The State Of The Fourth Estate
The camera indeed never blinks, and microphones are never silent.
You don’t hear this term much these days… The Fourth Estate. It’s an evolved term (and we will discuss that in a bit) but it typically means the mainstream press. This would include TV, radio, and publishing. In some venues in America this is also referred to “the fourth branch”, implying an unofficial addition to the three Constitutional branches of government, thanks to the Second Amendment.
Jesus… I Want To Get On With My Life But Trump Won’t Let Me!
Trump at CIA today complaining about the press in front of the memorial wall. (CNN)
Are we going to have this turmoil every day for the next four years? Why in the world does he go to the CIA, stand in front of their memorial wall, and bitch about the press and crowd sizes from the day before?? Why does new Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, call a special news conference simply to vent Trump’s anger over the press reporting his crowd sizes.. then walk off without taking questions??
Rust Belt Job Entitlements?
Not likely this place will ever re-open anytime soon.
Generally speaking I’m as compassionate as the next guy about life’s struggles for many folks but I also have a streak where I feel people really need to take responsibility for their own lives (if they are capable of doing so) without looking to the government or blaming political entities or endeavors… or Congress.. or the President… or the economy, for their own shortcomings. Back during Katrina when FEMA was lagging in responding to the emergency, I was watching a segment on CNN where a reporter was interviewing a middle aged white woman, a victim who had lost her home along the gulf coast. When it was
Tomorrow’s The Big Day!
Fasten your seat belts!
A week or so back during the Golden Globe Awards actress Meryl Streep, while accepting one of those lifetime achievement things, took the opportunity of having millions of TV viewers looking at her, and gave a profound dissertation on the impending futility and frustration in having President-elect Trump assuming office. During her impassioned plea for redemption the cameras panned the audience.
When It Comes To Intelligence The Good Old U.S.A. Has Lots Of It!
Our tax dollars at work!
Yeah, yeah.. we all like to poke fun (or not fun) about government intelligence being an oxymoron in most verbal applications but were you aware of just how many active intelligence agencies we have lurking about the U.S.A.? (No fair counting the seals above). I guess if you already know that then you must have superior intelligence which makes me then wonder why you are on my blog reading this when you should be on your way to Trump Tower for your appointment.
The Great Trumpian Wall?
Somehow I don’t think Trump’s wall will be this sturdy.
In one way this Great Wall will add jobs to the economy. Think of it being like the old WPA (Work Process Administration) or the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), government spending programs to create jobs and put Depression Era folks back to work. That 10 billion price tag will buy equipment and materials from companies that will buy the raw materials and pay taxes.. and it will pay the workers, who buy consumer goods from companies that make consumer goods, in the end everyone will pay taxes. In essence, that 10 billion gets taxed in some form or another. I’m not sure how that works out mathematically; the government just might get all that back… albeit, through the economy.
The Japanese Return To Pearl Harbor
The last time they came….
One of the ongoing ironies from World War II that I have been familiar with for the last couple decades has been the realization that the major belligerent countries of those days , Japan and Germany, never truly lost the war. Both recovered with American help to become the economic democratic powerhouses of today. If I were some right wing American conservative I might dream up some grand and ultimate conspiracy theory suggesting that Japan and Germany starting WW2 was intentional in order to lose, knowing full well the U.S. would fix up their collective countries, and they would become post-war golden childs. The obvious advantage to the U.S. would be wealth beyond anyone’s expectations, likely lavished on those rich elitist liberals we are currently hearing about.
The Presidential Curse
To swear, or not to swear. That is the question.
No.. this isn’t a post about some supernatural voodoo spell or an occult trip. This is all about.. cursing; the use of swear words by elected officials, especially our president. This is not to say that our elected officials are openly using curse words in public but a few sometimes leak out publicly. I have an idea that perhaps some of these words could be used more in public settings. Now, in order to discuss this subject we need to identify the words considered cursory.
(I’m going to mention a few so if swear words offend you then close your eyes… or skip this post altogether.)
The Electors Have Spoken… It Never Was A Landslide
Boxes containing the electoral votes for the 2012 presidential election is seen during a joint session of Congress in Washington. (Reuters)
Among the many things Trump has spouted off about that the liberals took literally and the conservatives took figuratively is the idea that Trump won by a landslide and his win was a mandate from the people. Uhhh… no.
In fact, since I am NO way an election strategist nor any sort of party elite I do have a couple observations I can toss to the two parties that they will never hear about because I am just not that important (or could it be I am just not discovered yet?).
A Late Night Reflection On Obama… And The New Guy
Well, I watched the last press conference for the current President and given who is replacing him I felt a sense of helplessness mixed with a feeling of impending doom. But, be that as it may… any hope.. well, I need to evolve to that level first. We got four years to do that. But given all the apprehension I did make note of a few things Obama said worth noting.
Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Reluctant Pro-taganist
I actually thought this poster was funny.
Boy, this might be a volatile post. Let’s hold our breath on this one. Somebody recently asked me my particular viewpoint regarding abortion. Over the years I have wrestled with this for two reasons.
First, I am a male. For some reason that kinda lends itself to not being qualified by gender to have an opinion one way or the other. I’m not the one getting pregnant, I’m not the one bearing the child for nine months and subject to nature’s instinctive desire for nurturing, and, of course, I am not subject to whatever pain and mood swings come and go.
“Lets Make A Deal!” – Part 2
You might be wondering, where’s Part 1. Well, before I point you to the direction to read Part 1 (and you truly should read it) here’s a little bit of an intro to put it all in place. Trump’s recent selection of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as the new Secretary of State made me contemplate and reflect a bit on an “old” idea I had decades ago. As would be expected there’s a lot of harangue going on about the usual conflicts of interest now so prevalent with the President-elect and the new Trump administration appointments. This post is not about debating all that nor is this yet another attempt to invalidate Trump’s win in the election (if that disappoints you, I apologize in advance).
Big League…..BIGLY!
This post is from my girlfriend’s blog and I thought it funny enough to reblog here… bigly… er, big league!
So for a few days, bf and I immensely enjoyed what we heard our famously-loose-cannon President-elect Donald Trump say at some rally or other event that made it to nightly news….while describing his plans for something, one of the “things” that “ONLY HE CAN FIX” about America to make it great again, he ended his thought by saying….
..”and it WILL be fixed, BIGLY!”
After we picked our asses up off the floor from the laughing at the hilarity of this guy saying such a stupid thing, we went around the house for DAYS using the new TRUMP “catchphrase”…
..BF asked if I had heard the weather report and I told him he would need to take a jacket, BIGLY…
..I asked BF if he’d like Manwich for dinner one night and he said yeah, BIGLY..
So here we were, reveling in our CLEVER AND OPEN-MINDED ability to accept an…
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MY UNCOMMON SENSE – Global Warming
Right about now you are likely wondering.. “Ok, where is this guy gonna go with this. Is he pro or con? Do I agree with what he will say or do I call him a dumb ass?”
Well, as I write this, the entire Midwest is engulfed in some Arctic freeze and blizzard. Being from Chicago I know what that’s like. If that were my gauge on determining the validity of global warming trends I might be swayed to think that indeed global warming is a figment of someone’s imagination. On the other hand, I currently reside somewhere in the Mojave Desert and in the middle of the summer the idea of the possibility of global warming makes a bit of sense. I guess I am trying to say, in my opinion, the seriousness of global warming is a matter of perspective.. in my case, different climate systems can sway my opinion.
My Condolences, Mom; Your Fave Astronaut Died Today
1921 – 2016
Today it’s being reported that famed Pilot, Astronaut, and Congressman, John Glenn died at the age of 95.. and represents the last of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.
I heard the news about mid way through the work day and I shared it with some of the office folks. It was surprising.. I heard comments like “Who was he?”, “Wasn’t Mercury 7 one of those anti-war demonstrator trials during Vietnam?”, “Wasn’t he a congressman or something?” How quickly time passes… and how old I am getting.
Hey, Whatever Happened To MY Republican Party??
Ahh.. the good old days.
(Nooo.. I wasn’t around then.)
I woke up one day and it was gone!
Yeah, most everything coming from Trump’s win in the election is turning political thought upside down to be sure… and for years to come. Next month is my 66th time meandering around the sun and up until this last election day I was happy and content feeling like I was a warm and fuzzy baby boomer liberal conservative. Now I don’t even know what that means. My political identity is.. gone. I feel empty, alone, and floundering in a sea of confusion. I’m like a planet suddenly not held in the comfort of another’s gravitational pull; like Laurel without Hardy, Abbott without Costello… Penn without Teller… um, a bolt without a nut… a toilet without the paper?
Messin’ With The Flag
A typical domestic flag burning that makes no sense at all.
With our soon-to-be Dear Leader proclaiming in yet another knee-jerk (with emphasis on the latter) Tweet regarding the burning of the flag, it brings to topic again that age-old debate about what to do (if anything) with those that desecrate the flag.
“Let’s Wait And See How Well Trump Does” (Huh???)
One can only hope…
I’ve been hearing that a lot and frankly I’m left wondering where the hell that’s coming from. It rather reminds me of a past post on my own blog,
https://dougsboomerrants.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/who-the-heck-invented-the-probationary-period/
…where I remark on the ridiculousness of the hiring probationary period when one starts a new job. Your new employer hires you with all the congratulations and positive outlook for the future, then in the same breath they mention the 90 day probationary period where you can be terminated for any reason.
Just What Does “A Peaceful Transition” Mean Anyway?
At inaugurations we as Americans are reminded that the strength of our freedom is the demonstrated peaceful transition of government to the new administration. Now, one can draw a number of meanings from that. Of course it’s the time us Americans can thump our chests to the rest of the world by showing off our (allegedly) unified support for our new leader. But when you listen to politicians speak of “a peaceful transition” there seems to be more than one meaning. Continue reading
Random Palaver From An Aging Baby Boomer 