JFK

       JFK told us "Don't Ask What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Country." It seems we've forgotten that admonition, at least our leadership has forgotten it. If they ever knew it. Why is that? It's a simple statement. It says we must love our country more than our parties, more than politics. But our leadership cares more about their power.
      It's time to exchange our leadership for more patriotic leaders. Leaders who will fight for our country. Who will lead our country toward greatness. We were a good country right up until two years ago. But we needed to be great. The promise fell through. Now it's time to pick up the pieces and put our country back together again.
       We need leaders who will work together across isles, across divides. And do it for the benefit of all Americans. And all Americans need to support those leaders. That's when all Americans will prosper, each in his own way.
       In 2016 greatness was promised our country by a charlatan. He tore the country apart. We need to heal ourselves. No outsiders are going to do it for us. Outsiders can't do it. It's up to us. We need to ask what we can do for our country and then do it. JFK was a smart man. He knew what our country needed then and now.

The Wicked Witch.

       The wicked witch of the west, he keeps thousands of children in cages. He sends the parents back to wherever they came from, even unto death. And the witch's administration doesn't even know where those children are or what their names are. Now why do you suppose anyone would vote for him to have a second term?
       Wouldn't it make sense to elect a less witched witch. One who would have an administration that considers keeping track of children in it's care important enough to know who their parents are? Well, Witch Donald neither knows nor cares. Even a court is trying to make his staff care.
       A judge has required that all children in it's care must be identified and returned to the rightful parents. Three cheers for that judge. And a jeer for the wicked witch and his administration. It's one thing to mistreat an adult, it's quite another to treat children like unwanted animals. And when you don't know their names or who or where their parents are, you're saying these are unwanted animals.
       Not only is Trump unfit to be president, he's unfit to be human. Is this the kind of America we want? One that considers children to be unwanted animals. To cage them up and forget who's children they are? Not in a free society. Not in my America. What about your America?

Aye Captain.

       Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire. It was just a song, but Trump brings new meaning to the phrase. He has so much confidence in himself and so little in anyone else that he had to offer Kevin McAleenan the Customs and Border Protection commissioner a pardon for breaking the asylum law.
       Next he threatens Democrats with sending refugees held at the border to sanctuary cities. The more the merrier. Presumably more than they can handle. And See If They Like It. The legality of such a move would be questionable at best.
       Does anybody see a pattern here? Ask a doctor if they see a pattern. I've found a lot of fault with this guy, but this is far and away from anything I've ever seen or heard of. We seem to have a Captain Ahab at the helm of our country. I hope we don't go down with his ship. What is it that drives him? It's a wall. And if he doesn't get it he's gonna take us all down.
       Some people think he's a clown, but that's not the problem I wish that was all of our problem. No, he's way more than a clown. For one thing a clown has a routine, This guy listens to morning talk shows. Now that's OK for some retired guy like me, but he's the leader of the free world. There are things that he could be doing to improve our lot in life. But no, what's the talk show hosts saying about him.
       Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country. He hates them all. Of course he's not above hiring them for his golf courses and hotels, but otherwise he hates them all. Even those who work for him. He's a whack job. He's a whack job captain of our country. And if we let him, he'll sink us.

Shame on McConnell

       Why is it that Mitch McConnell and the Republicans have blocked any hope of the public or even the Congress of seeing the full report of special council Mueller? You can't say we don't have the right to see it. You can't say we wouldn't understand it. That may be true for many, but we still have the right to see it and read it for ourselves. And certainly Congress has the responsibility to see it in full, not just the right, but the responsibility.
       I guess the real question is why does McConnell think he has the right to use his power in the Senate to block the world from seeing this report. To see how a foreign enemy power has infiltrated our electoral process in order to sway an election to their favor. And did Trump, in any way, ask for, receive, and use any help from that enemy power? And to determine if that broke the law.
       As an American, McConnell has a duty to the country that overshadows any political considerations. Regardless of whether it helps or hinders President Trump, that report needs to be made public. Certain sections would need to be redacted for the public, but not the Congress. The Congress needs to see the whole report and the background files that substantiate the findings of the report.
       McConnel seems to be gambling that the people won't care about it in the coming elections. And probably it won't be the top of the list of things the people will care abut, but it will be high enough to sway an election and McConnell will rue the day he chose to keep it from the people.

College For All.

       I'd like to take this opportunity to talk to rich kids. If you're not doing well in school, that can be overcome. If you're just downright dumb, that can be overcome. If you're not too athletic, that can be overcome. If you've got two left hands and two left feet, that can be overcome. All this can be overcome by one simple fact. Your parents have lots of money.
       Now if you're very, very smart and very athletic too, but you're poor, good luck, you'll need it. We're here to talk about the kids most in need of help. That is to say, we want to help the rich kids get into the very best  of the very best colleges. And there's only one way for that to happen. You're parents are going to have to dig deep and come up with $$$$.
       We're not talking about thousands, we're not talking about tens of thousands, we're talking about hundreds of thousands, or even millions. But that's not enough. You're going to have to do your part. You've got to enter your name as a sports hero. You've got to claim high quality ability at the game of "JACKS" or hopscotch or jump rope or some such sport.
       You don't actually have to know how to do it, just make the claim and then never show up. The best schools prefer people like you. People who count on your parents to get you into school whether you can make it or not. If you can't, so be it. If you sort of can, a little more money will boost you over the top. Sorry, misprint. Should read a LOT more money.
       As for the poor, but smart kids, you likely could have attended a best school, but a rich kid took your space. There are openings in the local community college though.

Take Aim.

        Well, once again someone who wasn't licensed to carry a handgun shot himself. Sure it was an accident, it could have happened to anyone. Well at least any male. The thing is, guns are dangerous. Anyone using a gun and especially a handgun needs proper training. Even a holstered handgun can be dangerous as it was to this gentleman.
       Now something new needs to be taught in gun safety. We need to have safe placement of holsters explained. After all, we don't want more men shooting themselves in the penis as did the man in the case above. He's still in the hospital for goodness sake. I suppose he's learned his lesson, but what about all the rest of us?
       Was it the holster's fault, the gun's fault, was it the placement to blame, or was this the case of a duffus with a gun. Seriously, gun safety is far more important than our government allows. As soon as the word "gun" is mentioned, out comes the 'big guns'  the NRA and an assortment of second amendment kooks.
       How can any of these groups actually have a complaint against requiring a person to have some gun safety training before they can purchase the type of firearm they trained on? After all, the safety in using a flintlock is somewhat different than, say a semi-automatic handgun or a  semi-automatic assault rifle.
       The point is, gun safety can affect us all. Ask that guy's wife, if he has one. She'll tell you, it matters. So let's require that gun safety anyone needs if they have thoughts of owning a gun.

Shame On Us.

       800,000 plus people learned the meaning of being poor. If they didn't know, they learned the importance of charity and the need to care for their fellow man. What's most unfortunate is that the principles of the shutdown, both parties in Congress and the President,did not learn the hard truth. They did not face days of not knowing if they would lose their homes, their next meal could be questionable.
       These leaders carried on as if nothing had changed. Paydays were met, life was good and disagreement was easy to live with. No cost to them. Their daily bread was as sweet as ever. Somehow this isn't right. The next time some leader or group of leaders decides to shut down the government, there is no fair or good reason they shouldn't suffer right along with the government employees.
       Unfortunately, far too many leaders are far too wealthy to be concerned with that loss of income. What a shame that you have to be rather comfortably wealthy to be an elected leader in this country. Smart, successful businessmen don't always make smart, successful government leaders. Some do, some don't. Look at Lincoln. Think he could get elected today.
       Today you can't get elected unless you've got the money to buy your way in. The Supreme Court assured us of that in their decision involving money in politic. It's no longer 'one man one vote' now its all about the dollar. Without it, you can't get a vote. Money will decide who will run for office and who will not be heard above the din of cash flowing.