My first memory of this scourge was when my grandmother became sick. I was seventeen the last time I saw her lying on a couch. She was a breathing shell of the beautiful, vibrant woman she had been just a few months earlier. It was so horrifying to me that I have tried to avoid seeing loved ones and friends off as they get near the end ever since. When my grandfather was a few months away from passing, I visited him for the last time. His horrible cough and seeing blood come out of his mouth was bad enough. He told me everything he could remember about our family history; the good, the bad , even the ugly. After that visit we talked on the phone, when he could, but I never saw him again. mercifully, he passed while I was on maneuvers out in Utah in June of 1988.
Sometimes you have to be there. It's so heartbreaking to be at a point where you wish they would give up, just to ease their suffering. There have been miracles. My own mother was diagnosed in 1999 and for the next 5 years it was touch and go. At one point she was given less than 3 months. Yet she beat it and has been in remission for 11 years. Why her? How? I don't know and neither does she. Her story is the exception it seems. They still call surviving ten years "beating" it. The fear of it returning is always there, and that alone is a form of torture.
Over the years, the list of friends and family lost to this nemesis has grown to be so long it's too heavy to read. Many of the firefighters and police officers I knew when I was in those professions have fallen victim. So too some of the veterans I served with. Children, friends, favorite Aunts and Uncles, cousins, coworkers, casual pals; the list goes on and on and it doesn't discriminate. As I am writing this, many of those names and faces are coming to the front part of my memory. All were brave. All were taken. For many, you could point to heavy smoking habits, being exposed to hazards unknown at the time, bad genes. All those reasons do not explain the huge number of victims today. I even had my own scare a couple times but was fortunate to not have had to do any real battle with it.
Tonight I am on the verge of having to say goodbye to another. A soldier, an airman, a combat veteran, a cop, a truck driver, a husband, father and grandfather. To so many of us, a friend. He has a beautiful family, and he is way too young to be saying goodbye. As recently as a couple weeks ago, the strength of his voice on the phone masked the agony his body was going through. It may have taken his physical being away, but not his spirit. He was given two weeks three months ago! He wasted none of the time given, but it was so short.
We all go through our lives, working, raising families and arguing about politics or a ton of other things. Yet this is always out there, randomly pouncing when we least expect it. Will there ever be a day when we have beaten this? There are over 7 billion people on the Earth right now. Shouldn't we be able to put the best minds together to put a stop to this? Shouldn't we want to? Awareness walks and fundraisers are fine, but shouldn't there be a political will to solve this? Wouldn't that be something to see if all the politicians who put so much energy into fighting each other actually put all their energy into solving this instead?
In the near future, my friend will be gone and his memory will join so many others. In a few weeks after that, I, like everyone else, will lose my focus on the enemy until it rears its ugly head again. It will reside in the sub conscience, once in awhile whispering a threat as you wonder, will it come to me?
Cancer Sucks!
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Hey Snowflake, Time to Grow Up
When you were in preschool, they made you play with gender neutral, safe toys, and dressed you in layers of protective clothing so if you fell, no bruise would come. Temper tantrums were met with pleadings by the adult that you "please" behave. Timeouts and safe spaces were set up so you could express yourself. If you had a conflict with another child, you were evaluated and labelled.
By the time you were six, you were already being managed by medication and made to sit in class with other kids, who may or may not have been at your reading level. In T-ball you weren't allowed to count runs and no one was allowed to get hurt. In elementary school, recess was monitored to make sure you played "nice" games and of course, if you had a conflict or exhibited signs of not conforming, you were evaluated and put on medication to manage your "extra" energy. At every turn you were told you were special, while at the same encouraged to believe that no one was better than you, at anything. In Pop Warner, Little League, Gymnastics or any other activity, you were closely monitored to play by the rules and to get along. Of course you always earned a trophy because it wasn't nice for some kids not to have one. You are all special after all.
By the time you were a young teen, you demanded the best gadgets, the nicest clothes, and of course you had to have a car when you got your license. No jobs though. It wasn't safe to mow lawns or, heaven forbid, shovel a driveway in the cold. Besides, jobs might get in the way of a busy social life, or maybe your grades might suffer. Couldn't have that happen, right? When your grandparents tried to tell you your parents they were doing more harm than good by spoiling you rotten, you laughed behind their backs and ignored their old fashioned values. After all, the things you were accumulating were magically coming from some far off land where your parents went every day, and they never complained to you. Instead they fought with each other and in many cases there was a divorce. Jackpot for you though, right? Now you could accumulate twice the loot using parental guilt at an even higher level. When you were given your first smartphones and told to stay in touch, you indignantly declared your independence and started acting even more like the self centered little brats you had been made into. How dare the person who paid for the phone actually want you to use it to say hi to them. So what if your parents had to work two jobs to support your ever increasing needs, wasn't that what parents were supposed to do? Bedsides, you are special and deserve it all just for having been born.
In college, you met teachers who agreed with you that you are special and no one is better than you at anything. Wouldn't want to feel bad right? You sop up every thing they teach you without once considering there may have been other answers or views. After all, if you believed it in your head, it must be true because you are special.
Then an election comes along and you put all of your heart and soul into rooting for one over another. Any bad information about your pick is ignored as lies and any good qualities about the other pick is also ignored, if you even hear about it in the first place. Then election day comes and something really bad happens; your pick doesn't win! How could that be? You are special and smarter than everyone else, so how could your pick lose? You are shocked, catatonic even. You wail, you cry, you scream, yet nothing changes. The outcome remains. Your whole life you have been trained to believe you are special and always right! Except by your grandparents. Remember them? The ones who tried to warn you? The ones you ridiculed and ignored? Yeah, those folks. They never told you you were that special, did they?
You see snowflake, the world really does not give a rats ass about you or your views. The world is actually a very hard place to exist in. Loss and pain are very prevalent and yes, there are billions of people who are better than you, at everything! You are not special in any particular way. We are all here trying to make the best of a very hard, time limited, journey. So what are you doing now? You are collectively having a huge temper tantrum like you did when you were two and someone took your favorite ball away. What is the collective response from society? At first you are coddled and allowed to vent your frustrations. There is a limit though and you are finding that out now, aren't you?
You are being arrested, dispersed and getting told to shut up by an ever growing number of impatient adults. "How dare they do that to such a special group!", you think.
Well snowflake, it's called getting your ass slapped. You see, your grandparents were right. If you had had your ass slapped when you had your first tantrums, you might have learned those lessons already. Yelling, screaming and breaking things does not work on the world like it did on your parents. It's called growing up and it's way past time all you snowflakes learn that lesson.
By the time you were six, you were already being managed by medication and made to sit in class with other kids, who may or may not have been at your reading level. In T-ball you weren't allowed to count runs and no one was allowed to get hurt. In elementary school, recess was monitored to make sure you played "nice" games and of course, if you had a conflict or exhibited signs of not conforming, you were evaluated and put on medication to manage your "extra" energy. At every turn you were told you were special, while at the same encouraged to believe that no one was better than you, at anything. In Pop Warner, Little League, Gymnastics or any other activity, you were closely monitored to play by the rules and to get along. Of course you always earned a trophy because it wasn't nice for some kids not to have one. You are all special after all.
By the time you were a young teen, you demanded the best gadgets, the nicest clothes, and of course you had to have a car when you got your license. No jobs though. It wasn't safe to mow lawns or, heaven forbid, shovel a driveway in the cold. Besides, jobs might get in the way of a busy social life, or maybe your grades might suffer. Couldn't have that happen, right? When your grandparents tried to tell you your parents they were doing more harm than good by spoiling you rotten, you laughed behind their backs and ignored their old fashioned values. After all, the things you were accumulating were magically coming from some far off land where your parents went every day, and they never complained to you. Instead they fought with each other and in many cases there was a divorce. Jackpot for you though, right? Now you could accumulate twice the loot using parental guilt at an even higher level. When you were given your first smartphones and told to stay in touch, you indignantly declared your independence and started acting even more like the self centered little brats you had been made into. How dare the person who paid for the phone actually want you to use it to say hi to them. So what if your parents had to work two jobs to support your ever increasing needs, wasn't that what parents were supposed to do? Bedsides, you are special and deserve it all just for having been born.
In college, you met teachers who agreed with you that you are special and no one is better than you at anything. Wouldn't want to feel bad right? You sop up every thing they teach you without once considering there may have been other answers or views. After all, if you believed it in your head, it must be true because you are special.
Then an election comes along and you put all of your heart and soul into rooting for one over another. Any bad information about your pick is ignored as lies and any good qualities about the other pick is also ignored, if you even hear about it in the first place. Then election day comes and something really bad happens; your pick doesn't win! How could that be? You are special and smarter than everyone else, so how could your pick lose? You are shocked, catatonic even. You wail, you cry, you scream, yet nothing changes. The outcome remains. Your whole life you have been trained to believe you are special and always right! Except by your grandparents. Remember them? The ones who tried to warn you? The ones you ridiculed and ignored? Yeah, those folks. They never told you you were that special, did they?
You see snowflake, the world really does not give a rats ass about you or your views. The world is actually a very hard place to exist in. Loss and pain are very prevalent and yes, there are billions of people who are better than you, at everything! You are not special in any particular way. We are all here trying to make the best of a very hard, time limited, journey. So what are you doing now? You are collectively having a huge temper tantrum like you did when you were two and someone took your favorite ball away. What is the collective response from society? At first you are coddled and allowed to vent your frustrations. There is a limit though and you are finding that out now, aren't you?
You are being arrested, dispersed and getting told to shut up by an ever growing number of impatient adults. "How dare they do that to such a special group!", you think.
Well snowflake, it's called getting your ass slapped. You see, your grandparents were right. If you had had your ass slapped when you had your first tantrums, you might have learned those lessons already. Yelling, screaming and breaking things does not work on the world like it did on your parents. It's called growing up and it's way past time all you snowflakes learn that lesson.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Congratulations to Kate Campanale
Lost in all of the news about the upset Trump election, a local woman, Kate Campanale, won a reelection bid in the 17th Worcester District here in Massachusetts. Not only did she win, she beat her opponent, Moses Dixon, by 1300 votes! Compared with her narrow victory of 67 votes two years ago, this was a landslide. When she did win two years ago, Kate was the first Republican to represent any citizens of Worcester in decades. (Two thirds of the voters in this district live in Worcester proper.) It was no secret the Democrats were going to throw everything they could at taking the seat back. In the end they put forward a relatively unknown candidate in Dixon, who was not from the area and never able to really connect with the voters here. Kate's victory, led by a solid record of helping people in the district as soon as she took over, helped cement the idea that a Republican candidate is going to be present in the city of Worcester for the foreseeable future. I can only imagine the shock waves that sends into the Democrat machine which rules most of Worcester. Much like Trump's victory, Kate's victory represents a change in voter attitudes and hopefully to a brighter future of all of us here in Massachusetts. Congratulations Ms. Campanale on your win and best of luck in your future endeavors as our representative here in Western Worcester.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Don't Wait for Tomorrow, Thank A Veteran Today
I know tomorrow is Veteran's Day. It's the day we honor those serving or who have served in the United States military. Originally it was a day set aside to celebrate the Allied victory in WWI but over time it evolved into a general recognition of our service members. It's a great thing to have a day set aside for these special people among us and for those who have sacrificed so much. But why wait until tomorrow? If you see a veteran today or any other day, thank them. It's just the right thing to do. After all, less than 1% of our population has actually served in the military and maybe we as a country should do a better job of recognizing them throughout the year.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Thank You Mr. Trump
On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump and his wife Melania rode down the escalator at Trump Tower as he declared himself to be a Republican candidate for President in the upcoming 2016 presidential elections. On that day, which seems so long ago, this election was far off into the future and his chances of winning were considered extremely remote. Those in the mainstream media were dismissive and establishment Republicans were repulsed by the idea. Almost every talking head said his run was nothing more than a stunt. Month after month those same pundits had to rework their opinions to explain the reality of Trump's success. So what was missed?
You have to look back to 2011 to find the answer. It was in the Spring of that year when Donald Trump first made a serious jab towards running. He did this by hanging on to a divisive issue, the birthplace of the first African American President, and pushing it all the way until the President had to release his birth certificate. Pundits and establishment politicians were outraged. They called him a racist and worse. Trump decided not to run, but the seeds of his current success were sewn into the fertile soil of disheartened conservatives and throwback bible holding, gun clinging folks everywhere. He showed himself to be a tenacious fighter and one who would not back down to an inevitable Hillary Clinton campaign.
After watching Mitt Romney play the nice guy and get crushed, many of those on the conservative side had had enough. They were primed to get behind a down and dirty fighter like Trump and when he announced his run, they couldn't wait to join the cause. And join they did. It was immediately clear from the early rallies he held, there was a draw. At first it was blamed on his star power as the host of the Apprentice. Then it was his being a loud mouth and circus ring master. As the months went by those excuse fell by the wayside. I went to a rally at the DCU center in Worcester, MA, in early November 2015. As a VIP invite I was able to sit close enough to hear Donald Trump talk without the microphone. I had not made my mind up until halfway through that rally. Here was the Reagan like voice we have been clamoring for since 1988. His connection with the overflow crowd was clear and palpable. The crowd was mixed between young, old, white, black and Hispanic. His message of building a wall, of bringing back jobs and of defeating ISIS was resonating. Most importantly, it was resonating in Worcester, MA, right in the heart of a true blue state. I knew right then something special was afoot. I was made even more sure of that when I saw the fervor with which my 25 year old daughter was behind his message.
A year later and Trump rallies have become even bigger events. While the immigration issue still brings out the "Build That Wall!"chants, it has been joined by free trade agreements, and jobs. The loudest chants though come from the Clinton scandals. "Lock her up!" and "Drain the swamp!" have been chanted by hundreds of thousands of Americans at Trump rallies across dozens of states in the past month. If there is one issue that may be blamed if Trump wins big, that could be it.
Win or lose, conservatives everywhere have a lot to be thankful for in the run by Donald Trump. He has brought issues important to those of us on the right to the forefront of political discussions. Liberals have had to defend positions that have not been talked about in serious conversations for decades. This season has also exposed the ugly underbelly of presidential politics in a way that can never be undone. Some news organizations, like CNN, may have damaged their credibility beyond repair. Corruption at the highest levels of our government has been exposed which is sure to tie up many politicians and their cronies for years in legal battles. Let's hope this election leads to changes for the better for all of us.
Thank you Mr. trump for running and giving hope to so many of us disheartened Americans.
You have to look back to 2011 to find the answer. It was in the Spring of that year when Donald Trump first made a serious jab towards running. He did this by hanging on to a divisive issue, the birthplace of the first African American President, and pushing it all the way until the President had to release his birth certificate. Pundits and establishment politicians were outraged. They called him a racist and worse. Trump decided not to run, but the seeds of his current success were sewn into the fertile soil of disheartened conservatives and throwback bible holding, gun clinging folks everywhere. He showed himself to be a tenacious fighter and one who would not back down to an inevitable Hillary Clinton campaign.
After watching Mitt Romney play the nice guy and get crushed, many of those on the conservative side had had enough. They were primed to get behind a down and dirty fighter like Trump and when he announced his run, they couldn't wait to join the cause. And join they did. It was immediately clear from the early rallies he held, there was a draw. At first it was blamed on his star power as the host of the Apprentice. Then it was his being a loud mouth and circus ring master. As the months went by those excuse fell by the wayside. I went to a rally at the DCU center in Worcester, MA, in early November 2015. As a VIP invite I was able to sit close enough to hear Donald Trump talk without the microphone. I had not made my mind up until halfway through that rally. Here was the Reagan like voice we have been clamoring for since 1988. His connection with the overflow crowd was clear and palpable. The crowd was mixed between young, old, white, black and Hispanic. His message of building a wall, of bringing back jobs and of defeating ISIS was resonating. Most importantly, it was resonating in Worcester, MA, right in the heart of a true blue state. I knew right then something special was afoot. I was made even more sure of that when I saw the fervor with which my 25 year old daughter was behind his message.
A year later and Trump rallies have become even bigger events. While the immigration issue still brings out the "Build That Wall!"chants, it has been joined by free trade agreements, and jobs. The loudest chants though come from the Clinton scandals. "Lock her up!" and "Drain the swamp!" have been chanted by hundreds of thousands of Americans at Trump rallies across dozens of states in the past month. If there is one issue that may be blamed if Trump wins big, that could be it.
Win or lose, conservatives everywhere have a lot to be thankful for in the run by Donald Trump. He has brought issues important to those of us on the right to the forefront of political discussions. Liberals have had to defend positions that have not been talked about in serious conversations for decades. This season has also exposed the ugly underbelly of presidential politics in a way that can never be undone. Some news organizations, like CNN, may have damaged their credibility beyond repair. Corruption at the highest levels of our government has been exposed which is sure to tie up many politicians and their cronies for years in legal battles. Let's hope this election leads to changes for the better for all of us.
Thank you Mr. trump for running and giving hope to so many of us disheartened Americans.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Is the Movement Real?
Monday November 7, 2016
4:00 P.M.
That is the biggest question to be answered by the vote tomorrow. If Donald Trump is right, there is a real movement behind him which will push him into office with a clear victory. If he is wrong, then Hillary Clinton will prevail in a much closer race. Trump has taken the biggest risk by coming from the private sector, where he reigned as one of the biggest moguls, and putting himself into the public square. There, he has been properly drawn and quartered by an unsympathetic media and his enemies. Much of it he brought on himself, but the evidence is mounting he was up against an unholy alliance between the media, the Obama White House and the Clinton Campaign. In fact, even a large group of Republicans denounced his candidacy, including the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Yet, in the face of all that scorn and anger, Donald Trump finds himself at the door of the White House. With the race as close as it seems to be, isn't that alone a huge accomplishment?
If Trump loses a close election tomorrow, the Dems are sure to pounce and say his run was a fluke and nothing in his message was worth listening to. They will paint him as a lout, a bigot, a racist and all kinds of horrible labels. They won't stop there. Their wrath will be put upon his supporters too. If you think Louis Lerner's targeting of Tea Party groups was bad, just wait for what a Clinton White house will do. We will be lucky if we have a single small business left standing in 4 years. There will be cries of we told you so, of a mandate for Clinton and a continual downplay of all the nasty illegal things which have come to light.
If Trump were to win tomorrow, I believe it will be in a landslide and a mandate will be clearly established. Dems will still claim he is not the rightful winner, but if it is by anything more than 4 points, they will be yelling into the wind.
Expert after expert is calling for the close Clinton win. When asked about the trends of polls going to Trump, most of them dismiss it as too little, to late. I disagree.
Unlike most of them, I have been watching the Trump Rallies for the past three weeks and one thing is clear; his draw is growing, not diminishing. Just yesterday he held 5 events across the country with an average attendance of 17,000 people. Those numbers do not include the thousands who were outside the venues, too late to get in or turned back by fire officials. Even his running mate, Mike Pence, has been drawing huge crowds in. These guys are doing it for the most part by themselves. How many of you know he was in Leesburg Virginia last night until around 1 A.M.? He had to do it because he had thousands of Virginian voters were willing to wait for him and he was smart enough not to let them down. If you happen to watch his events, they are crowded with people who cannot wait to vote for him. Chants of "Lock her up!" and "Drain the Swamp!" have become the norm everywhere he goes.
Clinton events, when she has them, are not the same. That is a fact not lost on her campaign either. That's why she has had to rely on the Obama's, her husband and now even celebrities to prop her up. Even that is not working folks. At an event last week at a fairgrounds in Florida, her running mate, Tim Kaine, only had 30 people show up. That is not a typo!
Could anything be more embarrassing or sad?
What my eyes are telling me is this. Just as in January 2010 with the Scott Brown Senate election, the regular folks are rising up right in front of us. I remember being at a rally for Scott at Mechanics Hall in Worcester two days before the special election. The hall was filled to capacity, every media outlet was there and the energy was incredible. I was lucky enough to be on stage and the view was amazing. Although there were some celebrities on stage with us, like Curt Schilling and Lenny Clark, it was Scott who brought the house down by coming on stage.
I believe we are going to watch history unfold tomorrow as the folks who don't usually vote rise up and say enough is enough. Enough of the insider dealing, enough of socialism, enough of the apology tours, enough with the corruption and the list goes on. I believe that because I trust there are more brave Americans willing to make a real change than those who are too afraid to take a chance on an outsider. Hillary Clinton represents 30 years of scandals, failed policies, dead Americans, and wars. Isn't it enough yet? I believe it is and I think most Americans will agree tomorrow.
4:00 P.M.
That is the biggest question to be answered by the vote tomorrow. If Donald Trump is right, there is a real movement behind him which will push him into office with a clear victory. If he is wrong, then Hillary Clinton will prevail in a much closer race. Trump has taken the biggest risk by coming from the private sector, where he reigned as one of the biggest moguls, and putting himself into the public square. There, he has been properly drawn and quartered by an unsympathetic media and his enemies. Much of it he brought on himself, but the evidence is mounting he was up against an unholy alliance between the media, the Obama White House and the Clinton Campaign. In fact, even a large group of Republicans denounced his candidacy, including the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Yet, in the face of all that scorn and anger, Donald Trump finds himself at the door of the White House. With the race as close as it seems to be, isn't that alone a huge accomplishment?
If Trump loses a close election tomorrow, the Dems are sure to pounce and say his run was a fluke and nothing in his message was worth listening to. They will paint him as a lout, a bigot, a racist and all kinds of horrible labels. They won't stop there. Their wrath will be put upon his supporters too. If you think Louis Lerner's targeting of Tea Party groups was bad, just wait for what a Clinton White house will do. We will be lucky if we have a single small business left standing in 4 years. There will be cries of we told you so, of a mandate for Clinton and a continual downplay of all the nasty illegal things which have come to light.
If Trump were to win tomorrow, I believe it will be in a landslide and a mandate will be clearly established. Dems will still claim he is not the rightful winner, but if it is by anything more than 4 points, they will be yelling into the wind.
Expert after expert is calling for the close Clinton win. When asked about the trends of polls going to Trump, most of them dismiss it as too little, to late. I disagree.
Unlike most of them, I have been watching the Trump Rallies for the past three weeks and one thing is clear; his draw is growing, not diminishing. Just yesterday he held 5 events across the country with an average attendance of 17,000 people. Those numbers do not include the thousands who were outside the venues, too late to get in or turned back by fire officials. Even his running mate, Mike Pence, has been drawing huge crowds in. These guys are doing it for the most part by themselves. How many of you know he was in Leesburg Virginia last night until around 1 A.M.? He had to do it because he had thousands of Virginian voters were willing to wait for him and he was smart enough not to let them down. If you happen to watch his events, they are crowded with people who cannot wait to vote for him. Chants of "Lock her up!" and "Drain the Swamp!" have become the norm everywhere he goes.
Clinton events, when she has them, are not the same. That is a fact not lost on her campaign either. That's why she has had to rely on the Obama's, her husband and now even celebrities to prop her up. Even that is not working folks. At an event last week at a fairgrounds in Florida, her running mate, Tim Kaine, only had 30 people show up. That is not a typo!
Could anything be more embarrassing or sad?
What my eyes are telling me is this. Just as in January 2010 with the Scott Brown Senate election, the regular folks are rising up right in front of us. I remember being at a rally for Scott at Mechanics Hall in Worcester two days before the special election. The hall was filled to capacity, every media outlet was there and the energy was incredible. I was lucky enough to be on stage and the view was amazing. Although there were some celebrities on stage with us, like Curt Schilling and Lenny Clark, it was Scott who brought the house down by coming on stage.
 | |||
| View from the stage at Mechanics Hall, Worcester MA Jan 2010 |
I believe we are going to watch history unfold tomorrow as the folks who don't usually vote rise up and say enough is enough. Enough of the insider dealing, enough of socialism, enough of the apology tours, enough with the corruption and the list goes on. I believe that because I trust there are more brave Americans willing to make a real change than those who are too afraid to take a chance on an outsider. Hillary Clinton represents 30 years of scandals, failed policies, dead Americans, and wars. Isn't it enough yet? I believe it is and I think most Americans will agree tomorrow.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Sometimes You Should Look to History for the Answer
November 5, 2016
8:00 P.M.
In 72 hours, polls in the East Coast will start closing and the beginning of the end of this national election, Er. nightmare, will be over. In the next three days, millions of our fellow citizens will be deciding on the future of our country. Millions of others have already cast a vote. I bet more than a few of them would like that vote back, given what we learned from the FBI last week. As the story of the corruption at the Clinton Foundation ebbed and flowed, I was reminded of another time in our history when it seemed like our government was out of control with scandal and partisan fights. To be sure, I was only ten in 1974 and certainly not aware enough to know all the details about the nightly news stories I was seeing, but I sure as heck knew the words Watergate, Libby, Nixon, Vietnam War, Israel, Beirut, China, etc. etc. I knew them because back in those days our family, like most, had dinner and then sat and watched the news on one of the three networks available, ABC, CBS and NBC. My parents favorite was Walter Cronkite so CBS was the winner every night. One moment stood out more than any other that year.
On August 9, 1974, I was a happy ten year old enjoying summer and probably heading off to spend time with my friends outside when I was stopped short by an unfamiliar sound. My mother always had soap operas tuned in which I thought were the most boring pieces of dribble I ever watched. On that day her show was interrupted by a breaking news alert. This was in a time when those alerts meant something, usually bad like a major plane crash or a famous death. In this case it was something far more historic. President Nixon, who had won a landslide victory just a little under 2 years earlier, was resigning from office. My mother was transfixed to the TV and when I went to ask her something about it, she waved her hand and said watch, this is history. For the next hour, or maybe longer, I watched the speech, the wave from the helicopter door with his trademark double V's and then watched as President Ford was sworn in. I was too young to know this had happened only 11 years earlier when another Vice President had been sworn in, but my mother remembered it vividly and for her it stirred emotions I could not grasp at the time. The gravity of the event was not lost on me and I never did forget it. As I got older I learned more about the scandal and it became clear to me why Nixon resigned.
In three days, we will be faced with the possibility of another Nixon situation. It's clear now the FBI is eyes deep in investigations involving the Clinton Foundation, the State Department under then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, mishandling of classified information, possible obstruction of justice; the list goes on and on and even involves a disgraced ex-congressman sending naked pictures of himself to a minor. If we elect Clinton, this is what she will bring with her into the Oval Office. On that one point there can be no argument. No matter how much her sympathizers try to spin it, this is not a good situation for her. If we elect her, we risk making it an even worse situation for our country.
One of the spins I found to be most egregious was from Andrea Mitchell, the living fossil who is reporting for NBC on Clinton from the campaign trail. She is insisting in her reports that the FBI case is just a review. She is either senile or just corrupt. Why? Because in order to get information off of the newly found computer, the FBI had to get a search warrant. That means someone at the Justice Department under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, agreed with the FBI that there was probable cause that a crime had been or was going to be committed and they presented the search warrant application to a Federal Judge. That Judge also agreed with the probable cause reason and granted the search warrant. Folks, search warrants are only issued in criminal cases in order to secure evidence suspected of being part of a crime. The bottom line is this; Hillary Rodman Clinton and many of her associates are under criminal investigation by the FBI with reluctant approval of the Obama Justice Department. You might be asking yourself, "So what? What can I do about any of this?"
Unlike the American electorate in 1972, we know for a fact one of the nominees is being criminally investigated by the FBI. I would suggest Donald Trump is raw, imperfect, even a bit of an ogre, but he is not involved in any known criminal investigations by the FBI. We know that because FBI Director Comey refused to say so when asked directly.
If you have not voted yet, I would ask that you think like a citizen and put the good of the country ahead of partisan politics. Democrat, Republican, Independent, it doesn't matter. We are all Americans and if we love this country shouldn't we ask ourselves if it's right to take a chance on someone who is going to drag us through a scandal filled presidency?
8:00 P.M.
In 72 hours, polls in the East Coast will start closing and the beginning of the end of this national election, Er. nightmare, will be over. In the next three days, millions of our fellow citizens will be deciding on the future of our country. Millions of others have already cast a vote. I bet more than a few of them would like that vote back, given what we learned from the FBI last week. As the story of the corruption at the Clinton Foundation ebbed and flowed, I was reminded of another time in our history when it seemed like our government was out of control with scandal and partisan fights. To be sure, I was only ten in 1974 and certainly not aware enough to know all the details about the nightly news stories I was seeing, but I sure as heck knew the words Watergate, Libby, Nixon, Vietnam War, Israel, Beirut, China, etc. etc. I knew them because back in those days our family, like most, had dinner and then sat and watched the news on one of the three networks available, ABC, CBS and NBC. My parents favorite was Walter Cronkite so CBS was the winner every night. One moment stood out more than any other that year.
On August 9, 1974, I was a happy ten year old enjoying summer and probably heading off to spend time with my friends outside when I was stopped short by an unfamiliar sound. My mother always had soap operas tuned in which I thought were the most boring pieces of dribble I ever watched. On that day her show was interrupted by a breaking news alert. This was in a time when those alerts meant something, usually bad like a major plane crash or a famous death. In this case it was something far more historic. President Nixon, who had won a landslide victory just a little under 2 years earlier, was resigning from office. My mother was transfixed to the TV and when I went to ask her something about it, she waved her hand and said watch, this is history. For the next hour, or maybe longer, I watched the speech, the wave from the helicopter door with his trademark double V's and then watched as President Ford was sworn in. I was too young to know this had happened only 11 years earlier when another Vice President had been sworn in, but my mother remembered it vividly and for her it stirred emotions I could not grasp at the time. The gravity of the event was not lost on me and I never did forget it. As I got older I learned more about the scandal and it became clear to me why Nixon resigned.
In three days, we will be faced with the possibility of another Nixon situation. It's clear now the FBI is eyes deep in investigations involving the Clinton Foundation, the State Department under then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, mishandling of classified information, possible obstruction of justice; the list goes on and on and even involves a disgraced ex-congressman sending naked pictures of himself to a minor. If we elect Clinton, this is what she will bring with her into the Oval Office. On that one point there can be no argument. No matter how much her sympathizers try to spin it, this is not a good situation for her. If we elect her, we risk making it an even worse situation for our country.
One of the spins I found to be most egregious was from Andrea Mitchell, the living fossil who is reporting for NBC on Clinton from the campaign trail. She is insisting in her reports that the FBI case is just a review. She is either senile or just corrupt. Why? Because in order to get information off of the newly found computer, the FBI had to get a search warrant. That means someone at the Justice Department under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, agreed with the FBI that there was probable cause that a crime had been or was going to be committed and they presented the search warrant application to a Federal Judge. That Judge also agreed with the probable cause reason and granted the search warrant. Folks, search warrants are only issued in criminal cases in order to secure evidence suspected of being part of a crime. The bottom line is this; Hillary Rodman Clinton and many of her associates are under criminal investigation by the FBI with reluctant approval of the Obama Justice Department. You might be asking yourself, "So what? What can I do about any of this?"
Unlike the American electorate in 1972, we know for a fact one of the nominees is being criminally investigated by the FBI. I would suggest Donald Trump is raw, imperfect, even a bit of an ogre, but he is not involved in any known criminal investigations by the FBI. We know that because FBI Director Comey refused to say so when asked directly.
If you have not voted yet, I would ask that you think like a citizen and put the good of the country ahead of partisan politics. Democrat, Republican, Independent, it doesn't matter. We are all Americans and if we love this country shouldn't we ask ourselves if it's right to take a chance on someone who is going to drag us through a scandal filled presidency?
Thursday, November 3, 2016
After You Went to Sleep Last Night, the Whole World Changed
Thursday November 3, 2016
As you wake up today you will no doubt be bombarded with news of the Chicago Cubs having won the world series. First off, I want to congratulate both the Cleveland Indians and the Cubs for one of the best World Series ever, except of course for any the Red Sox were in. Just kidding. It was fun to watch and definitely a nice distraction to have right now. But real life is hitting us in the face today, and it ain't good folks. As unbelievable, and as surprising as the story of the Cubs winning is, there are actually bigger stories to digest. Unfortunately, unless you tune in to talk radio, go online, watch FOX News or read the Wall Street Journal, you won't hear those headlines for a few more days. Rest assured, these are too big to ignore and you will hear them soon, everywhere. Since it's late, I will paraphrase and keep it short.
First off FOX News, in multiple reports tonight, is saying there are at least five on-going investigations into corruption involving the Clinton Foundation. (Before you roll your eyes and think, "There he goes again," I would ask you to bear with me for a bit.) Those investigations are at least a year old and are right now taking a high priority. FOX is also saying the email case has turned up evidence that at least 5 foreign countries did hack into the Clinton private server and that new emails previously not released at any time have been found on the laptop turned over by Anthony Wiener. They also reported that their sources are saying Clinton will be indicted based on the new evidence. Their words, not mine folks. You can read about all the findings reported to FOX with at least two sources in the FBI by clicking here.
FOX Report
Incredibly the Wall Street Journal report is even worse. According to the WSJ, the FBI and the Obama Justice Department had a conflict about pursuing the Clinton Foundation case more aggressively last year. According to that report, which you can read here, WSJ Report FBI agents who were investigating another unknown corruption case using a wiretap, heard a conversation about what sounded like corrupt deals involving the Clinton Foundation. When they went to their superiors, (as in the Obama Justice Department), they were told it was not strong enough evidence to warrant further investigation. Fortunately, the FBI ignored them and has continued the investigation. When you add all of this to the revelations from the Wiki Leaks, the case becomes extremely clear and the dots are easy to connect.
I believe, in a relatively short amount of time, now that this stuff is getting out in the open, you will start hearing about a grand jury, people turning states evidence, more warrants, and maybe some immunity to some players. All of this involves the Clintons, their inner circle, major players around the world, private companies, millions and millions of dollars and maybe even Obama himself.
Jefferson said there would come a time when the Republic would be threatened and the people would notice, and a movement would be formed to make things right. I sincerely believe we are at such a moment. Is Donald Trump the answer? No He is a symptom, and the tip of the spear which leads a movement, the existence of which no one can argue.
My question to you, the reader, is this. Are you willing to lose this country as we know it just for the sake of winning an election of someone so corrupt? I am an optimist and I want to believe the reason all of this stuff is coming out, and it's a lot at this point, is because there are true patriots working in our government who really do see a Clinton election as a literal threat to our country. If they are willing to risk everything to get us the truth, shouldn't we be willing to take a different path and say no more to the corruption of the past and instead try to forge a better future, if not for us then for our children, and their children? I think the answer is clear, and judging from the newest polls, I think a lot of fellow Americans are starting to agree on what that answer is.
As you wake up today you will no doubt be bombarded with news of the Chicago Cubs having won the world series. First off, I want to congratulate both the Cleveland Indians and the Cubs for one of the best World Series ever, except of course for any the Red Sox were in. Just kidding. It was fun to watch and definitely a nice distraction to have right now. But real life is hitting us in the face today, and it ain't good folks. As unbelievable, and as surprising as the story of the Cubs winning is, there are actually bigger stories to digest. Unfortunately, unless you tune in to talk radio, go online, watch FOX News or read the Wall Street Journal, you won't hear those headlines for a few more days. Rest assured, these are too big to ignore and you will hear them soon, everywhere. Since it's late, I will paraphrase and keep it short.
First off FOX News, in multiple reports tonight, is saying there are at least five on-going investigations into corruption involving the Clinton Foundation. (Before you roll your eyes and think, "There he goes again," I would ask you to bear with me for a bit.) Those investigations are at least a year old and are right now taking a high priority. FOX is also saying the email case has turned up evidence that at least 5 foreign countries did hack into the Clinton private server and that new emails previously not released at any time have been found on the laptop turned over by Anthony Wiener. They also reported that their sources are saying Clinton will be indicted based on the new evidence. Their words, not mine folks. You can read about all the findings reported to FOX with at least two sources in the FBI by clicking here.
FOX Report
Incredibly the Wall Street Journal report is even worse. According to the WSJ, the FBI and the Obama Justice Department had a conflict about pursuing the Clinton Foundation case more aggressively last year. According to that report, which you can read here, WSJ Report FBI agents who were investigating another unknown corruption case using a wiretap, heard a conversation about what sounded like corrupt deals involving the Clinton Foundation. When they went to their superiors, (as in the Obama Justice Department), they were told it was not strong enough evidence to warrant further investigation. Fortunately, the FBI ignored them and has continued the investigation. When you add all of this to the revelations from the Wiki Leaks, the case becomes extremely clear and the dots are easy to connect.
I believe, in a relatively short amount of time, now that this stuff is getting out in the open, you will start hearing about a grand jury, people turning states evidence, more warrants, and maybe some immunity to some players. All of this involves the Clintons, their inner circle, major players around the world, private companies, millions and millions of dollars and maybe even Obama himself.
Jefferson said there would come a time when the Republic would be threatened and the people would notice, and a movement would be formed to make things right. I sincerely believe we are at such a moment. Is Donald Trump the answer? No He is a symptom, and the tip of the spear which leads a movement, the existence of which no one can argue.
My question to you, the reader, is this. Are you willing to lose this country as we know it just for the sake of winning an election of someone so corrupt? I am an optimist and I want to believe the reason all of this stuff is coming out, and it's a lot at this point, is because there are true patriots working in our government who really do see a Clinton election as a literal threat to our country. If they are willing to risk everything to get us the truth, shouldn't we be willing to take a different path and say no more to the corruption of the past and instead try to forge a better future, if not for us then for our children, and their children? I think the answer is clear, and judging from the newest polls, I think a lot of fellow Americans are starting to agree on what that answer is.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
One Week Left and Clinton Camp is Desperately Trying to Change the Subject
Tuesday November 1, 2010
Last Friday when news broke that the FBI was reopening the Clinton email case, the first reaction from her and her campaign was to say they weren't notified by anyone and they didn't know what all the fuss was about. As the information started to leak out Friday night and into Saturday about the emails in question and where they came from, the campaign disappeared. Then Sunday came and they came out swinging. The narrative they decided to use? Blame the cop, in this case FBI Director Comey, for violating longstanding practises and at the same time demand from him all of the information he was looking at. If any of you have children, you have seen this defense many times over. I remember as a young fourteen year old teenager, I decided to move my Aunt's brand new 1977 Camaro from behind my cousins car in the driveway. Problem was, it was a sports car and when I went to shift it, it jumped forward at about 20mph into the back of my cousin's car. My uncle took the blame but a few years later my grandmother confronted me with a question.
"Were you the one driving Debbie's car that day?" It wasn't my grandmother I was worried about. It was my father whom she might tell if I owned up.
So my first response was to ask her back, "Why, what have you been told?"
At that moment my grandmother knew I was guilty as heck and although she never did tell my father, she never let me forget it either. Every time I heard Hillary or one of her team asking those questions over the weekend, I was reminded of that moment long ago. Even if by some miracle the 650,000 new emails do not contain any incriminating evidence, it is clear she is worried, if by nothing else than her attack on Comey. Which leads us back to the deleted, bleached emails she never turned over. It's hard to imagine those were all about yoga and such, like she says, but one never knows. Let's just for a moment think, maybe there are some incriminating emails among those that were bleached off her server. I know, it's hard to imagine Hillary Clinton doing that, but play along just this once. Just think of how that might rattle her to learn that the FBI is now in possession of them. Add to that, her closest friend didn't go along with the program and obliterate all the evidence, which could mean she was going to use the information as leverage at some later date, or worse, maybe she was actually a spy.
Yesterday the Clinton team were able to coerce an admission by the FBI that there is a preliminary inquest into Trump former campaign manager Paul Manafort, , and two other unnamed Trump staffers concerning possible ties to the Russian Government. MSN NEWS This was clearly a Hail Mary pass since there is actual evidence from the wiki leaks that Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, actually owned stock in the Russian company which bought 20% of our Uranium supplies through a deal arranged by the Clintons. So to use this attack shows desperation because they must know there will be blow back concerning that deal. After a few hours, it became clear that the message wouldn't stick anyway. Not in the face of such blatant corruption and the added sex scandal aspect of the whole mess.
Toda, they are attempting to bring up the Trump taxes again. It's almost laughable at the audacity of it all. I mean, does anyone really care about his taxes anymore? Then there is James Carville, who became apoplectic while talking to MSNBC when he started screaming it's Comey, It's the Russians and the KGB's fault that Clinton is in this mess, as if yelling loud will change the facts. Um, not quite James. If Hillary Clinton hadn't set up a private server to hide her criminal enterprise, there would have never been a story in the first place.
Click here to watch Carville's meltdown: Real Clear Politics-MSNBC Clip
This afternoon, Clinton said the emails belonged to a "staffer" and she welcomes the investigation into the staffer's emails. She then incredulously says she is sure they will come to the same conclusion as they did when looking into her emails. This is a sign of complete denial on her part considering this story is four days old and there are enough reports out there which clearly state there are emails from her server on the laptop. You know, the laptop turned in by Anthony Wiener, A.K.A. Carlos Danger (I can't help but put that in there every time I refer to him, it's just too good.), to the FBI as part of the case involving him sexting a minor. And the "staffer" referred to by Clinton? She is none other than Huma Abedin, her closest adviser and confidant for over 25 years. What a way to refer to her, wow. Of course Clinton is probably not buying Huma's excuse for why she had 650,000 emails on a laptop she forgot she owns anymore than the rest of us do. This proves once again, once the trust is gone, it's almost always fatal to a relationship, no matter how strong it appears. Kind of like the relationship Hillary Clinton thought she had with most of the voters this year.
Last Friday when news broke that the FBI was reopening the Clinton email case, the first reaction from her and her campaign was to say they weren't notified by anyone and they didn't know what all the fuss was about. As the information started to leak out Friday night and into Saturday about the emails in question and where they came from, the campaign disappeared. Then Sunday came and they came out swinging. The narrative they decided to use? Blame the cop, in this case FBI Director Comey, for violating longstanding practises and at the same time demand from him all of the information he was looking at. If any of you have children, you have seen this defense many times over. I remember as a young fourteen year old teenager, I decided to move my Aunt's brand new 1977 Camaro from behind my cousins car in the driveway. Problem was, it was a sports car and when I went to shift it, it jumped forward at about 20mph into the back of my cousin's car. My uncle took the blame but a few years later my grandmother confronted me with a question.
"Were you the one driving Debbie's car that day?" It wasn't my grandmother I was worried about. It was my father whom she might tell if I owned up.
So my first response was to ask her back, "Why, what have you been told?"
At that moment my grandmother knew I was guilty as heck and although she never did tell my father, she never let me forget it either. Every time I heard Hillary or one of her team asking those questions over the weekend, I was reminded of that moment long ago. Even if by some miracle the 650,000 new emails do not contain any incriminating evidence, it is clear she is worried, if by nothing else than her attack on Comey. Which leads us back to the deleted, bleached emails she never turned over. It's hard to imagine those were all about yoga and such, like she says, but one never knows. Let's just for a moment think, maybe there are some incriminating emails among those that were bleached off her server. I know, it's hard to imagine Hillary Clinton doing that, but play along just this once. Just think of how that might rattle her to learn that the FBI is now in possession of them. Add to that, her closest friend didn't go along with the program and obliterate all the evidence, which could mean she was going to use the information as leverage at some later date, or worse, maybe she was actually a spy.
Yesterday the Clinton team were able to coerce an admission by the FBI that there is a preliminary inquest into Trump former campaign manager Paul Manafort, , and two other unnamed Trump staffers concerning possible ties to the Russian Government. MSN NEWS This was clearly a Hail Mary pass since there is actual evidence from the wiki leaks that Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, actually owned stock in the Russian company which bought 20% of our Uranium supplies through a deal arranged by the Clintons. So to use this attack shows desperation because they must know there will be blow back concerning that deal. After a few hours, it became clear that the message wouldn't stick anyway. Not in the face of such blatant corruption and the added sex scandal aspect of the whole mess.
Toda, they are attempting to bring up the Trump taxes again. It's almost laughable at the audacity of it all. I mean, does anyone really care about his taxes anymore? Then there is James Carville, who became apoplectic while talking to MSNBC when he started screaming it's Comey, It's the Russians and the KGB's fault that Clinton is in this mess, as if yelling loud will change the facts. Um, not quite James. If Hillary Clinton hadn't set up a private server to hide her criminal enterprise, there would have never been a story in the first place.
Click here to watch Carville's meltdown: Real Clear Politics-MSNBC Clip
This afternoon, Clinton said the emails belonged to a "staffer" and she welcomes the investigation into the staffer's emails. She then incredulously says she is sure they will come to the same conclusion as they did when looking into her emails. This is a sign of complete denial on her part considering this story is four days old and there are enough reports out there which clearly state there are emails from her server on the laptop. You know, the laptop turned in by Anthony Wiener, A.K.A. Carlos Danger (I can't help but put that in there every time I refer to him, it's just too good.), to the FBI as part of the case involving him sexting a minor. And the "staffer" referred to by Clinton? She is none other than Huma Abedin, her closest adviser and confidant for over 25 years. What a way to refer to her, wow. Of course Clinton is probably not buying Huma's excuse for why she had 650,000 emails on a laptop she forgot she owns anymore than the rest of us do. This proves once again, once the trust is gone, it's almost always fatal to a relationship, no matter how strong it appears. Kind of like the relationship Hillary Clinton thought she had with most of the voters this year.
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