Author: evenabrokenclock10

An update

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Hello everyone!  Once again, it’s Carrie – not Jeff.

I wanted to share an update, because today is a significant day.  Today, April 8th, is exactly six months since Jeff was diagnosed with his brain bleed, changing our life completely.

First, a couple of pieces of good news:

  1. Jeff recently had a CT scan with contrast. That test is nearly identical to the test that found the original bleed.  This time, the test determined that he is completely stable and has no additional bleeding.
  2. Both of Jeff’s therapists have reported that he is progressing very well.  He has improved in both speech and occupational skills.  I’ve noticed the same.
  3. Jeff is doing all the physical activities he was doing before the bleed, including puttering in the garden (weather permitting), taking walks, doing his own laundry, and cooking.

Now, onto the continuing challenges (There’s no bad news – just challenges):

  1. It takes Jeff a long time to read the newspaper, because he has to read slowly to understand what’s he’s reading.  The same can be said of articles in Science.  I’m glad he’s reading.
  2. Jeff still has trouble finding the correct words at times. However, we both have learned how to work through that.

I was so proud of him this past Sunday.  It was our 36th wedding anniversary, and he made a dinner reservation without any help from me.  He gave great thought to setting the time, because we both wanted to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates’ afternoon game.  Normally, there would have been no problem with a 5:15 reservation time after a 1:40 game start. But, this is the Pirates, and they are really good at complicating matters. They managed to blow a 4-1 lead in the top of the ninth.  Luckily, they were able to walk it off in the bottom of the 11th, so we made dinner on time.

In the before times (prior to 10/8/24), I would have taken all the above for granted.  But it’s now the after times, and small things like this are reasons for rejoicing, because it is real progress.

The journey continues . . .

The Missing Man Returns — Sort of

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Hello everyone!  If you have missed Jeff’s posts, there is a good reason for that. Before I tell you why, I need to tell you that I’m not Jeff.  I’m Carrie, his wife, and I’ve taken over for the time being.

On October 8, 2024, Jeff woke up speaking a language not known in this universe – Klingon, maybe? After listening to his gibberish for a few minutes, I told him something was not right with him and we needed to see the doctor. One phone call later, and we were on our way to her office. It took her about thirty seconds to realize that we needed more help than she could give. So, off we were again, instructed to go directly to the local ER, and NOT to stop at the local Tudor’s Biscuit World (that’s a thing in West Virginia).

We arrived at the ER for Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, WV.  Jeff walked into the ER under his own power (that will become important later).  Testing revealed a brain bleed located just above his left ear (that also becomes important later).  He was then whisked into a helicopter for a trip to Ruby Memorial in Morgantown, WV, flagship hospital for the WVU Medical system.  I followed in my car after a stop at home and drove up the interstate at about the same speed as the chopper, alternating between prayers to arrive in one piece and rehearsing what I would say to any police officer who stopped me.

When I arrived at Ruby, I found Jeff in the Neuro Critical Care Unit, where he was taken after having been stabilized in the ER.  I also found my son Andrew. He arrived while Jeff was in the ER, He had a shorter trip, since he was coming from Pittsburgh.  I couldn’t have gotten through this without him.

For each of the next two days, Jeff underwent a procedure in which the surgeons entered his body through his groin, somewhat like a cardiac catherization. Unlike the more familiar cardiac version, the surgeons threaded their instruments to the brain, using x-ray as a guide. There, they shut off the blood flow, using a combination of surgical glue, mesh, and cauterization. It was necessary to do this twice because there is a limit to the amount of radiation a person can have in a day. But after the second procedure, one of the neurosurgeons, Dr. Lee, came to Jeff’s room, showed me images of Jeff’s brain, and told me they believed all the vessels had been shut off.  He used the word “cure.”

To me, this is a miracle of modern medicine. Thirty years ago, a brain bleed like Jeff’s would have likely resulted in either death or permanent brain damage, possibly rendering a person a vegetable.  Fifteen years ago, surgeons would have had to shave the head and saw through the skull to reach the bleed. Such invasive surgery had very little in the way of guarantees and a whole lot of risks.  I find myself grateful.

Jeff’s brain bleed (actual medical term is hemorrhagic stroke) was caused by something called and A-V malformation that Jeff may have had all his life. Normally, arteries lead to capillaries, which then lead into veins.  Arteries can be imagined as the water main carrying water up the street – high pressure lines.  Veins can be imagined as the plumbing inside your house – usually lower pressure lines. Capillaries in the vascular system serve the same function, in part, as a pressure reducer found just inside a house’s plumbing system – they reduce the pressure of the flow. In an A-V malformation, the capillaries are missing, putting too much pressure on the veins, which, in Jeff’s case, began to bleed. His general blood pressure had been elevated,  exacerbating the situation. 

In total, Jeff was in the hospital for sixteen days. After a few days of heavy-duty monitoring in Neuro Critical Care, he was moved to the general Stroke Unit, and ultimately to rehab at the United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, WV.   There, he received at least three hours of therapy daily, divided between physical, occupational, and speech.

On October 24th, Jeff was released to come home and start receiving outpatient therapies. He no longer needs physical therapy. What he did have as an inpatient was to restore strength after the surgeries and just from being in bed so long. The brain bleed did not affect his mobility (remember what I said about his walking into the ER).  He continues with speech and occupational therapy because the place where the bleed happened is the area of the brain that governs speech, reasoning, concepts of time, and memory.  It will be a long-term project (years, maybe) to get those things restored to the extent they can be.

A few final observations about this experience:

  1. It is NEVER a good idea to give someone four different laxatives at once. ‘Nuff said.  At least I didn’t have to clean that one up.
  2. The nursing staff are the real heroes/heroines in the hospital system. See point #1 above.
  3. Although the care at Ruby Memorial was outstanding, being hospitalized there is problematic during football season. The front of the hospital is a parking lot away from the WVU football stadium, and hospital parking is kicked off the lot for home games.  Since my car has a license plate frame that says, “We Are Marshall” (in-state rival), I made sure to observe the deadlines, because I really didn’t want to be towed.
  4. Thank goodness for Medicare and our Medicare supplement plan.  From the time Jeff walked into the Thomas ER, until he was discharged to come home, every bit of the cost has been completely covered.  That included the medical helicopter, originally billed at over $62,000.00.
  5. I have the best sons.  David and Andrew have been completely supportive throughout, as much as they can be, with the demands of their work.
  6. If you know someone who is the caregiver for someone who is in long-term recovery, be nice to them. It’s a hard job.  Better yet, ask them what they need in the way of help, and then follow through.

If you have read all this, thank you.  Jeff hopes to be back soon.

Now It Makes Sense

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“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” 

This famous quote from Maya Angelou certainly holds true when considering it in view of the current political climate. Apparently, many of Donald Trump’s supporters want the person who has been revealed time after time.

They want the person who disparages military service and sacrifice. They do not mind that their cult hero stands in front of soldier’s graves, smiling and sending a thumbs-up salute to those who are receptive to such a message. Many others within Trump’s orbit have commented on the disdain he has shown before towards those currently in the military, or those who suffered wounds or death wearing the uniform. Yes, Trump denies having shown disrespect, because people have called him out for it. Like the toddler caught with cookie crumbs around his mouth, his only response is to lie about it. Nothing to see at Arlington, it was all made up to make him look bad. Never mind that he equated contributing millions to his campaign with someone receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor, and that was just recently, showing that his state of mind has not changed.

They want someone who can come up with the most pithy nickname for an opponent. Whether that is someone with the temerity to hold him to account, or a true political rival, it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether he is able to drive the conversation the way he wants it to go, and whether people automatically apply the nickname whenever the opponent is mentioned. And above all, make sure you own the libs. They want that most of all.

They want someone who supposedly is a fabulously successful businessman. Even though entities affiliated with the Trump name have had to seek bankruptcy protection many times in the past, the “Golden Boy” has escaped the terrible consequences of failure. In fact, due to a misguided reality show, many of his core supporters still believe in the myth of his success and business acumen represented by his character on his show.

They want someone to speak their prejudices out loud. It’s about time according to them, that someone spoke the quiet part out loud. After all, according to them, it is only the descendants of white European settlers who had the brainpower and moral standing to tame this savage continent and make it fruitful. Now we seem to want to turn it over to those Johnny-come-lately people from shithole countries. Well, no more.

They want someone who will stand up to the real enemies of this country. No, not those other nations who we really should be getting along with, like Russia and North Korea, but those elites who lord it over the real patriots of this nation, who do the real work. We should never have let these cities grow so big. People get strange ideas there, like all citizens have a right to vote. This country has gone downhill ever since those uppity blacks demanded we end Jim Crow laws, and indeed, ever since women got the right to vote. It’s about time someone spoke the real truth.

They want someone who thumbs his nose at any attempt to hold him accountable. He himself is blameless, it always has to be someone else at fault. The laws of the nation were not intended to apply to him. After all, he is the Chosen One. It was just a mistake they made when the laws were written, in that they did not carve out a deserved exception for the Chosen One.

They want someone who has all the answers. There is no room for any hesitation, any uncertainty. They want someone who is so sure of themselves, they need not review any topic where they may be a little less knowledgeable. No, if you are not sure of an answer, bullshit your way through an answer, any answer. Weave and bob through the discomfort you feel. Just make sure you appear to yourself to be supremely in control of the situation. That is what they want, those who have taken you into their heart as their ultimate champion.

They want someone to disrespect them. They know they are worthless, and Donald is happy to give them the disdain they so truly desire and deserve.

For that is what they want and need. What Mussolini provided, what propelled Hitler, that is what they want. And they think the answers are found in the persona of Donald Trump. You know, he was not wrong about being able to shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose any followers. What he didn’t say though, was that he could shoot one of his followers, and they would relish the individualized attention they received from their savior. Even if it was in the form of hot lead.

Summer Reveries

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You can always tell it is full summer when the hummer wars begin. We hang out two feeders, and early in the summer, there is no competition for the feeders. But at some point, a male hummer takes possession of the feeders, and chases off any interloper.eH That is the line of demarcation between low and high summer. The sound track of high summer consists of the shrill calls of the katydid, along with the pulsating sounds of the cicadas. Weeds even grow dormant as the relentless heat bakes us during this drought we find ourselves in. Leaves on the trees were impressively green despite the lack of moisture, but now the leaves are tinged more often in shades of yellow and brown and the ground is littered with the shriveled hulks of the losers in the moisture war. So last week, we got over 2 1/2” of rain at one time that was not forecast. It probably will be too little too late for anything other than the weeds.

It is time to take stock of the other species who share our land. I see the neon-blue skinks as they skitter across our small retaining wall while I weed. Once I saw the box turtle who lives on our hillside, coming down our front slope. It must have survived the existential journey across our street, since even on our quiet street, we average 3 vehicles per minute. I wonder how I must have appeared to the turtle, who was looking up at this horrendously large being, trying to determine whether it would be worthwhile to pull head and legs inside of the protective shell. I left the box turtle to explore on its own, and went back inside. I saw it cross our steps, but then it disappeared. I’m just glad to see it back for another year. I do remember one year when I saw turtles mating in the back yard. It is tough not to anthropomorphize when you see them slowly turn their heads toward you, as if to say, “Hey! How about a little privacy here.”

We can never go far away from our largest visitors – the deer. Each year we see the new generation grace our yard. This one was particularly noisy as the fawn nursed on our driveway. There are two fawns that like to lay down in our back yard. No pictures of them dining from their mother. Soon the fawn’s spots will fade, and they will take on the behavior of their parents. By this time next year, we may swear at them if they forage in our flowers or our garden. But at this age, their cuteness wins them a bit of a reprieve.

There are some visitors to our hummingbird feeders that do not elicit a territorial response. The flickers sneak up on the feeder, first trying out our cherry tree in the yard, then flying over to the palm we keep in our summer living room, and only then selecting the feeder as their ultimate destination – unless they notice us, in which case they are likely to fly away. They are ten times larger than the hummers, so it is not a direct competition between the two species. Then the red-headed woodpecker announces its presence by drilling our soffit. Soon our feeder is overwhelmed by the size of the latest visitor. I’m still waiting for the arrival of our pileated woodpecker, who dwarfs all other birds at our feeder. You can hear their call in our woods, so we know they are around. Every so often we see one partaking at the suet feeder when we hang it in winter, so we know they are familiar with our porch.

I survey our garden slopes at this time to find bulbs that have broken through the surface. If you work at it, weeding will uncover several clumps of daffodils and jonquils to distribute to others. It is amazing how a few bulbs can engender much good will when they emerge next spring in bloom. Daffodils from our yard are now growing in multiple states, and this year maybe in a few more.

This year our finch feeder is attracting more chickadees than finches. But if you are patient, you may catch a finch seeking a nyjer seed fill. At least, this year no cowbird young are being fed by finch parents, as I’ve seen in the past. Cowbird bills won’t fit in the holes for smaller birds, so I’ve seen adoptive parent birds feeding young birds that should have fledged, but are still hanging around their smaller adult “parents”. I’ve wondered how a cowbird learns its life skills when they are raised by other species, but I won’t live long enough to get that answer.

Summer is a time to unplug and unwind. Even though we are retired, we have a hiatus from choir, chorus, and symphony rehearsals. The sport of summer, baseball, invites you into its slower rhythm, at least as compared to other sports. The drama of a pitcher/hitter confrontation plays out over minutes, while other sports whiz by in a blur of athleticism. That is why baseball is so good for summer, since it seems in synch with the slower pace of life. Soon we will see leaves fall for good, and the chillier air fits in with the faster paces of football and hockey. But baseball has a way of drawing you into believing that this is your year, only to dash that hope on the rocks of a poor bullpen. Oh, well, there’s always next year.

Meet the New Boss! Same as the Old Boss!

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He missed! But he took out others in the crowd, so we cannot be totally jubilant. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful in taking down its primary target. Some say it was divine intervention that kept Donald alive, and barely wounded. I’m not sure about that, but it is an obvious fact that it was a very close miss. But if you hoped that the attempt would bring about a Road to Damascus moment for Donald, it appears you will be waiting for a very long time. It took only about a day before the murmuring to resume, only now with added emphasis based upon the assignment of blame.

Of course, according to Republicans, all of the speech that provoked this attention seeker was Democratic. It is very easy to whitewash all of the Donald’s past comments about violence as an acceptable response to political differences as simply another case of fake news. And of course, all of the sycophants are happy to go along with the flow, and lay the blame upon the enemy. It is worse at the RNC since all of the sycophants are gathered together in one space, where they feed off of each other’s energy, and they have absolutely no compunction against revising the story of our lives in the last administration. According to these speakers of their truth, it goes without saying that the economy was never better than in the 2017-2020 time period, and everyone was fat, dumb, and happy. People have never been happier than they were back then, with depressed energy prices caused by demand collapse, and 15% unemployment. Those little irritating facts just get swept away as one speaker after another tries to sell their own line of reality.

Remember, more Americans died of Covid under Biden than under Trump say the Trump cultists. So Trump must have done so much right, according to the story sold by the true believers. (I am feeling like I have a horrible cheek hernia caused by my tongue poking through my skin after penning these lines.) Unfortunately, all of this is exactly what I’ve been expecting. Nowhere is anyone willing to take any responsibility for creating the culture that results in lone punks trying to take out a presidential nominee. My late father-in-law shared his wisdom from his 90 years on this planet. He said, “there are too many guns in the hands of too many people who have no business having them.” When you combine apocalyptic rhetoric from politicians of all persuasions, along with so many weapons out there, it is a wonder that this sort of event has not happened before.

Many people now want to believe it was an evil plot that nearly succeeded in Pennsylvania. We are so expectant that nothing happens by chance, we cannot accept any result that is not formed from a complex conspiracy. As it so happens, the tiniest of actions, like turning your head unexpectedly to the side, can prevent evil from triumphing. But in our society that has been raised on conspiracies, it is now impossible to accept simple answers. According to the cultists, no one has free will. Everyone is manipulated into their actions, and the more convoluted the explanation for an event, the more likely it is to be transmitted as undeniable truth. I am reminded of the Mexican bandits in the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, except their iconic line has been changed to: “Facts? We don’ need no steenkin facts!”

So now it appears that our nation is going to be captured by a rogue minority who doesn’t believe in the changes of the past 60 years. Heck, they want to go back to the days before 1920, when US Senators were elected by legislators, women couldn’t vote, and Social Security and other safety net programs were only gleams in the eyes of the libs. All of the changes to society are suspect, and the only solution is open carry. Submit, all ye women, as ye reclaim your rightful position as being inferior to males. How do you deal with people who exist in an alternate reality? Who believe in male superiority? Forget white privilege, it is male privilege that is truly more important to the members of the cult.

So to imagine society will be brought together by the tragedy of Butler PA is a fever dream. It ain’t gonna happen! Although, I guess, if all of the people decide to join the cult, they would deign to pretend they’ve brought about unity. Of course, when you are led by someone who inherited hundreds of millions, then somehow successfully peddled the myth that he was a self-made business genius, a little lie about unity is easy to swallow.

Help Those Who Suffer From TDS

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Class, today we will discuss Trump Derangement Syndrome, or TDS. This is a disease that a significant amount of people supposedly suffer, according to the followers of DJT. We will do a deeper dive into the symptoms shared by those who are suffering this syndrome.

The first symptom is a visceral reaction to lying. This could be exposure to a statement that is flatly denied even though video of past interviews confirm the offending quote, or it could be a statement easily shown to be false, or any range of actions that reflect a reality different than those who suffer TDS experience. This visceral reaction is ridiculed by those who do not suffer from TDS. Indeed, those who are blissfully unaware of their proclivity to accept these lies have a difficult time understanding why TDS sufferers even care about lies.

Another issue is an allergy against bullying. Bullying brings up the gag reflex time after time. The symptoms it produces is often confused with bulimia. Those who share this allergy will often recall episodes in their own lives where either they witnessed acts of aggression from bullies, or were victims of bullying themselves. The idea that someone could attain power by causing their opponents to retreat by being called out by a bully is anathema to them. It reminds them of days where cogency of an argument did not matter, all that mattered was strength (and often that strength was overstated, but no one wanted to risk physical punishment by testing out the bully). It is amazing how often childhood experiences shape the adult. Those who are the bullies and never feel adverse consequences for their actions tend to keep that mode of action for their adult life also.

A symptom most sufferers of TDS share is intellectual curiosity. They are aware that they do not have the answer to all issues, and must learn about an issue from others who have more knowledge. When they encounter someone who insists they have knowledge surpassing all others, therefore they do not need to engage in learning, they become incredulous. Images of Wile E. Coyote declaring himself a Super Genius come to mind. Of course, the sufferers of TDS all remember those instances of Wile E. learning that gravity is an unalterable law. They fear the consequences of being led by someone who thinks they know more than those who have spent their lives learning about a subject. A hurricane projection with a crudely drawn extra line comes to mind, where stable genius causes an entire region to fear an oncoming storm that would never approach them.

Sufferers of TDS often face this debilitating disease in silence. There are no national foundations whose purpose is to provide healing from this disease. That is why we are announcing with this commercial a new way to assist those suffering from TDS. For only $19 a month, you can help to provide relief to those who have suffered the curse of TDS. Remember, only you can prevent TDS. And if you use a credit card, we will send you this T-shirt emblazoned with The Mug Shot. Be the first in your neighborhood to display your allegiance in the fight against TDS. Operators are standing by now.

Say, Hey!

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And yet another of my childhood heroes is gone. This time it is the one baseball player who was acclaimed as the best of all time, Wilie Mays. Back in the ‘60’s, he helped me to become a fan of the San Francisco Giants. I had migrated from being a fan of the New York Yankees (after all, they had Yogi Bear as a player), to the St. Louis Cardinals, in their heyday of the ‘60’s. But it was the Giants, with Mays, McCovey, and Marichal who captured my imagination. I still have a baseball glove that bears Bobby Bond’s signature.

To those who have a hard time imagining what being a baseball fan in the middle of the country in the 1960’s was like, put yourself in the position of only seeing one game a week on TV. Voices like Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese broadcast the images directly to me. The beer ads that permeated the air waves bore images of Bears and an old pro for an unidentifiable sport. Ads for cars featured people like Dinah Shore entreating us to “see the USA, in our Chevrolet”. Then came the game. I remember pitching matchups like Marichal and Gibson, Juan with his signature high kick, and Gibson just being dominant. Above all, there was the grace and power of Willie Mays, who could overcome the winds of Candlestick to blast another homer. I was too young to argue who was the best center fielder in New York – Snider, or Mantle, or Mays. When I became aware of baseball, the moves to the West Coast were fait accompli. So I never knew the Dodgers or the Giants as New York teams, they belonged to the West Coast. But they were featured prominently on “The Game of the Week”.

I have often wondered how Marichal would fare if he tried to use that leg kick today. When coaches are measuring the hundredths of a second for a ball to get to the catcher, those few extra moments where the leg went up to the sky would seem a useless luxury. But for the batter, who didn’t know what type of pitch was coming his way, that high leg kick was just part of the agony of waiting.

There is a feeling that things were so much better back in the past. Surely we were watching baseball at its peak. But I just saw a game this week which brought me back to those images I remember so well. It was Keller vs. Greene, and the game was scoreless into the 8th inning. Mitch Keller reminds me of Marichal, having such a wide array of pitches, and seemingly he will be the one to complete the most games during each year. The only thing I can say about the decline of the game is that the supporting cast for the team’s stars may not be as strong as it was in the ‘60’s, with people like Hart, and Cepeda, and McCovey being replaced by those who seem to struggle to reach the Mendoza line. It would be inconceivable to have regulars in a line-up who bat below .200 back in the olden days. Now? With pitching so dominant, and with home runs being so venerated, it is the strike-out that seems more frequent than ever. It used to be an anomaly to strike out over 100 times in a year. Now? It is becoming rare to see someone strike out fewer than 100 times over the course of a season.

 There are a few today who approach the level of a Mays. Aaron Judge seems capable of putting seasons together with similar statistics. It is only when you realize that Mays kept up a level of excellence for two decades that you become able to place Willy properly among the luminaries of baseball. And I do remember the last two years back with the Mets, where it was obvious that the athleticism had waned. Just like for me, where I came into the world on the day that Willy Mays made “The Catch”, I can feel my powers fading a bit as I near the 70th anniversary of my own birth.

But I guess part of the charm of baseball is the endless arguments about the players of the current age vs. those of your youth. They always were a reflection of your own youth, and just as they embodied virility and endless possibility, you took on a share of their vitality as part of your own. Now? Baseball is just too slow to capture the attention of today’s youth, since it requires you to spend actual time watching innings in order to have any appreciation for the game. My only thought is at least a bat flip will match the typical Instagram attention span.

The Unending Crisis

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And so, as of May 30, 2024, our long national nightmare …. is just beginning again. To those who believe a first conviction of a former president of the United States will result in the cause of this former president going away, I have some beach front property in West Virginia to sell to you. If anything, the clamor from the “victimized” classes is going to increase, not go away. The nattering nabobs of negativism seem to believe that only crimes defined by Republicans are legitimate crimes. They earnestly believe the entire federal government is arrayed against them, merely because they are being prosecuted by those who administer justice.

So it is abundantly clear we have a split screen nation. One side is wanting to worship the con man who fooled millions into believing he was on their side, while the other side is wondering when the gullible fools will have the scales fall from their eyes, and undergo their road to Damascus conversion. I honestly believe the true supporters of Trump will never weaken in their support for the charlatan and his supposed cause. That is because they are convinced if they admit their champion is a fraud, the entire façade they’ve built up over the years will crumble. They will have to acknowledge the US has grown beyond a monolithic white protestant culture, into one that reflects the diversity found in the world. And, quite frankly, that prospect terrifies many on the right. They will be forced to admit proficiency exists across all racial and ethnic lines, which is contrary to their belief that white is best and deserves to dominate.

You hear so many of these idolaters transfer their allegiances from God to the developer who has mucked up most of the businesses he’s been associated with over the decades. They decry the deep state that stands against their ascension again, since anyone who opposes them, must be against America. You hear many claim that Biden has been terrible, though if you push them for an example of his errors, they are unable to reply. Really, what you are seeing is the demolition of an entire belief system built up over decades. Face it, trickle down economics as enunciated by Ronald Reagan and his followers, has been a poor deal for many people. It has turned them from the middle class, to the poor who cannot afford life. Of course, since many people are incapable of understanding subtlety, they support those who scream the loudest and share the shortest soundbite to support their position. Expecting a reversal of 40 years of mismanagement, they choose to follow someone who conveniently reverses all of reality. It is so easy to draw out fake memories of times past, when things were good. Never mind that all of history is against them. And by following their selective memories, they ignore all of the evidence of future intent found in the statements of their supposed leader.

So we are to believe that crime is raging out of control, when all statistics show crime rates have come down from decades past. And we are to believe we have a feckless foreign policy, because of course, no country would dare to attack another while the past president was in control. And we are to believe the economy in the US was never better than under Trump, something than can be disproven through a simple Google search. While at the same time we are supposed to believe that truth, justice, and the American way will flourish once again if we only put these supposed patriots back in power. How gullible to they think we are?

Actually, we have very clear evidence about their beliefs. An entire party is predicated upon supporting their leader, simply because they now have a leader who uses bullying as a primary tool. Once their current leader goes away, either through electoral defeat, or through administration of justice, or through human mortality, they will turn around and select another who is capable of being a figurehead to lead their one, true cause. The many who insist on the purity of their cause will latch onto someone, anyone, who is able to deceive them into believing they need him. And have no fear, it will be a him, not a her. Eventually the Republicans will support a woman, but just as the election of Barack Obama did not eliminate the latent racism in the country, the first election of a woman to the presidency will not eliminate the misogyny of the country. Given how that trait seems rooted more firmly in one party, I predict it will be Democrats who cause the election of the first woman to the presidency.

And just like the racism that oozed out after Obama’s election, the virulent strain of misogyny will tear apart this nation even more than it is already. Face it, the attacks upon women’s agency are just beginning. Should Donald win another term, the hounds will be unleashed. Forget any form of contraception. That is something thought of by evil people who do not want women to be vessels of creation, a calling clearly authorized in the Bible (sarcasm on). That is what upsets me the most, is the misuse of the words of scripture to justify the subjugation of – just about anyone viewed as potentially progressive. When you hear about ministers who are upbraided by members of their congregation for preaching on the words of the Beatitudes, because they cast Jesus as a woke liberal, that’s when you realize there is nothing these brazen hypocrites will not do to gain power.

But then the economy. Things were so much better back then The political ads are already dripping their poison into the veins of America. And while some sense the true nature of this poison, others welcome it as they welcome morphine to ease their pains of existence. Sooner or later, they will find themselves addicted to the words of their cult leader. When that happens, we all will lose.    

The Rematch of Our Lives

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Memories! It’s amazing how memories can be manipulated. They are actually claiming conditions were so much better under the past administration, and if we only grant them our vote again, they will institute nirvana once more. Well, I invite all who have short memories to look at the archives of this blog. I began the blog after the inauguration of Donald Trump, and have kept it ever since. It is a reflection of the chaos we all felt set down in real time. But what I now see is that the chaos does not matter to so many of today’s citizens who may vote in November for Trump. No, what matters is ignorance. A recent poll from NBC shows that people who use newspapers to learn about the world favor Biden over Trump by a 70%-29% margin, while people who don’t follow political news favor Trump over Biden by a 53%-27% margin. Hidden within these numbers is a belief that traditional media gives a more comprehensive understanding vs. reading T-shirt slogans. I know some reject that belief.

So we now understand the reason why so many people are supporting Donald Trump. They are ignorant of the real issues.  At last, a real reason for why people are voting against their long-term interests. They believe politics are totally outside of their concern, and they have no need to understand issues or have any sort of political perspective. They are content just to skim the surface of culture, and are subject only to the loudest voice. That is why one party is able to claim the exact opposite of reality and get enough folks to buy into it that they are able to win elections.

I do understand that there are many who have bought into Trumpian principles. Some of them are true believers in the Republican mantra of lower taxes and smaller government, and they honestly believe other positions are evil and must be opposed. Bill Barr fits into this category, since he has come around to supporting Trump since the Biden / Democrat leftist thrust (according to him) is so evil, Trump is better by comparison. More than a few also share in the Trumpian racism which is reflected in so many of his positions, such as a vituperative distrust of any immigrants from what is called the Third World. These are the ones who believe in the great replacement theory, wherein whites are being deliberately forced into subservience and minority status, primarily by Jews who are pulling the strings of society. These are the hard core of Trump’s support, and no one will ever convince them otherwise.

No, what seems as if it is defining the election to come is the core of lazy and ignorant people who refuse to get involved. They may be convincible about the total unfitness of Donald Trump for presidential responsibilities. Somehow we must show these folks that the upcoming election is not an ordinary choice between opposing views of government. What we have instead, is a choice between reality, and a fantasy world of entrapment. Should we choose the latter, what might we expect?

For one, expect an attempt to be made to expel all who do not possess legal status inside of the US. Even if those who have a status of undocumented have lived within this country for decades, and have obeyed all other laws during that time, there will not be an exception made for good behavior. The mere act of illegal immigration will be enough to offset any subsequent behavior, and forced expatriation will be pursued throughout the second Trump administration. Expect scenes to be broadcast of crops rotting in neglected fields, followed by inflation in all prices agricultural. Remember that we no longer have a meat packing workforce that employs  legal residents, so prices for all farm protein will also skyrocket. If we thought prices escalated during the Biden administration, you can expect many times that level of inflation to afflict US consumers during the next administration.

Restaurants will close down as the work force disappears. Schools will be in flux as some students abruptly leave in order to accompany their families across a border to a land totally alien to them. Television crews will focus on those left behind, some with family support, but others trying to tough it out having lost both parental figures. The GDP of the country will nosedive as the US attempts to compensate for the loss of a substantial portion of its labor force.

This all did not have to happen. Immigration policy has been verboten to resolution in our congress for decades. Now, it appears the issue will be forced upon us because of the threats coming from one of the two political parties in this nation.

Other consequences we can expect? How about the abandonment of the rule of law, both domestic and foreign. We can expect the commitments to international order to vanish in a flurry of Presidential decrees, and people will be surprised to see an expansion in international conflicts, instead of the peace promised by Republicans. An attempt will be made to seize the levers of control for the US justice department, and only court challenges will potentially stop that from happening. Expect the job market for attorneys to ramp up, while productivity in the US economy slows to a crawl.

Of course, food-borne illnesses will take a huge jump up, as we abandon any semblance of regulatory control. All of the guard rails set up to prevent financial players from gouging clueless consumers? Gone in a blink. The political group that wants to eliminate Darwin from the schools has no qualms about unleashing financial Darwinism on the hapless people who live on the margins of the economy.

The controls on women of reproductive age will tighten. Reproductive rights? Merely a mirage, nothing to see here, your duty is to produce a new generation of citizens. The right kind of citizens, that is. Remember the laws against miscegenation? They were big when America was Great. Those same laws will reappear to prevent our culture from homogenizing. You want your government to monitor the status of your pregnancy? Your wish will be fulfilled in many states.

Worst of all, we will see the continued crackdown on political expression. TDS will become a capital offense, Even the far corners of the internet, like this blog, will be searched and forbidden. Those who think this is all hyperbole? Just go ahead with the election of Donald Trump and see how many of these projections come to fruition. This is not my choice of societies to live in for my remaining years. Unfortunately, societal dystopia may be coming for us all.

An Ode to the Orange Road Flower

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Harbinger of spring

You coat the road fringes

Blooming across the landscape

Yet often you’re cursed

Pointing our way

Avoid that road work

Slow down! You move too fast

Blooming both night and day

When work is done

You still stand guard

Until you are picked

And planted once more

No one mourns you

When you sacrifice yourself

Body all mangled

A median of plastic carnage

Do you dream of quiet?

A placid scene?

Tranquil lanes of idleness

While worlds pass you by

Come winter you sleep

Awaiting your moment

When once more

You stand guard for us all