes).  If anybody's worried about me having enough work, they can relax.  I got plenty.

I accomplished nowhere near what I wanted, but maybe this extended weekend wasn't about achieving things, but in unplugging from the stress.  If so, then the past four days have been pretty successful.  I have enjoyed my time at home, with my biggest trip all weekend being to church on Sunday.

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We did adopt out our foster of the last five months, J. D. (John Deere).  The Shelter Manager offered to take J.D. on transport to a shelter in New Jersey that is no-kill and has a high adoption rate.  Before that could happen, J.D. was named Pet of the Week and put in the local papers.  We decided not to send him on transport and see whether he could be adopted closer by.  Well, he was adopted, REALLY close by,  just a few houses down and a street away, by a wonderful lady who loves little dogs and has the perfect setup to cherish and take care of them.  Alison is close enough to walk by where J. D. is, and do so virtually every day.

How long before we have a new foster?  I wouldn't be surprised if it was by the next Monday Musing!

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The stress of tax season became so great that I stopped weighing myself.  I didn't need another excuse to get down on myself.  But this morning it was time to get back on the wagon.  I was stunned by my weight - I was very close to where I was when I left off, and about the best Monday morning weight I've had in years. I have no explanation for it.  I always thought when you stress eat your weight went up.  Oh, well.  My blood pressure is still too high, so I need to get back in and saddle up again.

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There will be a book signing at the OHC this Thursday!

And I still have no book for people to sign.  I have two completed novels, and am still frozen in indecision as to what to do with them.

Nevertheless, I will be there, helping with a table that the OHC Writer's Guild will have.  I will try to post more details soon about it.  If you're in the area, you'll want to check out what all the local authors have been up to.

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Detroit sports toasted this last week.  Both the Pistons and the Red Wings ended their brief playoff runs, I think winning one game between the two of them.  The Tigers faded, but it is still a long season, so my hopes remain.

My two older boys are into MLS (Major League Soccer), and attended a game in LA, watching the LA Galaxy.  It's interesting, but I don't really have a favorite team to watch.  I may adopt Portland - it sounds like a great town, and has Powell Bookstore, one of the best bookstores in the country.  I may have been to Portland, but if so, I was only four or five at the time.  I think I am due a visit.


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Game of Thrones started back last night!  Still an awesome show, and now plunging ahead of the books.  So sorry you couldn't keep up, George R. R. Martin.  Yes, you are the author and have a right to go at your own pace - but dang!  As a fan, I WANT MORE NOW!  Sigh.  Maybe someday someone will feel that way about History of the Trap and/or Crowley Stories.  That would be cool, but y'all better be buying it in sufficient enough numbers to allow me to be a full-time writer.

Of course, it would probably help if I ACTUALLY publish them.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

10 Movies for the Summer: Ripping Good Yarns

It's another exciting summer movie season, and for those who can't wait, summer movies start in MAY!

So here's another rundown of the movies I'm most looking forward to this summer.  Will I get to see them all?  Eventually, but probably not all at the theatre.  Some may conflict with other priorities, some may bomb, and some may wait until we can see them at home.

This list follows the Ripping Good Yarn theme - exciting fiction movies that emphasize melodrama, plot and character - no documentaries, biopics, overly artsy films, small scale dramas - only those most likely to be called Ripping Good Yarns, ones best seen on the big screen.

So that's my rules.  So the first thing I'm going to do is break those rules with choice #10 -

#10 - Free State of Jones.  Sorry, sorry, sorry.  This is just too promising to not include on the list.  Matthew McConaughey plays a Mississippi farmer and returning Civil War Vet who leads a rebellion that is a coalition of poor whites and local slaves.  Yes, it's based on a true story, and should not be on this list.  Nevertheless, it is. Premieres June 24.

#9 - Money Monster premiering May 13th.  It's like one of the old fashioned movie vehicles where big name stars were a guarantee of big box office.  Directed by Jodie Foster and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, it has the extra advantage of having an intriguing story - after losing his life savings based on bad advice, a man hijacks one of those creepy investment tip shows.

#8 - The sequel many of you have been waiting for!  We found Nemo, now it's time for Finding Dory, starting June 17th.

#7 - the sequel many of you have NOT been waiting for - at least based on internet feedback.  But I don't care.  I think it's a great idea, and it's directed by the guy who did a great job with Bridesmaid and Spy.  Count me in!  Who'm I gonna call?  Ghostbusters!  this July 15th.

#6 - The Secret Life of Pets.  I don't know much about this except for the trailers look off the leash funny!  What do your pets do when you leave them home alone?  Find out July 8th!

#5 - The BFG premiering August 1st.  It's Spielberg doing a Roald Dahl book.  "Nuff said.  

#4 - X-Men Apocalypse would be ranked #1 or #2 if it had Ellen Page as Shadowcat, but no such luck.  It is rated at least #4 because it has Olivia Munn as Psylocke, and grows out of the very good X-Men First Class movie, which was partially filmed on Jekyll Island.

#3 - yes, DC superhero movies are in a rough patch compared to Marvel.  But I think this might be the one to turn it around.  Still a bit too dark and grim, as it focuses on villains instead of heroes, but it does look like it's going to have a bit better sense of humor.  I look forward to seeing Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as Joker. Suicide Squad coming to theatres on August 5th.

#2 - Star Trek Beyond opening July 22nd.  The first of the new movies was so great, that I can't help but have high hopes for this one.  Idris Elba will be playing Krall, a predatory bad guy out to disrupt the Federation.  Beam me up!

#1 - and the best shall be first!  Leading off the Summer Season on MAY 6TH will be Captain America: Civil War.  In my opinion the Captain America movies have been the height of the Marvel films.  I love the Greatest Generation spirit that inhabits Cap and his actions, and when it comes to the Civil War, I am TEAM CAP all the way!

Another Appeal to Hillary Voters: Saturday Political Soap Box 131

Well, Hillary Clinton supporters.  It looks like your dream come true is an almost certainty.  There is still too many political and historical variables to say 100%, but we are talking an 85% or more certainty.  She will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee.

For the rest of us, that means....Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton, with only the aberration of the Obama years interrupting it.  We're not a monarchy, people.  We don't need to surrender our political leadership to two royal families.

On the other hand, yes, she is "qualified" to be President.  Although a Corporate Democrat (as is Obama), she does seem to be pragmatic.  She has enough bend that if the progressive forces stick together and stay loud, she will at least have to concede us a few trinkets here and there.  As much as the whole political dynasty thing makes my eyes roll and causes me to throw up in my mouth a bit, I am highly aware of how foully bad the Republicans are, even Kasich.  If we have to wait a few years for paid leave, higher minimum wage and an improved health care system, so be it.  But we have already waited far too long on global warming, and no Republican can even utter that phrase.

So, Hillary fans, whatever her flaws, yes, I will be voting for her in the Fall.  So chill about that, OK?  And as long you stop talking about the Bernie supporters as if they were monsters, most of them will come around too.  She just has to move a little to some of their positions and perhaps select an appealing Vice Presidential candidate.

But she's not going to do that, is she?  She's going to tilt back towards the right, isn't she?  Don't lie to me. You can feel it, too.  I know you can.

The idea being that Trump and/or Cruz will be so repulsive to some Republicans that if she continues to shift more and more rightward, she can win some of them over.

It's a fantasy.  Don't do it.

The voters that don't like you, particularly the Republicans, really really don't like you.  And it's irretrievable.  There's nothing you can do about it.  Fairly or unfairly, years of demonizing the Clintons by the right wing media has taken it's toll.


I had a conversation with a conservative Republican voter, one who can't stand Trump and Cruz, and pretends not to know even who Kasich is.  I asked if Hillary selected a conservative Democrat (Jim Webb, Joe Manchin), a sort-of Republican (Colin Powell, Robert Gates), or even an outright Republican (Lindsey Graham, John Kasich), would it make any difference to him?

And the answer was no, no he wouldn't vote for her.  He would  leave it blank and vote for nobody before he would vote for her.  And then he proceeded to imply that the Clinton's had killed opponents earlier in their career to get ahead, and that they would bump off Sanders if it looked like he might win.

So, no.  A thousand times no.  Tilting to the right will not gain you these people, and it will only lose you chunks of the Bernie people.

I don't think she has to pick Bernie.  But she needs to pick a Progressive running mate.  She needs to do something to show she embraces the new Progressive agenda.  Pick Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, or Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, or be truly bold and pick Hawaii Congressperson Tulsi Gabbard.

Would y'all send this message to Hillary for me?

I'm sure she would listen to me.

Miracle on Main Street Part 2

In Part 1, Alison and I find a cat that is in the road on Blackshear's Main Street, hit and broken, blood pouring out of ever orifice.  Even though it is late Sunday evening, we find the vet Dr. Kimbrell at his clinic.  No one believes the cat has a chance to survive.

Dr. Kimbrell believed that the cat would most likely be dead by Monday morning.


But when Monday morning came, Dr. Kimbrell had different news.  "I can't really believe this, but your cat is doing much better.  If you're sure, we could go ahead with the jaw operation,"  Elation was mixed with dollar signs, but we told him to proceed.

The surgery was a success, and the cat grew miraculously stronger every day.  Dr. Kimbrell couldn't help but notice that this was not some polite, sweet domesticated pussy, but instead a cantankerous alley cat, around two to three years old, having had kittens within the last six months.  Just a regular cat, no special breed; still her gray and blue stripes and cagey black eyes emphasized her wild, tiger-like qualities.

When it became apparent that the cat was going to survive to come back to us, a whole new set of problems arose.  She would have to be contained and watched for the next six weeks, fed soft foods and given medicines,  How were we to do this in our little one room apartment, with an already full contingent of pets?

We had a training crate in which we had housetrained our Maltese, Bailey.  We got that out and set it up in a corner of our apartment.  The cat eyed us warily, hissing if any of us got too close.  Alison's cat of five years, a beautiful sweet calico named Patches, was quite indignant at first, but had established a position of mutual non-acknowledgement by the end of the first week,  Our birds, two lovebirds named Lucy and Ricky, and Goldie, s Sun Conure, were blithely unaware of any risk, and just thought of it as something else to watch.

As we watched the cat slowly heal, and its fierce independence take hold, we began to wonder what would happen on that day when it was healed and had to be uncaged.  We would let the cat out and never see it again.  What would our investment of time, money, and care have been for then?

We knew to even have a shot, we would have to have a home of our own.  But most homes were well beyond our limited means.  Nevertheless, we redoubled our efforts to find someplace to live.

Our increased efforts paid off.  Alison's mother's boss owned three homes in Blackshear, and they had always been kept as a unit, but he had decided to sell them as separate lots.  One was a small two bedroom, which considering where we were, was absolutely huge to us.  And the price was, amazingly enough, within our meager budget.  So we managed to secure a new residence, at about the same time our Main Street cat would be ready to be released.

We went to the vet one more time, taking the wiring out of her jaw and decided that the least we could do is limit future strays in Blackshear, and paid to have her spayed.  We realized that "Cat" wouldn't do for her medical records, so we named her Main, after the street where she was found.

When we got Main into our new home, Alison thought it might be nice to have another indoor cat, like our lovable Patches.  This experiment lasted approximately one hour, with our Sun Conure, Goldy, barely escaping with its life.

This was a traumatic moment for us. When we opened the door to let Main out, we knew we were probably saying goodbye, as she resumed the life of a wild stray.  I consoled Alison by saying that the good deed itself was worth doing, even if we would no longer share in Main's life.  But I barely believed it myself, thinking - there goes one ungrateful, nasty cat.

But she didn't just disappear. What disappeared were all the squirrels and birds in our yard.  She would meow at the back door for us to set out cat food (I guess the squirrels and birds were just delicacies).  We would open a window shade and staring back at us would be....Main!

Even more strange, as time went on, she became less wild, more friendly and docile.  She had used her freedom to become more attached to us, not less!  At first she did not want to be touched, but she grew to the point where you couldn't just go out to feed her.  no, she insisted you stay and pet her before she would even consider eating.

She started to get jealous of our walks with Bailey (and later our two dogs, as we added a rescued Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Ivy), and decided to come on the walks with us.  What a sight!  The group of us marching down the residential streets of Blackshear, looking more like a circus caravan.  Sometimes she would go the whole walk with us, and sometimes she would go part way and then wait for us to come back, happily crashing into out dogs (who were too tired to care).

More than two years later, our miracle kitty is still with us, growing more loving every day.  She has indeed led us, to more than I could have ever imagined.  We love our little home and community, we have gone on to much better and brighter jobs, our finances have stabilized, and our spiritual faith has grown.  And our little family is growing yet again.  Alison is pregnant with our first child, one whom I pray is as big a pet lover as we are.

And I pray that our Main continues to be there in our back yard, so that I can take our child by the hand and say, "Do I believe in miracles?  Why, of course I do!  Let me open the back door, and I'll show you one!"


Sadly, Main disappeared shortly after this was written.  We don't know what happened, whether he decided to go elsewhere or had an accident somewhere.  Benjamin never got to meet him.  Still, he has this story.  And he has a mother who has continued to rescue animals, including ones that have been abused, shot, beat, teeth filed, and throats slit; and she has turned them into sweet and loving pets.

God bless the Miracle of Main.  God bless what love, hope and faith can do.