NepoOcracy

 

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Everybody is loved by somebody  (hopefully). Even Lindsey Graham was loved by his sister. He helped raise her, and they remained close all of his life.

Darline Graham Nordone appears to be a nice person.  Her experience has focused on working with the South Carolina Rehabilitation Department and as Commissioner for the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. She spent her career helping people with disabilities.

This doesn't make her highly qualified to be the Senator of South Carolina, but I don't know what to say about that. We have a narcissistic game show host running the country - one who has been duly elected (more or less).

But we have to be clear on why she was selected to fill Senator Graham's seat.

Nepotism.

Plain and simple.

As much as America has supposedly been formed in opposition to royalty, we keep creeping back to it.

In his recommendation, Trump immediately leaped to a dynastic legacy.  He has the same desires for his own family. Trump is big on superior genes.  Some genetic lines are just meant to lead.

Many nepos obtain their position in transition.  Their parent/spouse/close relative dies while in office, and the nepo becomes the chosen replacement.  Then, they often run in the next election, and since they already hold the office, they have a huge leg up.

Some run on their own, but still parlay off the name recognition of their previously serving family member.  Jim Kingston is running in my congressional district, a district his father, Jack Kingston, served in for many years.  Sometimes that doesn't work out, but more often than not, IT DOES.

But, hey! It's not just Republicans.  

It's also Democrats.

In 1933, John Dingell Sr. won his congressional district. 

In 1955, John Dingell, Jr. succeeded his father.

In 2015, he was succeeded by his wife Debbie Dingell (her husband was born in 1926, she was born in 1953).

Today, in 2026, she is still serving. 

That represents 93 years under the same family!

But, hey! It's not just Democrats and Republicans.

It's also me!

When I was younger, I wanted there to be a Kennedy dynasty.  I was a huge Bobby Kennedy fan.

But I changed over the years.  I thought Hillary was competent and skilled, maybe more so than her husband.  But the idea that the 2016 election might be between Hillary and Jeb Bush made me more nauseous.  Of course, what we got instead has made me vomitous and depressed.

And RFK, Jr. cleared me of any nostalgia for the Kennedy clan.

We have so many exciting non-dynastic alternatives.  In the past, of course, we had Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  In the present, we have AOC, Mamdani, Malcolm Frost, and many others.  New faces that bring energy, new ideas, and fresh connections to everyday people.

I'm done with dynasties.  I have no royal impulses left in me.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

America's Aborted 250: Saturday Political Soap Box 305

Like it or not, it's hard to celebrate right now.  American-style democracy is under serious attack today. 

Much of what I love most about America is under serious challenge by a malevolent wannabe dictator, a weak and compliant Congress, and a Supreme Court determined to strip away our hard-fought rights.

His projects in DC are not to show a shining nation.  It is to glorify and profit himself.

The reflecting pool is emblematic of that toxic makeover, and of his complete incompetence and buffoonery.

 

His takeover of the America 250 event, turning it from a celebration of the nation into a glorification of all things Tumpy, has resulted in the biggest failure of an event of this scale EVER.  Melted ice cream, power outages, unattended musical acts, pitiful state booths, the dominance of Christian Nationalists, a cheesy, crumbling, Arch Du Drumpf, parts of the stage falling on performers, crippling heat with little air conditioning.  The Great American State Fair is not just a failure; it is a complete and utter embarrassment.

And there is more to come.  They plan on upping the fireworks from 20,000 to 850,000.  That is a dangerous increase, environmentally and health-wise. If I had dogs there, I would be taking a trip to Williamsburg.  

He is planning to give a speech on a day when the temperature could hit 107.  He wants to impress people with how long he can go. I'll bet the stage will be fanned/air-conditioned. The audience watching it? Eh, not so much. Better have a giant fleet of ambulances ready.

The increase in democracy and equal representation/opportunity has never been a straight line in this country.  The Civil War, the constitutional amendments, and Reconstruction were followed by Jim Crow and segregation.  Civil rights movements in the 60s were followed by decades of backlash, encouraged by Reagan.  The promise of Obama and "Yes, You Can" was followed by Trump and "No, You Can't."

American Democracy

July 4, 1766 - January 20, 2025

I'm sorry. That's the way I feel right now.

Change my mind.

Maybe it's too late.

But I hope not.

Find a way to celebrate what's best in this country.

And be sure to vote for people who will restore the American promise for ALL of its people.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

Great Moments in Olympic History

 Please do not interpret this as a comprehensive list.  These are just moments that have stood out to me and had some impact beyond the sporting event.  They are not ranked; instead, they are listed in chronological order.

Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin (Nazi) Olympics

The 1936 Berlin Olympics were designed to be a showcase for Nazi ideology and demonstrate Aryan athletic superiority.  Hitler's racist statement was clouded by Jesse Owens winning FOUR Olympic gold medals in track and field.

Not all was golden memories, however.  Jesse Owens did not come home to a glorious welcome.  He was mistreated and ignored. He had great difficulty earning a living.  No advertisements.  No endorsements. Most of what he achieved was through the African American community.

We tend to forget that the Nazis were inspired by how historically Americans had treated blacks and native Americans, and helped develop some of their policies in persecuting the Jewish community.

Protest at the 68 Olympics

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, two American athletes, Tommie Smith, who won gold, and John Carlos, who won bronze, raised their fists during the playing of the national anthem during their award ceremony.  It was to call attention to human rights and the racial injustices faced by Black Americans.  Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated earlier that year.  

The two athletes experienced much criticism and ostracization after that.  Nevertheless, it was an important moment in demonstrating the influence that athletes could have on important social issues, and the salute they gave has lived on as an important symbol in black communities and others that have been repressed.

The Perfect 10

It was a breathtaking moment.  Young Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast, was all of 14 years old, scored the first perfect ten on the uneven bars at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

It was spectacular, heartstopping.  It was also a bit dangerous. 

It took a while, but it did bring up age concerns.  Is 14 too young? The current age to participate is now 16.  I believe it raised some safety concerns, but I'm still researching that.  

Miracle on Ice

At the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, what is considered one of the greatest miracles in sports occurred.  A team of amateur athletes from the US defeated a team of professionals from the Soviet Union. 4 to 3.  The Soviet Union had long dominated the sport at the Olympics, and no one anywhere was expecting this outcome.  

It also marked the beginning of the end of the Olympics as a contest for amateurs.  Always an iffy proposition, with authoritarian countries doing things like placing their athletes in the military, and making it the only job they do. 

Eventually, pro athletes, including NBA and NHL stars, competed in the Olympics.  The effect in some events, like basketball, was to weigh heavily in favor of countries like the USA.  

Yes, it's kind of a recognition of reality.  It's also kind of sad, in that it was one of the last places to let amateurs shine.

Simone Biles and Mature Judgment

Gymnast Simone Biles is one of the most accomplished athletes of our time. Her 11 medals are the most won by an American gymnast.  Even those who watched little Olympics would seek out her performances.

But it is not just what she did that made her such an important sports figure.  It's having the maturity to know her limits and make wise judgments.  Gymnastic performances require and incerdible balance between the mind and the body. And she was wise enough to know when those were out of synch, and going forward would put her at considerable physical risk.

She brought that balance into sharper focus and encouraged people to respect their mental health as well as their physical health.

I admire her greatly.

The Incredible Spirit of Freedom and Joy

What an amazing breath of fresh air!

A performance not only memorable for its physical and athletic accomplishments, but for the sheer joy and explosion of optimism it encircled us with.

I'm not sure I've ever been as captivated by a performance and story as I have by Alysa Liu.  Everything in this post about the greatest moments of the Olympics is represented in her.

Her family story is captivating.  His father was a Chinese dissident who challenged the authoritarian government in Tiananmen Square. He came here to find freedom in America. She is a first-generation American, and her family shows the VITAL contributions made by our immigrants.

She is not shy about her political beliefs, standing up against ICE and other progressive causes, including her support for the LGBTQ community.

She treats her fellow competitors with support, hugs, and love.

She's a freaking nerd, into anime.  She and Amber Glenn remind me so much of my son, Benjamin.  If Earth moved in that direction, I think they would be great pals.

Where some of our other athletes were getting too far into their own heads, stressing out and making mistakes they normally wouldn't, Alysa had a carefree attitude, where the most important thing was just to skate and have fun.

She broke the stranglehold that coaching has on many of our athletes.  They are overcoached and overtrained, limited in what they can eat, do, or even think.  They've surrendered their identity to the machine, which is more concerned with promoting itself than with their athletes.  

She left the sport at 16 because it was no longer fun with everyone overcoaching and controlling her.  When she came back in 2024, it was on her own terms, and the idea that whatever happened, she was going to have FUN!

And so have we all!  In these dark days, as America gets swallowed whole by a brutal and growing fascism, she has let back in the joy of being who you are.

Whether she retires or goes on to the greatest achievements in sports, I will never forget this moment in time.

She has lit up the world for all of us.

Take a Breath

 The speculation is running wild.

It's all through my social media. It even includes some family and friends,

Trump is ill, much more ill than we were led to believe.

Speculation even runs to congestive heart failure, with death imminent in a matter of months. Some feel he won't make it until next year.

What do I think?

I don't know. Nothing would surprise me. Whether it's a political end or a mortal end, I feel like I've been down this road too many times, and I'm exhausted. 

We have a long history in this country of Presidents covering up their health crises, dating back to FDR and even further back to Grover Cleveland. Many are critical of what Biden's staff may have covered up. I personally think that, in historical terms, the cover-up wasn't as vast or deep as some people think.

I don't think we should count on anything one way or another.

It's very hard for me. I don't wish ill on any human. Even now, I'm not sure I could celebrate his death. I do know that, other than the normal regret of someone passing, I will not feel anything positive about him. He is a terrible human being and has done much to destroy this country and even the planet.

My karmic sense wishes more that he is convicted for his crimes, and spends the rest of his life in jail, and he is so clearly vile that no human being is deluded enough to support him.

But that's not going to happen. If he survives his term, there will be other loopholes and delays that he may never have to pay. And I'm supposed to believe that the disgusting MAGAs that take joy in Alligator Alcatraz will someday wake up to their cruelty?

If Trump should no longer be able to continue in office, the prize in the Crackerjack Box will be JD Vance. I've heard people say that he has no charisma or appeal and, therefore, will be a spectacular failure.

Two things about that -1) he is supported by big-name billionaires, ones who are disintegrating democracy, and there may not be enough left where elections matter anymore, and 2) just wait until the right-wing media machine decides to change the narrative about Vance, and blast the trumpets announcing him as the Second Coming.

No, I won't be sad if Trump passes. But I won't celebrate either. There will still be miles to go to save our constitutional republic, our representative democracy, our precious system of checks and balances.

We, on the progressive side, have our own social media fevers, and this may be one of them. Many of us have convinced ourselves that this is true. It may be. It may not. Either way, we need to take a breath and gear ourselves up for the long haul.

When Did the Madness Start?

Sometimes it takes a while for a retort.

Maybe as much as two decades ago, in response to global warming, a conservative church parishoner made a joke to other conservative parishoners, deingrating Al Gore by making fun of the so-called claim that "he invented the internet."

Of course, Al Gore made no such assertion, but I couldn't figure out how to challenge it without making a big brouhaha.

So, I let it go. But I never forgot.

A couple of weeks ago, it came up again in a brief conversation about something else involving the perpetrator of the joke. This time, I was comfortable reminding them that Al Gore's claim was not about the invention of the internet but about paving the way legislatively that helped the internet become what it is today.

Victory was sweet, but mostly went over the head of the person who said it two decades ago.

This came out along with some points about the damage Trump is causing. But it mostly swept over the head of whom the message was aimed at, and went careening against a distant wall.

That person was cognizant enough to know that something had gone off track - that our politics had devolved dramatically.

Then he stated when he thought that "off-trackedness" had started.

The answer? 9/11!

I'm like wtf? 9/11?

The assertion was that 9/11 is when "extremism" came out and divided us.

Huh?

What I remember from that period was the Patriot Act, and the potential to be thrown into the Gulag without any constitutional protections, if it connected to "terrorism". What I remember is not being able to say WORD ONE to object to the Iraq War. I remember celebrities, like the Chicks, being vilified and expelled from the airwaves.

So, if that was not when our politics turned nasty, when was it?

It is a nesting egg of brutal decisions, tracing back to the original European settlers of this land.

What led us to this moment where our government is in the hands of an orange conman and his bigoted allies? How did we come to this?

Could it be Newt Gingrich when he led Republicans to treat the Democrats not just as colleagues to negotiate with, but as enemies to vilify and demonize?

Or when Reagan spoke his silly nine-word phrase that has ever since made it difficult to get the government to work together to solve anything - "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!" Ever since that phrase was uttered, people have gleefully voted against their own interests, and even Democrats are scared to employ government as part of any solution.

Or it could be when President Hayes ended Reconstruction in 1877, and the South quickly reasserted itself, reversing whatever civil rights progress had been made, and returning blacks to a state that was slavery by another name. At that point, without firing a single shot (at least shots aimed at white people), the South in essence won the Civil War. And that status, with some wavering here and there, has essentially held up all the way to today.

Maybe it began at the time of the formation of the Constitution, whose compromises handed an inordinate amount of power to the slave states.

There have always been two threads in American History. One is of bigotry and exclusion, wanting power to remain with a few, and for those of the right skin tone and ancestry to dominate. The other interprets American History as a journey towards more inclusion and participation, a greater move to democracy, open to all who live here.

There has always been a tension between these two. Even in expansive times, there are setbacks. The same President, FDR, who improved the social safety net, increased unionization, and fought the fascists, also interned Japanese-Americans just based on their ethnicity. LBJ brought long-overdue progress in civil rights, but also led the senseless war in Vietnam. On the other side, Bush Jr. brought us the misdirected Iraq War, but also stood up to people who wanted to vilify Muslims. And Trump has...

nah, can't play that game. Trump is not mixed. He's entirely on the wrong side of the agenda, more than any other figure in our history. This is the nightmare we are now facing, and my Gore-dissing friend needs to understand that. Yes, we're divided. We always have been.  

But the authoritarian fascists, the oligarchs, have complete control now.

This is not one set of extremists vs. another set. This is democracy vs. fascism.

I do not know all that we need to do about it. But it starts with recognition of the situation we're in.

There is another, more recent reason we're in the mess we're in, and yes, Democrats are primarily to blame. But I'll save that for another blog story.

Today, let's learn to stand together against that wayward thread of American History.

Let's stand with our better angels instead.

E Pluribus Unum.  Out of many, one.

T. M. Strait

AOC '28.

Hello, USA! Welcome to (drumroll) ... the Axis of Evil!

 At least since World War II, the Axis of Evil has been used to identify a particular type of opposition. They represented the challenge of world powers, primarily democracies (of one stripe or another), standing up to authoritarian fascists who intended to subsume the world under their dictatorships. And, yes, it included a questionable alignment with an authoritarian communist power, Stalin. That alignment would not last long after the conclusion of the war.

Bushy Jr. revived the term during his administration to represent a new axis of evil centered around three countries that were promoting terrorism around the world - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. All three represented brutal dictatorships of one kind or another - the theocratic madness of Iran, the despotic corruption of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the autocratic perversion of communism in North Korea. But all three represented authoritarian governments; whether they described themselves that way, they all had elements of fascism.

In more recent times many have talked about the Axis of Evil being China, Russia, and North Korea. Whatever the players composing it, it all runs to one thing - countries controlled by brutal dictators.

America has certainly not been perfect throughout its history. Often, it has joined in conflicts not just to defend democracy, but to acquire new territory, and sometimes to protect the interests of American corporate power. It's a complex history that would require many posts and much research.

Another significant thread of American military and diplomatic history has been the defense of democracy and the rights of the oppressed. In major conflicts, we have always sided against fascist and authoritarian dictators.

Until now.

We have clearly switched teams. We no longer speak out for the world's democracies. We no longer even pretend to stand up for people who are subject to tyranny.

We are withdrawing our support of Ukraine. We are even pretending that Russia did not invade Ukraine and is not at fault in the conflict. We want Ukraine to end the contest by surrendering everything to Putin. We opposed a resolution at the UN condemning Russia for its actions in Ukraine, alongside Russia and North Korea.

Trump speaks out about his love of dictators almost every day. He also condemns and ridicules democracies every day. He talks about subsuming and controlling his neighbors. These include the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada. He wants to turn Gaza into a playland for billionaires. His treatment of Mexico is barbaric.

He does this not to forward democracy but to take over the resources of those countries and to use them to benefit himself and his billionaire buddies. It is a return to 19th-century colonialism, stripped of pretense of any moral basis.

At any given time, it's a real grab bag to see which dystopian novel whose path we are following most closely. The Handmaid's Tale was even money, but now 1984 is pulling into sight. In 1984, the world was divided among three dictatorial superpowers, constantly rewriting their history to keep their citizens in line, centering them on lotteries and entertainments, false cultural issues, and spying on each other.

Trump has decided that the Americas are HIS, to use and abuse however he wants. The tradeoff is to let the other big players have their own spheres of dominance - Russia dominating an increasing portion of Europe, and China taking back Taiwan and dominating Asia.

Questioning some of the US military/diplomatic decisions is one thing. It's another to see the US clearly and consistently aligning with evil, which authoritarian brutality is.

It breaks my heart.

We are no longer the good guys.

We are a primary player in the Axis of Evil.

A Legacy Devolved: Saturday Political Soap Box 298

 

We are often heavily influenced by political figures that are popular when we come of age.

I became politically aware younger than most. JFK and Camelot meant a lot to me, not just for what they did but also for what they promised to do.

The assassination of President Kennedy seemed to me like a dream interrupted. LBJ accomplished much of the Civil Rights agenda, only to fall way short with Vietnam.

RFK felt to me like an opportunity to restore the dream. Bobby was a more brash figure than his brother, starting out more conservative. But after the assassination, he went on a spiritual and political journey that brought him to identify more with minorities and the poor and disadvantaged. He had the rare ability to earn support from both Black and Latino voters, along with the white working class.

In my room at home, I had a poster of a quote that Bobby would often use -

This was initially said by George Bernard Shaw but made popular in my generation by RFK.

Once again, the dream was cut short by an assassination. It left me angry, confused, hopeless. Would the legacy ever be restored?

The youngest brother, Teddy, held some promise, but Chappaquiddick left him compromised. He still had a lot of good things to say, but it was hard for him to overcome what happened in that tragic accident. Although I longed for a Kennedy restoration, I stuck with President Carter in the primaries.

I looked for future generations as they entered adulthood and politics. Joe Kennedy Jr, congressman for Massachusetts, came the closest, but none quite fit the bill.

On the surface, I should have liked RFK, Jr., but I admired his earlier career in environmentalism. But then...

He kind of went off the nut.

His personal life was shaky (babysitter affairs, brain worms, adventures with roadkill). His policies were skewed towards the unacceptable. Some might consider his anti-vaccine routine acceptable or just a minor thing. I do not, not when childhood diseases are making a comeback, not when he was a significant part of the Covidiot nonsense.

So, I knew that he was not someone I could support. Some friends were upset that he was getting resistance from being on the debate stage or fighting to get on enough ballots.

If he was a ground-roots movement designed to build a vital new political party, I might have some sympathy with that viewpoint.  

But his is not. It's another rich guy's vanity project. Funding came from a consortium of right-wing billionaires. I kept being told RFK was a liberal by those who damn well knew that he was not.

Many thought he was a plant to draw Democratic voters away from Biden. I was skeptical and just thought it was narcissistic selfishness.

I was wrong.

Yesterday, he suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, even showing up at one of Trump's rallies.

Well, that rips the cover off that ball, doesn't it?

I am grateful that we don't have a monarchy in this country. We've had few families where we could safely transfer power from one family member to another.

The royal attraction is still strong in this country. John Adams to his son John Quincy Adams. Roosevelt cousins. Bush Sr to Bush Jr. The desire to go from Bill to Hilary. Those who swore until the convention that the Democrats would turn to Michelle Obama.

I am no longer yearning for a return to the Kenedys. However, I do still yearn for the politics represented by Bobby Kennedy—that progressive bent that attracts ALL the working class across all other barriers.

I see that ticket in Harris/Walz. Harris is experienced and competent speaks the right language, is strong in our various American communities, and crosses gender and racial lines. Coach Walz has a simple and direct way of communicating with the working class in ways that they can understand and identify with.

I still wonder what American History would have been like had Bobby not been assassinated and had won the Presidency in 1968. We can only conjecture. We can only dream.

But even though the dream of Bobby might be gone, and his legacy devolved by his own son, Harris/Walz convinces me that the dream is still alive.

I'm voting for Gus's Dad!

Harris/Walz 2024!!!

Modern Day Zapruder

 The assassination of President Kennedy?

Yes. I'm old enough. Eight years old at the time. It was a frightening day, even though it took me a few years to understand its magnitude.  

We were sure what happened, but we needed to figure out why, how, and who.  

It became a kaleidoscope. Every time you looked through it, you saw the evidence and conjecture assembled and came up with a different answer. Lone gunman? Russian communists? Cubans? CIA? The mob? Every book, every investigation, every documentary led to other answers.

The famous Zapruder film, taken on a Bell & Howell home-movie camera by Abraham Zapruder, turned out to be a well-known piece of evidence for ALL THEORIES. What we were looking at? It may have cleared some things up, but mainly, it could be used to promote several theories,

And now we have our modern-day Zapruder footage. This rally was recorded, and it clearly shows that something happened, but it really doesn't clear everything up. Given what was happening, Trump's and the Secret Service's reactions seemed weird and strange. Why was Trump not covered completely in an active shooter situation, exposed as he popped his head up to fist shake and shouted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Where were the others hurt, and why do we not see them getting any attention?  

How did the shooter get that close? Especially when they were rallygoers trying to point him out to the police?

What about the shooter? What were his motivations? Was he really a registered Republican? A gun nut? A loner? Someone who gave $15 to a progressive group? 

Some answers may be found out with time. Others may never be found out.

What we do know is that it was a horrific incident, emblematic of the rot and danger in our political culture, in our gun culture, and in our social culture wars.

President Biden, Vice-President Harris, and other prominent Democrats have done a good job in reaching out with empathy and support for those involved and in condemning political violence as a whole.

Yes, legitimately so; there is a whole thing of the pot calling the kettle black. Not universally, but in vocality, Republicans (particularly MAGAs) have been quite violent in their rhetoric and in not being sympathetic when incidents happen - making for of Paul Pelosi after he almost lost his life to a political zealot, dismissing the kidnapping and potential execution of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, denying that January 6th insurrection was any more than just tourists, saying we should "just get over it," after school shootings, calling for the execution of their political opponents (in some cases, their own party, like with former Vice President Pence, and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney), posting memes of President Biden hogtied in the back of a pickup.  

Some Democrats and independents occasionally cross the line, but I'm sorry, never at the level and intensity of the other side. That's just a hard fact.

Please. Scrutinize my blogs, over 2,000 stories. Tell me where I call for violence.  

And no, stating that Trump is an authoritarian and a dozen other negative things is not calling for violence. I'm trying to call out what he actually is and emphasize what things would be like if he ever becomes president again. It won't be pretty; it will very likely signal the end of democracy, and I'm not going to lie about it.

But I've never advocated physical violence against him to anyone else. And yes, 99.99% of those I speak with and are on my side feel the same way.

I want Trump defeated at the polls - soundly. That is the only way to end the MAGA movement. I want his civil and criminal trials to go forward - we have a right to know these and to have them judged by a jury. If he is found guilty, I expect him to pay fines and be punished accordingly. I'm not desperate for him to go to prison, but I'm not against it if that is what his sentence dictates.

I wish Trump a speedy recovery (whoops! that may have already happened - he's back to playing golf). I grieve for the family of the person killed and for those who were injured. No one should have to risk their lives to attend a political rally.

I don't know everything that happened. We may never know.  

I pray that there is no more violence this election (or any election, for that matter).

That does not change what Trump is and the existential dangers he poses.

And I will not stop posting about it.

Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies of the 20th Century!!! Part 1 No. 100 - 94

 I received this issue of Remind, or what Alison calls "my old people magazine," which ranks the top 100 Science Fiction movies of the 20th century.

Remind does have many pop culture stories, focusing primarily on the 1950s through the 1990s, although there are some references to earlier decades  Each issue focuses on different topics, such as country music, westerns, where are they now issues, and much more  I enjoy it, as I love pop history. They also have puzzles and a monthly guide as to what's on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).

I thought it would be fun to see the movies on the list in reverse order and see what I thought of them. The magazine's ranking of the movies is not mine.  

I won't go into detailed reviews, but I will share the IMDb ranking and my own on a 1 to 10 scale.

100)  

Attack of the Crab Monsters

Year: 1957  IMDb: 4.9 Tom: 5  Had I seen before? No   Service found on: Prime

This is a Roger Corman film, a much revered B movie director. Scientists are stranded on an island battling crab monsters who can somehow absorb people's minds when they eat them. One of those stranded on the island is a scientist played by Russell Johnson, who is most known for being stranded on a different island—as the Professor on Gilligan's Island.

99)

The Brother From Another Planet

Year: 1984  IMDb: 6.7 Tom: 6  Had I seen before?   Yes  Service found on: AMC+

From a very good director, John Sayles, known for historical and social commentary, Joe Morton, pictured above, is an alien who lands on Earth to escape a space bounty hunter. He blends into Harlem and gets to know many people, good and bad. He can't talk and looks like a human, except for his really funky-looking three-toed feet. I liked it, although some parts were kind of arty.

98)

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Year: 1988  IMDb: 6.2 Tom: 6  Had I seen before? No    Service found on:  Roku

I had very low expectations for this movie.  The PG-13 rating made it less gory or exploitative than I thought it would.  The plot is extremely silly—these clowns are evil but not quite as sinister as in later movies.  Is it a gem? No.  But I did appreciate the comedic touches.

97)

The Running Man

Year: 1987  IMDb: 6.6 Tom: 7 Had I seen before?   Yes  Service found on:  Paramount+

Stephen King story?  Yes, please.  Arnold Schwarzenegg ?  Sure!   Richard Daws ?  Oh, my!   It's not a perfect story adaption, but it's fun enough.  Dystopian society disposes of some of its dissidents by a game show that leaves no survivors (unbeknownst to the general public).  

96)

Year: 1963  IMDb: 6.1 Tom: 7 Had I seen before?  Yes  Service found on:  Roku

Set in Britain, a meteor shower brings in carnivorous planta, and the identical shower blinds most people on Earth.   And these plants can walk around.   You can see how being blind would be a disadvantage.   The lead, Howard Keel, underwent eye surgery just before the storm, so his eyes were covered in bandages. In a scene later borrowed by The Walking Dead, he finds devastation everywhere when he removes the bandages and leaves his hospital room.   A handful of survivors struggle to find a safe place.  The movie's wrap-up is out of the germ-style playbook of War of the Worlds, but otherwise a pretty darn good movie!

95)

Phase IV

Year: 1974  IMDb: 6.4 Tom: 5 Had I seen before?  No   Service found on:  Kanopy

Ants become super-intelligent.   I forget why.   Mainly focused on three characters, who seem outmatched by the ants.   Ends with a relationship that seems a little inappropriate, but I guess fewer people questioned it at the time.

94)

Invaders From Mars

Year: 1953  IMDb: 6.2 Tom: 7 Had I seen before?   Yes  Service found on:  Tubi

Oh, my god!  I loved the start of this movie!  Aliens possessing people!  That's my wheelhouse!   A young boy sees a spacecraft land and has trouble getting his parents to believe him.   Eventually, when the father checks it out, he returns...not himself.   Despite the wooden acting, I was ready to go to 8 or 9 on this movie.   But ... it kinda dissipates itself as it goes.  Films used to get cooperation from the military, and we get to see extended footage of tanks and stuff.  Could have done without that.   But whoo!   What a start!

More posts later to cover more of the list!

What's coming up next?

Well, I'll give you a clue.   It stars Steve McQueen!

Getting Off at all the Wrong Places Part 2

   

It's been a little bit of time since I did Part One. The whole debate debacle and the continued (tragically less noted) decline of Donald Trump has consumed everything.

But let me do my best.

How true is the quote Martin Luther King Jr used -  "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." 

After the Civil Rights marches and subsequent progressive legislation of the 60s, it looked like the quote was true, and we were finally moving towards justice.

But then came the one great truth of American politics - The Empire Always Strikes Back.

The Boomer generation, once the great progressive leaders, turned sharply in the 80s towards the Greed is Good model and Ronald Reagan. They kept the part of the 60s that "did their own thing" and "do what feels good" and jettisoned the rest.

Not all did this, but enough to ensure a backward tilt on progress for the next thirty years.

Clinton tried to address this in the 1990s. Still, he was limited in his options, frequently compromising with the dominant conservative trend—bringing in checks on welfare and increasing criminal penalties for crimes committed by the poor and disadvantaged while at the same time loosening restrictions on financial shenanigans.

Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) grew up at a time when the President of their childhood was Ronald Reagan. That has an effect. Just like my President of impression was John F Kennedy, this left a mark of continuing adulation, especially in a media and school environment meant to idolize the President.

Generation X and Millenials (born 1981 to 1996)  grew up when the riches that came to the Boomer Generation seemed less able to happen to them. Who was to blame? The generations were divided, but they went to their separate corners as to who to blame. Some blamed the government and the swell of immigrants they perceived coming in. Others blamed corporate greed and the consolidation of wealth. This accelerated the division in our politics.

Bush Jr. did two things: he brought the culture wars front and center, and he used the Twin Towers attacks to gin up wars in the Middle East, particularly as an excuse to invade Iraq. It became impossible to question this in the 2000s. Eventually, Americans would sour on this, but I remember being afraid to speak up for the first time in my life.

The removal of financial sector regulations led to the Great Fiscal Crash of 2008. This temporary setback in Reagan's vision* gave way to Obama's election.

Barack Obama may not have delivered everything we hoped for, but he was a moral leader and an inspirational speaker. He led us out of the economic morass left us by the previous administration and made significant progress in improving healthcare access.

Within the first two years, it was clear that his success was not universally appreciated. After the elections of 2010, he never really had the majority in Congress, which he needed to fulfill his agenda. Hatred of him was a cottage industry, led by a real estate developer who had gone bankrupt several times and played a fake cartoon version of himself on a 'reality" show; Donald Trump invented the birtherism fantasy. It proved to be a rallying cry for America's racist underbelly.

Despite this, President Obama handily won a second term. How? The Republicans did not fully understand how much their base had changed. They were presenting policies that emphasized what was called country club Republicans - centered on keeping wealth to the top, deregulation, neoliberal foreign intervention, and working with the Democrats when needed. This genteel version of the Republican party was a thing of the past. Many supporters had moved far to the right of even Reagen. They wanted revenge. They wanted to take no prisoners.

Many moved to change directions beyond normal politics. Only one side offered that change in 2016. Democrats shut down Bernie Sanders, who appealed to the growing number of people who wanted to move the country in a more progressive direction. They went with politics as usual with Hilary Clinton. The other went with a crazed madman who said things they wanted to hear.

It's not that Hilary Clinton would not have made a good President. I believe she, at that time, was the most qualified person to be President. But it was the wrong time to run. Instead of the Democrats shifting to something new that would speak to those who had experienced economic turmoil, they went with the same 'ol same ol'. Nevertheless, even that withstanding, she won the majority of the votes and only lost because of the outdated and unfair Electoral College.

But wait!

There's more!

I don't want these posts to be too long, so I'll finish up in Part 3!

Stay tuned!

* this is not to say that Reagan's vision was good.  It was horrible.  It was to indicate that there were still many in the country who believed it and may want to return to it, for better or worse.  An example of this is the continued belief (as shown in polling) that Republicans are better on the economy.  There has been nothing in the last forty years to indicate that this is true, but the belief persists anyway.

Getting Off At All the Wrong Places Part 1

Imagine you are on an island, surrounded by a river on all sides. Now, think of that river as time.

We are used to thinking of time as a linear river. But that's not what happens. There is a constant chance of us getting off at the wrong place and winding up worse off than before.

We tend to think otherwise. As the quote perfected by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says,  "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." 

I pray that is true. In the long run, there may be great truth to it. But sometimes, it is hard to see in the abstract of our own lives.

I can imagine how those born at the turn of the 20th century must have felt. Great inventions that seemed to improve everyday lives arrived almost daily—planes, automobiles, radio, movies, and labor-saving household appliances. Politics was turning more progressive—antitrust legislation, labor laws, and regulations protecting our food and drug supply. Women gained the right to vote. The lives of people of color were not great, but there was at least the hint that things might turn around.

And then came the Great Depression, and the hopes and dreams of many Americans were destroyed - all but the very wealthy were affected. Then, the war started, and hopes for a peaceful world vanished. The fight against fascism was not how this generation thought would be what dominated their lives, but it was. 

My generation, the Boomer generation, saw a significant increase in civil and social rights in the 60s. We had finally turned the corner on civil rights with several important pieces of legislation that promised improvement in the lives of people of color, particularly African Americans. The Vietnam War was a great scar on our time, but it did not go unchallenged, generating significant civil protests which seemed to finally turn the tide on American interventionism.

We benefited from infrastructure improvements, like the Interstate Freeways. Wages rose, and the wealthy were taxed at a top rate ranging from 70% to 90%. College was very inexpensive. Housing was affordable. The family across the street from us lived in a nice home and lived comfortably, with Dad working as a department manager at Sears and Mom staying at home. Could you imagine that happening today?

But there is also a dark side to the Boomer Generation. The counterculture was not all positive. In addition to getting back to nature and making love, not war, there was a lot of ME quality to it. If it makes you feel good, do it! Take drugs, drop out, and do the things that make you happy.

The Boomers got more from their parents than most generations, and when they became adults, this sense of personal aggrandizement continued. They led the way to Reagan, and greed is good. They wanted the resources for themselves and resented the government taking any. They brought about the backlash that led to such figures as Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan. They were especially angry over immigrants because they didn't want to SHARE. They were angry about advances made by people of color because they didn't want to SHARE.

Boomers had the opportunity to move forward in the river of time, but instead, they prioritized themselves, and got off in a place that slid us backward.

It took a long time for future generations to slowly straighten this out. Each successive generation has been a little bit more progressive than the last.

THIS IS PART 1. STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG FOR MORE PARTS!

Special note:  Not all generations are monoliths. I'm a Boomer but don't comfortably fit the Boomer stereotype. Although I have been more conservative than I am now, I've always been on the side of social justice and democracy. And since the 90s, my major issue has been moving us to a single-payer, universal healthcare system. 

Everyone Will Replace Us! Saturday Political Soap Box 286

 

I love history. It was my favorite subject in school but has also been a lifelong passion. 

I wanted to teach History. But, alas, that was not to be. I had a teaching degree that qualified me to teach it, but no one was interested in a history teacher who couldn't coach a sport. That didn't diminish my love of history, even though I am only an amateur historian.

One of the writing projects that fired me up in my late teens and early 20s was the idea of a novel inspired by James Michener, entitled Saginaw. It was intended to be a multi-generational story crossing through the history of the Saginaw area.

It would start with a conflict between two native American tribes fighting to control the Saginaw area. Subsequent parts would deal with French fur trappers and their battles with the English, the timber era and how Saginaw became the center of the lumberjack barons and their demolishment of Michigan's great forests, the rise of the auto industry and the new immigrant groups that came in (Polish, German, the South), and finally, about the 1970s and the white flight from Saginaw to the suburbs.

The point was, whether peaceful or by force, the culture of Saginaw was constantly changing, always evolving. Culture isn't fixed. It's constantly adapting, always blending.

It's essential to have a sense of history. It's important to know where you're from, understand what has happened in the past, and learn lessons from it.

What we must never do is think we can freeze culture where it is and never let it change. We cannot, for example, apply Bedouin cultural standards to modern industrial society.

Technology and knowledge change things. Sticking with fossil fuels when we know what damage they do is foolish. Because people were comfortable with child brides in the past doesn't mean we should be comfortable with them today. Because women didn't have the right to vote over a century ago, it doesn't mean they should be denied it today.

We don't live like our grandparents did. We don't get around in horses and buggies or Model T's. We can travel to Europe without it being a weeks-long ocean voyage. We've gone from radio to a TV station to several TV stations to thousands of streaming choices. We've gone from socializing through day-long church events and town festivals to social media that connects us around our globe in ways that both free us and connect us but also enforce our worst instincts and spread hate and ignorance as well as love and knowledge.

Some things have stuck with us for centuries, like our holy texts, Shakespeare, and silverware. Others last for decades, like some of our foods, our sporting games, and our religious rituals. Before we know it, other things are in and out, like fashion, music, and what we find funny.

Sports do ebb and flow. Baseball used to be our national pastime. Now it is American football. Who knows? In another few decades, it may become soccer. Or pickleball. Who knows? Golf was high in popularity but is declining now. I wonder what that means in the future to retirement communities such as The Villages in Florida, which build their communities around dozens of golf courses. That, too, is the nature of things. Cities that seemed vital in the past become less meaningful over time, with many becoming ghost cities.

There is a long tradition of gun ownership in this country. But that is changing, particularly why or what they're used for. Hunting, like it or not, is declining in this country. At one time, it was a necessity. Now it is a sport and a luxury. People keep guns to connect to their family's past, but that will mean less and less to future generations over time. Gun ownership now is mainly a result of fear of the other, the refusal to accept change, and the desire to hold back other groups and freeze culture.

That is bunk. You can't hold back time. You can't stop change.

Over time, everyone will replace us. The culture of the future will only marginally be like ours. That has its good and bad aspects. But it is inevitable.

There was another thread to this I wanted to pursue, but this is long enough. I will try to follow that other thread in a future post. 

Thank you for reading.  

The Good Old Days?

 Ah, the good old days!

The squeeging nostalgia for a time when everything was so much better than now!

Recently, we rented a vrbo (vacation rental by owner) in Athens. Georgia.  It was a make-good for a weekend we had arranged in the spring, but the owner canceled an hour before we got there because of electrical problems.

These are furnished and often have books and board games and such left by the owner.  In the case of this rental, they left this old magazine, which, me being me, I, of course, zeroed in on.

Coronet Magazine from September 1950.  What a cute nostalgic cover!  This magazine promoted itself as a moral, family magazine.  It was an awful lot like Reader's Digest, a magazine that still exists today.

Below the cover picture was the searing headline - The New Moral Menace! I was lost.  Cowboys?  Cowboys were the new moral menace?  Maybe there was something I was missing in my historical knowledge of cowboys.

Advertising was interesting.  This ad was promoting a new, super-huge television with a whopping 16-inch TV screen.  

This ad promoted the overwhelming luxury of being able to retire on $200 a month!  What a plan!  How can I get in on it?

There were many other strange and wonderful products, including bright, blue plastic diapers that seemed to promote itself as nonstick and easy to clean.  I pray that wasn't an early Teflon.

Then there were the stories.

Oh, yeah!  Keep that marriage glamorous!  Because that's your number one concern in keeping your marriage strong - all that fabulous glamour.  This had many strange suggestions, like having the couple's parents watch the kids while you go to the fanciest hotel you can find, dressed to the nines, and dance and dine and drink, and pretend you have a room there, and just live it up until your budgeted ten dollars was used up.  Then you head home before the illusion disintegrates, like a duo's version of Cinderella. 

Then there were the jokes.

"Why do you always hire married men in preference to bachelors?" an employer was asked. "Because," he explained, "married men don't seem to get so upset when I yell at them."

Sexist much?  Trust me, that's just the tip of the iceberg of jokes throughout the magazine that are at the expense of women,  Family values, my golden tuchus.

And it gets worse.

There's an article about DeBeer and his South African diamond mines.  And no, it's not about how exploitative and cruel the mines were.  Instead, it wanted to reassure the reader that Debeer was in control and that diamonds would not be overproduced so that the cost of diamonds would stay high.  And are you worried about theft?  Have no fear!  DeBeer is here! Here's the magazine's comforting explanation -

The underground mining is done almost entirely by black miners. They pilfer surprisingly few stones, chiefly because DeBeer has made it extremely difficult to get away with that. The "boys" sign on for three months at a time., during which they live a celibate life in compounds. To discourage unnecessary activity after dark, the company uses packs of trained mastiffs.

See, Coronet diamond lovers?  No need to worry about diamond pilfering.  Not when you're treating your African workers like sub-human chattel.

And that New Moral Menace?

Unlike what the front cover accidentally implied, it ain't cowboys.

No.  It's homosexuals.

In a nasty, ignorant, and bigoted diatribe, it repeats tons of false and vindictive lies about gays.  They were all pedophiles.  It wasn't biology; it was choice, brought about a permissive society and bad parenting.  And how about the concept that this is a "new" phenomenon?  Sometimes our sexual diversity is driven underground, but it has always been there and always will be.

The good old days?

Eh, not so much if you're a woman, a person of color, part of the LGBTQ+ community, and well, anybody who exceeds the thinking ability of a box of rocks.

Now we find ourselves with a large group of parents and their political goaders who want to purify American History and keep it positive and upbeat.  Nothing should make our young think that there was ever exploitation and cruelty- we wouldn't want them to feel bad or responsible.

Those who remain ignorant of the truths of history are doomed to repeat them.

And I, for one, am tired of the repetition.

Not Just Doing My Own Thang

 Oh, hippies!

Time has aged us all.

But, you know, some of that hippie thang still lives on with us.

Unfortunately, for the most part, not the good stuff.  Not the environmental concern (that does exist, but I wouldn't attribute it to the hippie culture).  Certainly not the so-called liberal politics.

Am I of the generation where I could have been a hippy?  Close enough, I guess.  I was a teenager in the late sixties and early seventies.  But I never was.  I was always straight-laced (!) and fairly conservative, from a personal appearance and conduct level perspective.  Most of the hippies I knew in high school weren't peaceniks and protestors.  For the most part, they were hoodlums and roughnecks, more concerned with getting high than with treating other people well.

And that is what has survived of the hippie culture to this day.  Not an effort to reach a helping hand and strive to make a better planet for all, but just a general impulse to do your own thang.  Want to smoke dope?  DO YOUR OWN THANG!  Want a looser definition of marriage and sexual responsibility?  DO YOUR OWN THANG!  Want to party? DO YOUR OWN THANG!  Want to make money and buy the things you want?  DO YOUR OWN THANG! Want to worship Jesus by rocking out and speaking in tongues*?  DO YOUR OWN THANG!

The hippie movement flowed naturally into Reagan and the age of greed.  Some of the hippies became yippies - young professionals consumed with doing their own thang.

And some of those aging hippies are Trump supporters.  Why?  Because he is the poster child for selfishly DOING YOUR OWN THANG. As long as you blindly worship Trump, or at least let him DO HIS OWN THANG, enriching himself by grafting YOU.

I am not dismissing hippies altogether.  I know a few who are decidedly progressive, who care a great deal about the environment and social/economic equity.  But, I'm sorry to say, they are outnumbered by those who DOING THEIR OWN THANG means first and foremost prioritizing themselves and their own enrichment,

So, let me make it clear.  Me wearing a mask in public is not me DOING MY OWN THANG.  It has nothing to do with personal preference, or "you do you, Tom," or prioritizing myself.

I wear a mask in public because of YOU.  I care about YOU.  I care about doing what I can to halt this awful pandemic, this horrible virus that has infected AT LEAST 1 in 5 of the people of Ware and Pierce Counties, that has killed almost 300 people in our rural landscape. So I take it very seriously.  

Yes, I am vaccinated.  No, I have not gotten COVID (to date).  Yes, I am careful, or as careful as I can be given the behavior of others.  But I know about the potential of breakthrough cases.  And I know, despite my caution, I could get one of those breakthrough cases.  And I am very afraid that when I contract it, it will be too mild for me to catch the symptoms, and I, therefore, run the risks of infecting others.  And with the super high rate of unvaccinated around here, I run the risk of infecting one of them.  I could be responsible for someone else getting it, and their case might not be so mild.  And I cannot handle being responsible for that.

I am not DOING MY OWN THANG.  I am not simply choosing pepperoni on my pizza over peppers.  I am not trying to follow the drumbeat of my own drummer.

I am trying to do the RESPONSIBLE thing, the CARING thing, the thing that HAS TO BE DONE if we are going to get out of this terrible pandemic.

Get vaccinated.  Wear a mask.

This isn't MY THANG.  If we're going to make it out of this, it absolutely has to be OUR THANG.

*This is not meant as a negative reflection of Pentecostals or the long tradition of the speaking of tongues in Acts.  I recently read a book where some hippies were forming churches that did this.  Maybe I could have thought of a better example.  Maybe I'll edit it later.  I don't know.  Just don't obsess over the wrong thing.