I find myself becoming more embarrassed by the day. I am glad no one was paying any attention a few years ago when I had good things to say about Mitt Romney. I once thought he would make a solid president. I thought of him as a good man.
Now he is almost enough to make me a Buddhist and believe in reincarnation. I am almost ready to believe that he is John McCain come back to haunt us. I am not sure if karma moved him up or down. Actually the timing is bad. Maybe we are looking at Woodrow Wilson II. Maybe Benedict Arnold. He was a hero first and a traitor later.
I can only hope that his Trump hatred is a bit isolated. We have judges to approve and a country to run. I think of how McCain kept us from getting rid of Obamacare. Does Romney have a similar bit of treachery in his future? Does he think he has a shot at 2020?
I would hope the people who elected him are paying attention and looking into a recall vote of some kind.
homo unius libri
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Opus 2019-204: Smart Fools
I continue to struggle with the idea that Democrats have any intelligence or integrity. It is an ongoing mystery I have had with the world at large. You know how it is, how can anyone have a clue if they disagree with me? I talk to people who have a grasp of physics and chemistry but don’t understand that global warming and cooling are historic realities that have repeated time and again. Math gurus can’t seem to understand that more carbon dioxide means that plants grow better and produce more oxygen. Biologists who think cow farts are going to ruin the world but ignore the wall to wall buffalo herds that used to cover the great plains. And, yes, I know they are bison not buffalo. Why do they turn off their brains when it comes to socialism?
Since I am in a benevolent mood I am looking for explanations. One thing that strikes me is that we all filter a lot of things out. I will concede that Donald Trump has ways of speaking that would not be considered parlor parson parsing. I concede that, knowing very little of what people complain about. You see, I don’t listen to the hysterics of the Progressives. I don’t follow anyone on social media. I don’t even bother checking Drudge since he has gone to the dark side. All I get are segments of his better lines that are repeated on various sites I visit. Most of what I read from Donald Trump is either short and specific or downright funny.
Those who hate Trump are a lot like those who hate Rush. They never really listen to what they say. All they hear are edited comments and totally false accusations. They claim they have listened but obviously they don’t because of what they say. At the same time I have a hard time believing that Democrats are really listening when you have repeated calls from the left for assassination. I wonder where the supposed decency of the Trump haters is when a member of congress stands in front of a microphone and urges everyone to get in the face of any member of Trumps team when they go out in public. Do you really think it is cool to wait outside a trump rally and attack happy people on their way home? Do you really think it is okay to call for the presidents son to be locked up with pedophiles? There is a lot of filtering going on.
So I filter. They filter. The difference is that I go on and look at what the actual results are. Barak Obama divided the country on racial lines. He dragged the economy down. He made the United States the laughing stock of the world. Billions in cash sent on pallets to Iran was given just a ho hum by those who only saw his creased trousers and figured a brown man could do no wrong. Under Trump I see judges who believe in the Constitution being appointed, an economy on the rise, China and Korea doing some real talking, NATO starting to man up, regulations being erased and a wall being built. All of this is done with no help from the Democrats and a lot of foot dragging by Republicans.
Who in their right mind could support Bernie Sanders with his plans to turn us into a socialist state? Who would vote for Elizabeth Warren when the only thing she promises is free stuff? How can anyone even look at Joe Biden without seeing corruption and sleaze? And what can you really say for the rest of the pack.
Yes we all filter. Some of us then think. I guess that may be the difference.
homo unius libri
Since I am in a benevolent mood I am looking for explanations. One thing that strikes me is that we all filter a lot of things out. I will concede that Donald Trump has ways of speaking that would not be considered parlor parson parsing. I concede that, knowing very little of what people complain about. You see, I don’t listen to the hysterics of the Progressives. I don’t follow anyone on social media. I don’t even bother checking Drudge since he has gone to the dark side. All I get are segments of his better lines that are repeated on various sites I visit. Most of what I read from Donald Trump is either short and specific or downright funny.
Those who hate Trump are a lot like those who hate Rush. They never really listen to what they say. All they hear are edited comments and totally false accusations. They claim they have listened but obviously they don’t because of what they say. At the same time I have a hard time believing that Democrats are really listening when you have repeated calls from the left for assassination. I wonder where the supposed decency of the Trump haters is when a member of congress stands in front of a microphone and urges everyone to get in the face of any member of Trumps team when they go out in public. Do you really think it is cool to wait outside a trump rally and attack happy people on their way home? Do you really think it is okay to call for the presidents son to be locked up with pedophiles? There is a lot of filtering going on.
So I filter. They filter. The difference is that I go on and look at what the actual results are. Barak Obama divided the country on racial lines. He dragged the economy down. He made the United States the laughing stock of the world. Billions in cash sent on pallets to Iran was given just a ho hum by those who only saw his creased trousers and figured a brown man could do no wrong. Under Trump I see judges who believe in the Constitution being appointed, an economy on the rise, China and Korea doing some real talking, NATO starting to man up, regulations being erased and a wall being built. All of this is done with no help from the Democrats and a lot of foot dragging by Republicans.
Who in their right mind could support Bernie Sanders with his plans to turn us into a socialist state? Who would vote for Elizabeth Warren when the only thing she promises is free stuff? How can anyone even look at Joe Biden without seeing corruption and sleaze? And what can you really say for the rest of the pack.
Yes we all filter. Some of us then think. I guess that may be the difference.
homo unius libri
Friday, October 18, 2019
Opus 2019-203: On the Street: Gurney Wisdom
I was forced to watch. I tried to tune it out but it kept probing. I speak of the ubiquitous TV in our culture.
I was confined to the gurney in preparation for the routine of a colonoscopy. Since it is an assembly line process and profit is based on productivity, we were expected to be ready when they called. I am guessing I laid there over an hour. I tried to take a nap but the TV on the far wall kept trying to bring me into modern culture. I asked about getting it turned off but it was shared by several beds. I had them pull the curtain but the voices were molded to penetrate and deaden at the same time. I learned that closing your eyes does not shut off your hearing.
I mourned over a new series of books that I should have had to teach my children to cooperate. It would have kept them from their fighting in the back seat. I am sure that bullying and whistle-blowing were discussed. The idea was to develop modern leaders. One of my questions on things like this is, if everyone can be a leader, who is doing the following?
I learned about how to make Christmas ornaments out of old thread spools. That comes as a real relief because I have all these drawers full of old thread spools. If you don’t have that resource I learned you can go to craft stores and buy them ready to go.
One that puzzled me was DYI antique jewelry. How can it be antique if you are making it yourself. I guess it falls into the same category as Classic Heavy Metal.
It seems there is a new exercise in town called spinning. Since I only saw the trailer I don’t know if it was a new government program, an infomercial, a blatant advertisement or just something to fill the empty lives of people on the dole.
To add to the drama of the hour I was able to listen to the “looking for love in the wrong places” laments of the lady in the next bin. I gathered she was a rich widow that all the Casanova types thought was good for a few bucks. Her current squeeze, whom she has known for several months, does not know where she lives. How that works since he was there to take her home from the procedure is a mystery to me. Maybe her car was stashed at his house. I did get the TMI that he is really hung well. All this without ever seeing her or him.
Medical procedures can be educational. I am reinforced in my opinion that TV is a waste of electricity and people’s lives are a mess because they are into themselves. And since you are wondering I seem to have a colon that is in wonderful shape. I will not share the photos with you because you might be jealous. We can’t all have a great colon.
homo unius libri
I was confined to the gurney in preparation for the routine of a colonoscopy. Since it is an assembly line process and profit is based on productivity, we were expected to be ready when they called. I am guessing I laid there over an hour. I tried to take a nap but the TV on the far wall kept trying to bring me into modern culture. I asked about getting it turned off but it was shared by several beds. I had them pull the curtain but the voices were molded to penetrate and deaden at the same time. I learned that closing your eyes does not shut off your hearing.
I mourned over a new series of books that I should have had to teach my children to cooperate. It would have kept them from their fighting in the back seat. I am sure that bullying and whistle-blowing were discussed. The idea was to develop modern leaders. One of my questions on things like this is, if everyone can be a leader, who is doing the following?
I learned about how to make Christmas ornaments out of old thread spools. That comes as a real relief because I have all these drawers full of old thread spools. If you don’t have that resource I learned you can go to craft stores and buy them ready to go.
One that puzzled me was DYI antique jewelry. How can it be antique if you are making it yourself. I guess it falls into the same category as Classic Heavy Metal.
It seems there is a new exercise in town called spinning. Since I only saw the trailer I don’t know if it was a new government program, an infomercial, a blatant advertisement or just something to fill the empty lives of people on the dole.
To add to the drama of the hour I was able to listen to the “looking for love in the wrong places” laments of the lady in the next bin. I gathered she was a rich widow that all the Casanova types thought was good for a few bucks. Her current squeeze, whom she has known for several months, does not know where she lives. How that works since he was there to take her home from the procedure is a mystery to me. Maybe her car was stashed at his house. I did get the TMI that he is really hung well. All this without ever seeing her or him.
Medical procedures can be educational. I am reinforced in my opinion that TV is a waste of electricity and people’s lives are a mess because they are into themselves. And since you are wondering I seem to have a colon that is in wonderful shape. I will not share the photos with you because you might be jealous. We can’t all have a great colon.
homo unius libri
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Opus 2019-202: Book Review: The Case for Trump
I am reading the latest by Victor Davis Hanson, The Case for Trump. He is trying to look at the reasons why Trump won the election and at the point I am now he is looking at his chances of success. It is definitely not a white-wash. The real Donald Trump emerges but it is written with an understanding that he is doing the things that those of us without power want to have done.
It is a good read but depressing. It is depressing because he goes into great depth in what has been going on in what is being called the Deep State. He has a long discourse on the large number of people who are deeply planted in the unelected arms of our government who think that they know what is best for the country and feel it is their responsibility to force the rest of us to conform. They are committed to making the country go the “right” way regardless of how elections go.
Davis points out that this is a problem with government that goes back as far as history. These elites tend to be almost impossible to dig out because they have not ethical restraints. They consider themselves the true leaders. They think of themselves as wise parent figures dealing with immature and spoiled children. They think we need them. This reminded me of how I have been living in a bubble of history.
Where else in history has a normal person been able to live in the security, prosperity and comfort that we know today? I was raised having no fear of the police or men in uniform. They were there to serve and protect. It said so right there on the door of their car. And because the government was still relatively small, it worked. When I was a child there was no concern about a SWAT team from the Department of Agriculture busting down my door and charging in with guns blazing only to find that they had the wrong address.
I was raised in a miracle historically. My concern is that my grandchildren will look at me and wonder what kind of fairy tales I am telling them. We home schooled our children. We lived in the awareness that the social workers and police might break into our house at any time. It happened in the city in which we lived. We did not register with the state. You can’t get away with that any more because the government now requires every newborn to have a Social Security Number.
The times are a changing. What is not changing is my real confidence is in the God of history. My prayer is that He will use Donald Trump as a tool to move this country back to what it once was and could be again. I guess that is what MAGA means to me.
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Case for Trump. New York: Basic Books, 2019.
homo unius libri
It is a good read but depressing. It is depressing because he goes into great depth in what has been going on in what is being called the Deep State. He has a long discourse on the large number of people who are deeply planted in the unelected arms of our government who think that they know what is best for the country and feel it is their responsibility to force the rest of us to conform. They are committed to making the country go the “right” way regardless of how elections go.
Davis points out that this is a problem with government that goes back as far as history. These elites tend to be almost impossible to dig out because they have not ethical restraints. They consider themselves the true leaders. They think of themselves as wise parent figures dealing with immature and spoiled children. They think we need them. This reminded me of how I have been living in a bubble of history.
Where else in history has a normal person been able to live in the security, prosperity and comfort that we know today? I was raised having no fear of the police or men in uniform. They were there to serve and protect. It said so right there on the door of their car. And because the government was still relatively small, it worked. When I was a child there was no concern about a SWAT team from the Department of Agriculture busting down my door and charging in with guns blazing only to find that they had the wrong address.
I was raised in a miracle historically. My concern is that my grandchildren will look at me and wonder what kind of fairy tales I am telling them. We home schooled our children. We lived in the awareness that the social workers and police might break into our house at any time. It happened in the city in which we lived. We did not register with the state. You can’t get away with that any more because the government now requires every newborn to have a Social Security Number.
The times are a changing. What is not changing is my real confidence is in the God of history. My prayer is that He will use Donald Trump as a tool to move this country back to what it once was and could be again. I guess that is what MAGA means to me.
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Case for Trump. New York: Basic Books, 2019.
homo unius libri
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Opus 2019-201: Change Happens
It is funny how our perceptions of people change.
At first I was not sure I could vote for Donald Trump. Then it came to doing it while holding my nose. Then I was glad I did. Now I believe he is the man of the hour. I was wrong. I admit it.
There are a group of people who used to be foundational in the conservative world. I think of Bill Kristol, Rich Lowry and Peggy Noonan. There was a time when they had something to say and fit into the world of traditional values and a belief in truth. Now they are just Never-Trumper hacks. We need to understand that it is not just the left that offers Fake News. Consider the Drudge Report, Fox News and National Review.
Actually it could be that what is changing is not my perception but the people. Either way we need to always make sure our thinking caps are on and our memories are working.
homo unius libri
At first I was not sure I could vote for Donald Trump. Then it came to doing it while holding my nose. Then I was glad I did. Now I believe he is the man of the hour. I was wrong. I admit it.
There are a group of people who used to be foundational in the conservative world. I think of Bill Kristol, Rich Lowry and Peggy Noonan. There was a time when they had something to say and fit into the world of traditional values and a belief in truth. Now they are just Never-Trumper hacks. We need to understand that it is not just the left that offers Fake News. Consider the Drudge Report, Fox News and National Review.
Actually it could be that what is changing is not my perception but the people. Either way we need to always make sure our thinking caps are on and our memories are working.
homo unius libri
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Opus 2019-200: Headlines: Or Not?
I heard about it from my wife. I saw a meme poster on the internet. My question was, “Is it true or satire?” What I am questioning is that ABC used file footage from an air show in Kentucky and labeled it as the result of Trump pulling troops out of Syria.
I guess I will need to spend a few minutes checking.... Yes, it seems to have really happened. Someone on some blog asked the question, “Don’t they have editors any more?”
I am to the point that I don’t believe anything that the MSM tells me and I am skeptical of what even conservative sites share. What is funny is the number of times the satire of the Babylon Bee is posted as serious news.
The thing that worries me even more than the media is the general public. They keep believing that the talking heads and DNC talking-point print media are actually sources of news. How many times do they need to be lied to before they scratch their heads and wonder? Have they forgotten the two years of hype on investigating Trump? Have they forgotten the 30,000 e-mails? Didn’t they see the clip of Joe Biden bragging about threatening the Ukraine government? Don’t they remember..., well, I guess they don’t want to because that would mean they have to admit they have been suckers.
My main advice is stop getting sucked into the click bait. Cut their revenues. Don’t use their coupons. Work on taking the country back.
homo unius libri
I guess I will need to spend a few minutes checking.... Yes, it seems to have really happened. Someone on some blog asked the question, “Don’t they have editors any more?”
I am to the point that I don’t believe anything that the MSM tells me and I am skeptical of what even conservative sites share. What is funny is the number of times the satire of the Babylon Bee is posted as serious news.
The thing that worries me even more than the media is the general public. They keep believing that the talking heads and DNC talking-point print media are actually sources of news. How many times do they need to be lied to before they scratch their heads and wonder? Have they forgotten the two years of hype on investigating Trump? Have they forgotten the 30,000 e-mails? Didn’t they see the clip of Joe Biden bragging about threatening the Ukraine government? Don’t they remember..., well, I guess they don’t want to because that would mean they have to admit they have been suckers.
My main advice is stop getting sucked into the click bait. Cut their revenues. Don’t use their coupons. Work on taking the country back.
homo unius libri
Opus 2019-199: Ode to Old: Fashion? What Fashion?
We need to be thankful for small blessings. One that occurred to me recently was the trend in facial hair. I am truly blessed that beards were not the thing when I was young enough to care.
Even now I cannot grow a beard. I can do a decent goatee but a full beard would be an object of ridicule on me. To have a beard you need a nice spread of hair. Mine is more of a piebald pattern.
Shaving your head could be timely for me but I am too observant. I have noticed that many of the men who shave their head to disguise their baldness forget that the pattern is still visible. They still look bald but with shorter hair where it exists. That doesn’t even consider the nooks and crannies that many of our heads have.
At this point fashion is of even less interest to me. If you ever think I am looking cool because my pants are sagging and my underwear is showing it will not be a fashion statement but a mark of senility.
homo unius libri
Even now I cannot grow a beard. I can do a decent goatee but a full beard would be an object of ridicule on me. To have a beard you need a nice spread of hair. Mine is more of a piebald pattern.
Shaving your head could be timely for me but I am too observant. I have noticed that many of the men who shave their head to disguise their baldness forget that the pattern is still visible. They still look bald but with shorter hair where it exists. That doesn’t even consider the nooks and crannies that many of our heads have.
At this point fashion is of even less interest to me. If you ever think I am looking cool because my pants are sagging and my underwear is showing it will not be a fashion statement but a mark of senility.
homo unius libri
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