Here’s a proposal for those who believe unlimited, unregulated gun ownership and gun use are the sole point of the Second Amendment. If you’re so convinced that a firearm improves the safety of you and your family, please move to a neighborhood like South Los Angeles or sections of Philadelphia or Chicago where drive-by shootings are commonplace. Join a gang, if you, must, but come back in a year and a day to tell us how reality has impacted your opinions and notions. If you’ve survived. Or life even matters.
Tag: History
PLYING THE SUGAR RIVER
When I see this …
… I think of this.
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ONE BRUSH STROKE OR ROLLER AT A TIME
One of the places I’ll admit there’s progress is in the realm of house paint. The mere fact you can go in and have a custom color on the spot that will match one you had mixed earlier is a huge advance. No more guessing. And that’s even before we get to latex, which cleans up with water, rather than oil-based or lead-infused paints.
No more color chips that were way off what showed up on the walls. Oh, how I remember my mother’s lamenting on that one, especially when they’d hired a family friend who was part of a professional painting crew. She hated the color, especially after they tried to correct it.
Now, if the blue tape only worked so well.
WHY DO THE RUSSIANS SO WANT TRUMP TO WIN?
The WikiLeaks releases seem to answer the question.
Apparently, the former Secretary of State is stronger than they’d like. Just how did Hillary Clinton so thoroughly best Vladimir Putin in the past? Or was it just her husband, Bill? Either way, it’s obvious the Kremlin couldn’t stand up to her.
Don’t be distracted, folks. Vote against Russian aggression, which is what these leaks are. The ones past, present, and threatened in the future.
Unlike Donald J. Trump, with his bromance with Vladimir. Even with Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort kicked out of the circle, there’s much more of this connection to make headlines.
TOP NOTE
Strolling Dover: for more, click here.
ANOTHER SCENARIO TO CONSIDER, THIS ONE OUT OF LEFT FIELD
To date, all of the Republican challenges to Hillary Clinton’s activities have amounted to nothing other than the squandering of millions of taxpayers’ money. Over the years, in fact, it’s often appeared the worst they can come up with is to accuse her of minor-league shenanigans of a routinely Republican sort.
Even after their witch hunts and kangaroo courts, though, that hasn’t stopped them from counting to howl for renewed investigations.
Still, there’s always a lingering nervously that something might still blow up along the way, and that leads to a fresh bit of speculation.
What if she withdrew from the race?
Left Tim Kaine as the party’s presidential nominee and, try this one on, Bernie Sanders running in the veep spot.
Kaine has none of the negatives Hillary carries, so the entire dynamic of the campaign would shift. Bernie would inject fresh enthusiasm into the race and deflate Jill Stein’s Green Party, as well.
Believe me, Donald Trump’s camp would be left spinning trying to adjust to the changes.
~*~
Think, too, down the pike and whether a Kaine presidency could erode the anticipated disrespect and outright contempt a Hillary Clinton White House would face as the far right-wing continues its hostility to the Obama legacy. The racist and sexist cards couldn’t be played, for certain. It would be curious to see just what the haters would be left with.
CLEANING HOUSE
You may have guessed my reaction to those bumper stickers calling Obama the worst president in American history.
Folks who have no memory of what the poor guy inherited.
OK, his biggest mistake was thinking he could reason with two-year-olds. The ones who go “No! No! No!” with no solution in sight. Imagine the rage if they were drivers on the Interstate, the ones with their brakes locked.
The mistake of thinking them men of good will rather than ill will.
The ones who have comprised the majority of the worst House of Representatives in memory, if not American history. And then their cohorts took over the Senate.
Put the blame where it belongs, especially when they won’t clean up their own mess. How about a clean sweep?
CAN TRUMP SALVAGE HIS BRAND?
In his inflated claims to self-worth, Donald J. Trump likes to include a category of “goodwill,” meaning, well, nothing tangible. While he puts his value at $10 billion, more realistic voices put it at no more than $4 billion, and that’s assuming he’s not leveraged in debt to the hilt. After watching one after another of his enterprises go kaput – from airlines to casinos to steaks and vodka (oh, another Russian connection? gee whiz!) – he’s turned increasingly to name value alone. Many of those buildings with his name attached, it turns out, aren’t owned by him at all. The real owners just rent his name in exchange for, oh, well, something. How much longer can this game continue? Well, until the name and its sterling impression are deflated.
Believe me, more and more Trump is an elusive “brand,” based as much on his television-show posturing as anything. Successful businessman? Not as the stories of his failures, shady practices, and legal cases mount up. More and more, the question is what or who’s behind the cutout cardboard figure.
In the old days, we would have said this was nothing more than “image,” presumed status, or even a mirage in the distance. As the details pile up, a different portrait emerges. Call it showman or huckster, if you wish. It’s anything but a successful businessman whose word was good as gold. Quite the contrary.
As his bid for the White House encounters one disaster after another, and all of his brashness is returned in full measure, there’s reason to ask just where he’s heading. Where is his escape?
Or, more accurately, can he somehow salvage his brand?
I’m rather dubious. If his base turns out to be aging white males on the losing end of the spectrum, I doubt it. I just don’t see advertisers lining up for that. He’s the wrong demographic for most products. Hell, from what I’ve read, even Rush Limbaugh’s in trouble there.
One thing I’ll assume. Trump won’t believe his low ratings there any more than he trusts the polling surveys now or ballot tallies in November.
What would you do in his place?
BACK TO THAT T.P. IMPRESSION
How can I listen to a presidential nominee who more and more looks and sounds constipated?
Or is it more simply his stony, dark heart?
Either way, I wish he’d come clean. This is getting exhausting.
A FONDNESS FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIES
American political history from the early-’60s on is filled with crucial catastrophes that leave too many lingering questions.
I could make a list but will leave that to others.
The fact is, even the crackpots who closely examine the topic of their choice often leave us with fascinating perspectives. Even without the smoking gun, you can follow the hoof prints off toward the horizon .
Makes for some intriguing reading, fact or fiction. Or some dangerous blending in between.
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