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| Smoking more and enjoying it less 2/20/15 ` |
What you have here are nothing more than a series of aimless comments that I had posted on other websites or out in the Facebooksphere. Writing this blog is often more difficult than it should be; I mean - Heavens to freakin' Betsey! - there's just so much to write about. The problem is that there are times when one doesn't know where to begin. I'm having one of those weeks. Happy reading!
1. BROKEN RECORD DEPT:
The accepted definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to yield a different result every time. Forgive me for what may seem to some as my obsession with Jeb Bush, but if the people of this doomed country are ever again insane enough to send another member of this disgusting family to the White House, they'll deserve everything that happens to them.
Fifteen years ago I was damned near everywhere - on local radio, in the newspapers, and four times on national television (C-SPAN - anyone can get on C-Span) warning everyone who would listen what a disaster a second Bush White House would be for this country. I was pretty much ignored then. Don't ignore me now, okay? They're trying to portray Jeb as "the moderate alternative". They're lying. How do I know? As governor of Florida, he ruled that state from the far right. Since his half-witted older brother mercifully vacated the Executive Mansion six years ago, he's been desperately trying to reposition himself as a "compassionate conservative". Remember that line? We won't get fooled again, right?....RIGHT???
Fifteen years ago I was damned near everywhere - on local radio, in the newspapers, and four times on national television (C-SPAN - anyone can get on C-Span) warning everyone who would listen what a disaster a second Bush White House would be for this country. I was pretty much ignored then. Don't ignore me now, okay? They're trying to portray Jeb as "the moderate alternative". They're lying. How do I know? As governor of Florida, he ruled that state from the far right. Since his half-witted older brother mercifully vacated the Executive Mansion six years ago, he's been desperately trying to reposition himself as a "compassionate conservative". Remember that line? We won't get fooled again, right?....RIGHT???
I can't emphasize this enough, kiddies.
2. Is You Is or Is You Ain't My ISIS?
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It gets stupider by the day. The FOX Noise pundits, along with the usual suspects on right wing talk radio, are implying (some even stating outright) that by referring to ISIS as "extremists" and not "Islamist extremists", the president of the United States is somehow sympathetic with the goals of these freaks. Obama has said that the United States is at war with all forms of extremism. Last week, when he merely pointed out the undeniable truth that bad things have been done in the name of Jesus Christ down through the centuries, including in the good ol' U S of A, conservatives had (and are still having) a mass nervous breakdown. I have no comment other than to say that this has been quite an amusing spectacle to behold. We'll leave it at that for now.
3. Thinking About Malcolm
Tomorrow is the fiftieth anniversary of assassination of Malcolm X. He was one of the great visionaries of the twentieth century in my opinion. I was living and working in Naples, Florida when I first read his memoirs in 1986. This is quite ironic when one takes into consideration that Naples (at the time anyway) had the lowest per capita population of black people living in it than almost every other city in the country. Read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It completely and utterly changed my life. I'm almost certain it will change yours, too. That is, of course, unless you're afraid of change. If that's the case then don't bother.
4. QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship of the day."
Theodore Roosevelt
"....the first task of statesmanship of the day"....Of that day. There are few statesmen left - and even fewer stateswomen....NEXT!
5. Rudy Can Fail
I think that Rudy Giuliani ought to fold up the tents and go home for a permanent rest. He's always seemed to me to be a tad off his rocker. I met him once, and while he seemed like a nice enough fellow, even in that informal setting I got the impression that there was something about the poor bastard that wasn't quite right. As mayor of New York City, he certainly wasn't one tenth as extreme as his Republican brethren nationwide; he never would have gotten elected had that been the case. And yet, since leaving Gracie Mansion over a decade ago he's taken a decided turn to the extreme right. That was not totally unexpected - he was eying the White House in 2008 and one can't get nominated by that party these days unless one is willing to sound like a complete psychotic. Totally understandable.
But for this blubbering twit to say, as he did this week, that the president of the United States hates Americans in general - and America in particular - was too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Why is he still saying these horrifically moronic things? Can it be that he has on eye on the campaign of 2016? My goodness, I hope so. That should make things really interesting.
***********************
I've just been informed by the nice folks at W-CBS News Radio that today has been the coldest day in New York State since they started keeping records over a century ago. If you live in the region of the country where I am writing from you're probably not the least bit surprised to learn this. Earlier, I attempted to fill up my jeep and got as far as ten dollars. The hell with this, I thought to myself, it's just too damned cold.
Be warm, everybody.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(with Alex Haley)
ABOUT THE PHOTO AT TOP:
I don't smoke cigars. But every time a new Ernie Kovacs product is released onto DVD I always go out and purchase one Dutch Master. They were the company that sponsored the Ernie Kovacs program back in the late fifties and early sixties. That's my little way of thanking them for taking a chance on Ernie when no one else would.
RUDY UPDATE, 2/21/15, 11:50 AM:
According to the front page of this morning's New York Daily News, the former mayor is now accusing the president of the United States of being a communist. Ain't that a scream? Someone really ought to check this pathetic son-of-a-bitch's calender. Seriously.
3. Thinking About MalcolmTomorrow is the fiftieth anniversary of assassination of Malcolm X. He was one of the great visionaries of the twentieth century in my opinion. I was living and working in Naples, Florida when I first read his memoirs in 1986. This is quite ironic when one takes into consideration that Naples (at the time anyway) had the lowest per capita population of black people living in it than almost every other city in the country. Read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It completely and utterly changed my life. I'm almost certain it will change yours, too. That is, of course, unless you're afraid of change. If that's the case then don't bother.
4. QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship of the day."
Theodore Roosevelt
"....the first task of statesmanship of the day"....Of that day. There are few statesmen left - and even fewer stateswomen....NEXT!
5. Rudy Can Fail
I think that Rudy Giuliani ought to fold up the tents and go home for a permanent rest. He's always seemed to me to be a tad off his rocker. I met him once, and while he seemed like a nice enough fellow, even in that informal setting I got the impression that there was something about the poor bastard that wasn't quite right. As mayor of New York City, he certainly wasn't one tenth as extreme as his Republican brethren nationwide; he never would have gotten elected had that been the case. And yet, since leaving Gracie Mansion over a decade ago he's taken a decided turn to the extreme right. That was not totally unexpected - he was eying the White House in 2008 and one can't get nominated by that party these days unless one is willing to sound like a complete psychotic. Totally understandable.But for this blubbering twit to say, as he did this week, that the president of the United States hates Americans in general - and America in particular - was too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Why is he still saying these horrifically moronic things? Can it be that he has on eye on the campaign of 2016? My goodness, I hope so. That should make things really interesting.
***********************
I've just been informed by the nice folks at W-CBS News Radio that today has been the coldest day in New York State since they started keeping records over a century ago. If you live in the region of the country where I am writing from you're probably not the least bit surprised to learn this. Earlier, I attempted to fill up my jeep and got as far as ten dollars. The hell with this, I thought to myself, it's just too damned cold.
Be warm, everybody.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(with Alex Haley)
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| ERNIE! |
I don't smoke cigars. But every time a new Ernie Kovacs product is released onto DVD I always go out and purchase one Dutch Master. They were the company that sponsored the Ernie Kovacs program back in the late fifties and early sixties. That's my little way of thanking them for taking a chance on Ernie when no one else would.
RUDY UPDATE, 2/21/15, 11:50 AM:
According to the front page of this morning's New York Daily News, the former mayor is now accusing the president of the United States of being a communist. Ain't that a scream? Someone really ought to check this pathetic son-of-a-bitch's calender. Seriously.
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