Will Paul Manafort flip? Will he give up his old boss? Will he give up his old boss’s children? Will his old boss pardon him? Will his old boss eventually be impeached? Will his old boss go on a Twitter storm for days on end? Will the NRA advertisements warning of armed revolution if his old boss is impeached come to pass? Will the Anti-fa, also armed to the teeth, fight back? Will the 24-hour news channels explode with excitement? Will Fox Fake News Channel even report this event? Will Mueller's boss fire him? Will congress hire Mueller to continue the investigation? Will the investigation move to a New York venue so that trump can’t pardon anyone connected with the investigation? Will the
I’m understanding better why people vote for a candidate who belongs to a party that does not have their best interests at heart. I’m making headway on it. The division between the conservatives and the rest of the civilized world is based on one thing: legalized, safe abortion on demand. It is the division between the “Godly," although dishonest and hypocritical, and the “baby killers” who wish to make their choice personal, private and without judgement by the mob. I fear it will ever be thus. It’s too handy a divider. Demagogues will forever latch on to it to advance their agenda, whatever it is. The day of the rational conservative Republican Party against high taxes and for small govern
When it comes to watching TV news, I’m back where I was in 2015, before the elections, before trump, before Bannon, before almost every Republican in America danced a victory waltz. That is, I turn on the TV briefly in the morning to see if we’re at war and if we’re not, I turn it off and go to my studio to work. One thing has changed, though. Now when I turn on the TV, I’m looking not only for news of war, but news of a United States armed forces military coup against the president. And yes, both can happen. I don’t need to hear more details about trump’s lunacy. I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions. I’ll support any policy that dumps trump and that includes the coup of wh
We are witness to a rare phenomenon. No, not an exploding star, but something similar. This is the Republican Party collapsing, destroying itself and We The Peeps have to work to save our country to make sure it doesn’t destroy America, too. The first thing to do is to learn to ignore trump. That’s right, ignore him. That’s the worse thing that can happen to him. Stop rising like a trout to a fly every time he tweets, or opens his sucker-shaped mouth with some insensitive, stupid remark. Yes, professional journalists have to pay attention somewhat, but even they are backing off and are looking for actual news events coming out of the White House. The next thing we can do is vote for a Democr
Many years ago, in a happier time, my wife and I visited Charles Schulz, his wife Jeannie and some friends in Santa Rosa for dinner. It was the first time I met Sparky, as he was known by friends and colleagues. As we shook hands, he said, “I’m an Eisenhower Republican.” I said that was fine with me and that’s all the politics we ever discussed, not just that night, but ever. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Cultural Center was spared in the Santa Rosa fire. The public will continue to have a place to visit with their own memories of a different world. Sparky died at 78 years old in 2000, before America changed into something almost unrecognizable. Last week, I emailed Jeannie and asked how
This is what I didn’t like about working in the corporate world. If you’re getting a fat paycheck, you are expected to take some abuse and even give up certain rights, among them free speech. One of my favorite lines in all the movies I’ve seen is delivered by Cher when she acted the role of the divorced mother of a hideously deformed young boy in “Mask.” Her friend asks her about taking alimony and child support from her ex-husband. Cher replies, “Hell no. You take their money, you have to take their bullshit.” Well, we all need some level of corporate money to survive, so it comes down to how much bullshit you can stand. IMO, as they say on social media, we shouldn’t have to give up our Co
If the NRA is willing to talk about bump stocks, then the times may have changed enough to push for stronger gun control laws. Is it possible that the Republicans smell defeat in 2018 and are starting to play re-election games? Then again, the NRA and their Republican cronies are a cagey bunch. They want a gunfight on bureaucratic grounds in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, not in Congress, which will amount to nothing. I just heard on NPR that there are more gun clubs in America than McDonalds’. Congress, tighten up the gun laws. We deserve a break today!
I can’t watch the news right now. Every mass killing is handled the same way. Hand-wringing, mutterings of “thoughts and prayers” and a shrug of regret that there’s nothing we can do about it. This pattern will continue until the end of the news cycle until trump does or says something stupid, or Noko blows up an H-Bomb next to Hawaii or some other life-or-death bullshit crisis, whichever comes first. These senseless killings will continue as long as we have that cursed Second Amendment in the Constitution. Repeal the Second Amendment. Without it, people would still be able to own guns, but We The Unarmed People would be able to pass stricter laws about gun ownership, when, where and how gun