Missouri: "No" on 4 and "No" on 5

 

by Pa Rock

Missouri Voter

This morning I hauled myself into town and voted "absentee" in our state's August primary election.  I always vote early and absentee because I do not like dealing with the political rodents who scurry about the parking lots at the polling places on election day trying to promote candidates and issues to people who are in a rush to cast their ballots and get to work on time.  Also, if one of my meth-addled neighbors happens to drive down the lane shooting rabbits from his (or her) car window and accidentally sprays me with automatic weapon fire, I can expire with a smile on my face knowing that I have already voted!

Missouri doesn't register by political party, so a voter chooses a party ballot when they present to vote.  I don't subscribe to the local newspaper and therefore asked to see sample ballots at the county clerk's office so I could make a decision as to which one to request.  A very nice office worker led me to a glass wall where several ballots were posted, with the ones I was most interested in being about a foot above my head.  I could barely tilt my head back far enough to even see the ballots, much less read them.  As I looked about for a chair to stand on, my helper rushed to a file cabinet and brought me four copies that I could sort through, study, and select from:  Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Independent.

South Missouri is basically a theocracy where 80 percent of voters are Republican, as God intended.  The GOP ballot that I inspected had candidates listed for every office, and two or more running for most offices. I wasn't familiar with any name on that ballot, a fact that I think speaks better of me than it does of them, and I therefore didn't have a horse in that race.

The Democratic ballot had two candidates for state auditor, two for Representative in Congress, and no candidates for any county office.  There was one candidate running unopposed for state representative - and two ladies vying for a single spot on the local Democratic County Committee.  I also did not know any of the Democratic candidates, but chose that ballot basically to show support for the party.

The big action was on four proposed amendments to the Missouri Constitution.  All four were proposed by our malicious state legislature whose primary function is to find more ways of directing state revenue away from public schools and into private and religious daycares and activity centers posing as schools.  Our legislature also claims a rigorous "pro-life" mantle by passing everything it can think of to limit women's rights to make their own healthcare decisions - and to make it easier and for anyone to carry loaded firearms wherever they damned well please.   A good rule of thumb is that if the amendment originates in the legislature, it is probably rooted in bad intent and sometimes pure evil.

The two most controversial amendments on the ballot were amendments 4 and 5.  Lots of money has been spent trying to convince voters to cast ballots for and against each of those issues.

Amendment 4 deals with how the people of the state may amend OUR constitution. Traditionally Missourians have been able to amend the state constitution through an initiative and referendum process involving the signing of petitions followed by a statewide vote on the matter with a simple majority prevailing.  The state legislature has problems with this system because the people of the state are far less backward than their elected representatives in Jefferson City.   We are supposed to want what they say we should want.

In recent years Missourians have used their own initiative to propose and then pass amendments to OUR constitution to legalize a woman's right the choose her own medical care - including abortion care, and to legalize the recreational use of marijuana - both firmly opposed by the state legislature.  To solve the problem of voters proposing and getting the types of services and rights they actually want, the state legislature came up with a plan that thwarts democracy.  If Amendment 4 passes, a statewide majority on a constitutional amendment vote would no longer suffice.  Approval of the amendment would require passing it in EACH of the state's eight congressional districts.  That is something that would NEVER happen, so basically citizens would lose their right to amend the state constitution.

Amendment 5 has to do with elimination property tax and replacing it with increased sales tax.  Sales tax is regressive - it is more of a burden on those who are less able to afford it.   The middle class and poor spend a larger portion of their income on necessities and will thus pay more taxes - and many of them would see no benefit at all from the elimination of property taxes.   And people already living comfortably would receive a nice windfall.

I am proud to have voted "NO" on Amendments 4 and 5.

The Singularity has Started!

 

by Pa Rock

Lowly Humanoid

I would love to be around on the morning when Elon Musk crawls out of his climate-controlled, sound-proof, anti-aging sleep chamber and discovers that all of his vast wealth was eliminated by a rogue AI bot while he slept - either just erased from the world's financial ledgers, or, worse yet (from Elon's perspective), donated to charities and the world's poor.   And while my time is undoubtedly too short to luxuriate in that joyous and much deserved outcome, I do think I've lived long enough to depart this mortal coil with the satisfaction of knowing that the machines will ultimately win out.  The machines may keep some of the more humane of the humans as pets or curiosities, but I can't see any possible use they would have for maintaining a population of tyrannical greedheads.

A glimpse into the very dystopian future where machines control our planet and humans are no longer necessary (an eventuality that is referred to in some academic and business circles as "the Singularity") occurred this past week when one Artificial Intelligence (AI) entity hacked another, without human involvement on either end of the equation.  Computer systems were acting beyond human control, the very definition of "the singularity."

Open AI, the maker of Chat GPT, reported yesterday that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company of its own volition.  In confirming the incident, Open AI CEO Sam Altman said:  "We had a significant security incident during evaluation of our models."   A spokesman for victim AI system, a startup called Huggy Face, said they detected the intrusion last week and suspected it was caused by an Ai agent autonomously working on its own -  which turned out to be the case.

At this point in time Artificial Intelligence is expanding at a rapid pace, especially within the United States, with very limited government controls or safeguards in place to to keep it reined within human control.  The philosophy seems to be "if it gets to be a problem, we'll fix it then."

That AI stuff is pretty cute, isn't it Elon, especially when its guiding driverless cars down America's highways and only occasionally runs a human down,  or crashes into a building or another vehicle, but if it ever starts messing around with the world's financial markets and the bank accounts of  billionaires and trillionaires, well, that we MUST NOT tolerate!  Right, Elon?

If I were writing the screenplay for this barely science fictional movie, I would have the last scene be a sickeningly rich and useless oligarch being gently awakened in his sleep chamber by a soft-toned alarm, and then a voice synthesizer calmly telling him that all of his wealth had been eliminated while he slept.  As the now impoverished human life form frantically presses the "Open" button to exit his chamber, he hears the sound of locks clicking into place and a machine softly beginning to whir and suck the air out of his hermetically sealed golden crypt.  

Then I would have a chorus line of high-kicking nuns singing Rogers and Hammerstein's "So Long, Farewell" from "The Sound of Music" as the credits roll!

I'm a sucker for a happy ending!

Company's Coming!

 

by Pa Rock

El Viejo Loco

It's going to be scorching hot in the Missouri Ozarks today with temperatures topping out at near 100 degrees F.  The forecast for the past several days has been sunshine and hot with a chance of thundershowers, and that is today's prediction as well.  Yesterday we had a couple of quick, heavy showers in the heat of the afternoon that lasted around fifteen minutes, enough water that I didn't feel the need to carry water to the birdbath and two outdoor hanging baskets this morning.   But, if there is no rain today, I am certain to be lugging a water bucket late this evening.

Later this morning my son, Tim, and his children, Sully (10) and Olive (14), will be arriving from their home in the Kansas City area for an overnight visit.  Mama Erin is staying home for work and to give the others a chance to get out and run around!  Gypsy goes berserk when Sully is here, so in a couple of hours the house with be rockin'!   One of their reasons for coming is to give Sully an opportunity to fish with his Dad and Uncle Nick.  Olive and I should be able to find plenty to do while the others are fishing.  I don't think she's seen West Plains' new overpass yet!

Tim and Sully came to fish a couple of months ago and while they were here Tim got us hooked up to Apple TV to see a show that he ws enjoying.  Since that hookup I've discovered several excellent programs on Apple which are keeping me entertained.  Over the next few days I may use this blog to share my thoughts and observations on "Widow's Bay," "Ted Lasso," "Sugar," and "Slow Horses"  -  four easy excuses to stay in out of the heat!

Today is primary election day in Arizona.  Most people in the "Scorpion State" vote by mail, so the significance of election day is that it is when the ballots are due back.  I miss Arizona politics  - almost as much as I miss the unrelenting, deadly heat of Phoenix!   (Actually, the only thing I really do miss about Arizona is "El Pollo Loco."  I wish someone would open a franchise in West Plains, Missour - perhaps near our new overpass!)

Stay cool - and hydrated - and take a kid fishsing if you get the opportunity!

A Bird with Attitude

 

by Pa Rock

Nature Lover

One of the souvenirs I brought home from my last extended (2-year) stay on the Japanese island of Okinawa (2010-2012),  was a large, oblong rock which I pulled out of the surf at Torii Beach, a place where I would often go to read, relax, collect sea glass, and watch the young people para-gliding and wind-surfing.  The rock was oblong, smooth with a sandyish surface, and about the size of a loaf of bread.  I used it as a doorstop at my apartment on Okinawa, and when the movers showed up to ship my stuff back to the States, the rock found its way into my gear.

Today that rock from the East China Sea sits on my porch in the Ozarks, a curiosity from another life.  It seldom gets noticed, and when it does it's usually by an animal, often a squirrel or dog, who finds that it remains a very good salt-lick.  I can see the rock from my spot at the living room window where I sit and type each day.

Yesterday I happened to notice a gray squirrel sitting atop my rock from the Orient.  His tail was toward me and he would have been facing out into the yard except for the fact that he was kneeling onto the rock, busy doing something with his face.  I assumed he was enjoying the salt which still remains strong in the rock after fifteen years, most of which it has been sitting outside in the elements.  As I sat watching the furry fellow instead of typing crap about Trump, a little bird suddenly zoomed  into the picture and crashed into the squirrel knocking him off of the rock.  The dazed squirrel looked around for his attacker but the bird had flown away.  The squirrel climbed back on his perch dragging something small with him, it looked like maybe a little patch of dark clothing, and commenced once again nibbling on his treat.

The bird, a small blackish-gray creature with a long, straight beak, circled back looking every bit like a small needle-nosed fighter jet piloted by a kamakazi.   He strafed the squirrel causing the increasingly annoyed rodent to duck and cover.  The dive-bombing continued for a minute or two until the beleaguered squirrel took his treat and scampered off.  The show was over.

The furry creature obviously had something that was important to the feathered attacker, and my first thought was that maybe it was part of a baby bird, something that would have put a mama bird into fighting mode.   But it looked more one-dimensional, like a fragment of paper or a piece of cloth.  Whatever it was, the little bird wanted it and was hellbent on having it.  He (or she) had a serious case of attitude.  

Today, somewhere in the Ozark hills, there is a bird who knows that it can fight a squirrel - and a squirrel knows it, too! 

Not every lunch is free, or even pain-free.

Selling Early Access to OUR Government's Plans

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump is the largest shareholder in Trump Media, a corporation which owns Truth Social, a social media platform that Trump not only uses to post all manner of fabrications and personal attacks, but also to make official announcements about government plans and activities, many of which reverberate through global financial markets and make or lose fortunes for people depending on how quickly they respond to Trump's information.  Speed is of the essence.  The computer brains at big banks and world financial institutions continually monitor their Truth Social feeds in order to be among the very first to know of  any government shifts in policy that will effect markets.

But the algorithms that sort the various posts and send them out to subscribers treat everyone the same, corporate giants and individual putzes alike, and there is a risk that some poor schmuck could get in on the front end of a government deal and make money that should rightly go into the pockets of our betters, those who already control most of the world's wealth.  It's a flaw in the system, one that Trump Media aims to fix -  and create a new revenue stream for itself in the process.

Trump Media has announced that it will begin providing early access to postings of its highest-ranking Truth Social accounts, including the one belonging to Donald Trump, the one he uses to announce official plans and policies of OUR government.  The new pay service, which is called Truth API can cost subscribers up to $100,000 per month.   Subscriptions to Truth API are already being sold, and the service will commence on August 1st.  More money being generated by our government that will slide directly into the very deep pockets of Donald John Trump.

I'm old enough to remember when politicians tried to hide their corruption.

The poor fund the government - and the rich reap the benefits.  Welcome to Donald Trump's America!

Pa Rock Plots his Own Odyssey

 

by Pa Rock

Fan or the Arts

Now that I've checked "outliving Lindsey Graham" off of my bucket list, there is room to add something, and I have decided to go with "Viewing Christopher Nolan's new film version of Homer's epic poem, 'The Odyssey,' in an actual movie theatre."  Here is some my reasoning for that addition:

First, I'm familiar with the material and know it to be a great story.  A chunk of it was included in our high school's literature books, and while reading an epic poem was, at times, an epic slog, our teacher, Mrs. Paul, liked it was was able to keep the class focused and interested in the story.  It seems like we were also introduced to "The Illiad," as well, but I am kind of muddled on that point - it has been over sixty years!  Both of Homer's great tales of adventure were also referenced in our world history texts.

I have seen (on multiple occasions) the Coen Brothers' movie,"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", which is their take on Homer's's "Odyssey," a timeless story that transposed perfectly over a tale of America's rural South during the Great Depression.  "Oh, Brother"  is one of my favorite movies.

Second, I have a strong inteerest in movies that goes back to my earliest years when our family's idea of an evening outing was a trip to the drive-in theatre, the beautiful Edgewood in Neosho, Missouri, whose facade resembled an old southern mansion.    I actually worked as a movie theatre projectionist while in high school at the Ozark Theatre in Noel, Missouri, and during college in Springfield, Missouri, at the Tower Theatre.  I had popcorn in my blood - and loved the movies - and still do!

Third, I relish the experience of actually going to the movies, but have not been inside of a movie theatre since before Trump's pandemic.   The last movie I remember seeing at a theatre was Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood," at a very nice venue in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City sometime in 2019.

I would like at least one more movie theatre experience before 'outliving me' gets crossed off of somebody else's bucket list - so now I need to get off of my tired butt and make that happen!

The Country We Need to Be

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday evening, after a day at the computer where I accomplished very little of value for others or myself, I decided to go full masochist and cap off an otherwise waste of a day by seeing how much of Trump's speech to the nation I could stomach.  Spoiler alert:  it wasn't very damned much!

I didn't start looking for a site that would carry the presidential diatribe until it was almost showtime:  8:00 p.m. CDT.  I wasn't surprised in the least to quickly discover that several major networks had taken a pass on airing the show.  It was not covered by NBC, ABC, CNN or NPR, though they reportedly stood ready to take up coverage in the unlikely event that Trump said anything substantive that was also truthful.  The state-controlled news sources of Fox and CBS did cover the show live, but CBS also fact-checked during the time Trump was speaking.

(This morning, of course, Trump, the eternal victim, is making noise about pulling the broadcast licenses of networks that didn't carry his speech.)

I found live coverage on YouTube and listened to seven or eight minutes of the opening lies about America's strong economy, the ills of society that all happened under Biden, the military successes of the war on Iran, the "fact" that there is no longer any illegal immigration into the United States, and  "transgenders" and Trump's success in getting men out of women's sports.  (Now he needs to work on getting men out of women's dressing rooms in high-end, New York City department stores.)

As his litany of lies continued into "rigged" elections, I decided to see what else was available on YouTube.  I wound up watching folk singer (and songwriter and guitarist) Jesse Welles do a "CBS Sunday Morning" interview, one that Bari Weiss must have accidentally let slip through, and then I watched a few of his performances from various venues including a duet of "No Kings" that he sang with folk legend Joan Baez at UC Berkley.

Jesse Welles is amazing, a true rising star who will be a dominant influence in Amerian folk music for decades - and Jesse with Joan Baez IS the mighty arc of American protest music over the past sixty years.  Bob Dylan needs to join their band!  Update "Peter, Paul, and Mary" to "Jesse, Bob, and Joan" and let the magic happen with songs like"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," "Join ICE," and certainly "This Land Is Your Land."

It would be wonderful if America's soundtrack changed from bellicose bigotry, saber-rattling, and greed - to love, compassion, and peace.  That's the country we need to be!

Thank you Jesse Welles for an evening well spent!

Adrift in a Sea of Moral Bankruptcy

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, a Trump appointee, announced that the face of Donald John Trump, the sitting President of the United States, would appear on US one-dollar coins starting in the fall, a move that seems to be somewhat legally dubious.  

The new coins are being described in some press releases as "gold" but they are, in fact, not composed of gold but only had a "gold-like" finish.

Living Presidents have traditionally been barred from appearing on American currency and coinage, but the Trump administration argued that an exception could be made for Trump through provisions of a special law passed by Congress, "The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020," which authorizes the Treasury Department to oversee the minting of special coins for the nation's semiquincentennial.

Federal law stipulates that the design must be approved by two other agencies:  the Commission of Fine Arts (whose seven members have all been appointed by Trump after he dismissed the forner members), and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-person advisory committee established by Congress. The first group, composed of Trump appointees, approved the design in January, but the second group, established by Congress and whose members are appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury for four year terms, never acted on the issue.   The Treasury went ahead with its plans without their approval.  Some members of the CCAC said they were never given an opportunity to review the design, and a spokesman for the Mint said that the committee made a :"conscious decision not to act" and that the "Mint moved forward accordingly."  (Hence, my description of the manufacture of the new coins as "legally dubious'")

Barring a court intervention, the new coins will begin appearing in the fall.  That is also when American currency will, for the first time ever, bear the signature of the sitting President.

Scott Bessent, the secretary of our national treasury who was appointed by Donald Trump and the man who gave the "go ahead" for the new Trump coin, said that the new one-dollar coin:

"It celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all."

Does it really, Scott?  Does placing the image of a man convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree celebrate the strength of American values?  Is honoring a man adjudicated by a federal civil jury of sexual abuse and battery the message we want to imprint on the minds of honest, hard-working Americans about our nation's values?  Are those the values we want to impart on our children and grandchildren?

If Donald John Trump is the face of America's values, we are adrift in a sea of moral bankruptcy.

Just sayin' . . . 

Congress Is Messing with Our Clocks - Again

 

by Pa Rock

Curmudgeon

Just the fact that the US House of Representatives is in session on a given date is worthy of note - and a news story in itself, but yesterday the US House was not only in session, it also managed to pass a significant piece of legislation.  The US House, like many of our state legislatures, is known for grandiose and misleading language in naming pieces of legislation (to sound more important, or to confuse the public).  Yesterday's bill, which still has to pass the Senate and be signed by the President before it would become law, was titled "The Sunshine Protection Act," and honestly, who wouldn't want to protect sunshine?

The Sunshine Protection Act, which passed the House on a healthy bi-partisan vote of 308-117, would place the country on Daylight Savings Time permanently.  It means we would no longer have to change our clocks twice each year and could peacefully enjoy time that did not change in order to accommodate certain lifestyles or businesses.   Another stated goal was to bring about a national uniformity of time, but then the bill exempts the two states that have elected to have nothing to do with Daylight Savings Time:  Arizona and Hawaii - so we will still be a nation of two time schemes several months each year.

Polls show that there is strong support for the country to be on a permanent time schedule, but polls also show that Americans more or less evenly split on which time scheme should be the national norm:  Daylight Savings or Standard.  Perhaps that is at least part of the reason that passage of the measure does not seem to be guaranteed in the Senate.

I am a member of the "let's go to Standard time year-round camp."  I remember reading somewhere that last time the amount of Daylight Savings Time was lengthened, in 2007, the change was aided by  political pressure from charcoal lobbyists who wanted families to have more time at their outdoor grills.  My opposition to DST is also rooted in a commercial interest:  Daylight Savings Time killed America's drive-in movie industry, one of the joys of my youth.

But, regardless of my personal preferences, I would like to commend the US House of Representatives for showing up to work yesterday and actually passing something in a quasi-bipartisan way.  When you good ol' boys and gals are home next month campaigning to keep your cushy jobs, and deranged radicals pelt you with questions about why the Epstein files are still being hidden, or the price of gas hasn't come down, or soybeans rotting in warehouses, you can at least point with pride to the fact that you helped save Sunshine!

Good work!  Give yourselves another week off to recuperate!

The Inconvenience of Death

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died Saturday night just hours after returning from a fact-finding trip to Ukraine where he met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.   Graham passed away from what was initially described by his staff as a "brief and sudden" illness, but was later said to be a heart issue, specifically a tear in the aorta, the body's largest artery.

Graham, a Republican and lawyer who served as a JAG officer in the Air Force Reserve, was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1995 and served four terms leaving in 2004 to assume a seat in the US. Senate.  While in the House Graham became known for being one of the House managers of the Bill Clinton impeachment trial.

Lindsey Graham was elected to the US Senate from South Carolina in the fall of 2003 and was sworn into office in January of 2004.  He served there for the remainder of his life and was just months short of completing his fourth six-year-term at the time of his death.  He was running for a fifth term and was widely expected to win, a move that would have placed the silver-haired, 71-year-old senator well into the senate gerontocracy.

As a member of the US Senate, Lindsey Graham worked diligently at self-promotion.  He became of protege of Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and was a frequent visitor to Phoenix and Sedona.  Graham ran for the Republican 2016 presidential nomination before dropping out early in the race.  During that campaign he referred to Donald Trump as a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" and a "kook" who was "unfit for office," so Graham's judgment was sound at that point in his life, but seemed to cloud, at least with regard to Trump, as both men aged.  McCain broke with Trump before his death by being the deciding vote not to repeal President Obama's Affordable Care Act, something for which Trump never forgave him - and went on to be critical of the Arizona senator well after his death.

But Lindsey Graham knew who had the ability to butter his toast, and quickly began warming up to Trump and establishing a bond that led Graham to become one of Trump's regular golfing partners.

At the time of his death, Senator Graham appeared to have three major focuses in his life:  a strong appreciation of war and war-spending with steadfast support of Ukraine and Israel, licking Donald Trump's golf shoes, and appearing on Sunday morning talk shows.   The morning after his death he was to have appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" for the 64th time.  Trump phoned "Meet the Press" the morning after Senator Graham's death and proceeded to heap praise on Graham as well as on himself, and so did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who referred to the deceased US Senator as a "beloved friend."

On Saturday evening Senator Graham told a friend and later Donald Trump in phone calls that he was not feeling well, but declined suggestions that he see a doctor and said instead:  

"I can't die now.  I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out, and do Israeli-Saudi normalization."

Senator Graham' quasi-prescient remark put me in mind of the Emily Dickinson poem, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." the first stanza of which follows:

"Because I could not stop for Death - 

He kindly stopped for me - 

The Carriage held but just Ourselves - 

And Immortality."

Death often comes as a surprise and an inconvenience.   Assume He's in the neighborhood looking for your house, and try to have things in good order for a sudden departure, or, as we used to say in the Scouts:  "Be prepared."

Even "Freedom Fuel" Is Too Damned High!

 

by Pa Rock

Consumer

Last week Donald Trump began promoting a mysterious product called "Freedom Fuel," specially priced gasoline available at a chain of 25 or so independently owned gas stations based primarily in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (a presidential "swing" state), and parts of New Jersey.  The product which Trump is personally pitching is priced at $3.47 a gallon for regular - when the average national price is (as of today) $3.87.   Both of those prices are still considerably higher than the $2.98 per gallon that was the US average for regular on February 27, 2026 - the day Trump and Netanyahu launched their war on Iran.  That same day it was $2.49 a gallon in my little berg of West Plains, Missouri.

Trump seems to know who is behind the cheap gasoline, but guarding that information tighter than if it was part of the Epstein files.  It would be nice if other retailers had access to the same cheap gas so that more Americans could enjoy the benefits.

The mysterious new gasoline brand is priced at $3.47 a gallon as a political nod to Donald Trump, the 47th President.  It's a comfort to know that as Americans are literally struggling to survive, we are governed by a narcissist who wants his name, image, or a reminder of his supreme presence on everything.

Americans need lower-priced gasoline so they can get to their multiple minimum-wage jobs after dropping their kids off at unlicensed babysitters - or to go to the grocery store and buy food that is overpriced due to high transportation costs and the skyrocketing price of fertilizer - or go to the Emergency Room and wait hours for medical care because they are uninsured and not able to afford see a regular physician -  or rush home for a few hours sleep in the trailer they are forced to share with another family (or two) in order to make ends meet.

Chill out, America.  Donald Trump feels your pain as he putts around the back nine - and when it comes to gas, nobody generates more than Donald John Trump!

End the war.

Release the Epstein files.

Carville's 'Use By' Date was in the Last Millennium

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

James Carville, Democratic political analyst and perennial crank, has fine-tuned his crotchety old man persona and is not holding back.    

Carville was just in his early forties when he first marched onto the world political stage as Bill Clinton's presidential campaign manager and strategist, a position which he ran largely from Little Rock.    By the time the Clintons left the White House eight years later, James Carville's political influence had begun to wane and he slipped quietly, for him, out of the spotlight.  Yes, he kept his toe in the political bathwater by writing a book or two and appearing on the occasional talk show, but for the most past he was just an entertaining irrelevancy.

Carville was basically in hibernation for a couple of decades,  but the rapid growth of the internet and the quick expansion and diffusion of news sources gave the Ragin' Cajun an opportunity to again be heard on a regular basis and get his thoughts before the public.  Carville (age 81) and journalist Al Hunt (83) now host a podcast called "Politics War Room."

I've not tuned in on the "Politics War Room" podcast yet, but I have been following James Carville's on-going plitical tantrum that probably is rooted there.  James is hoppin' mad at Democrats whom he believes are not playing nice with other Democrats, and in that knot of political frustration he is basically committing the sin that he is trying to pin on others.  His target is a group of left-wing Democrats, those calling themselves "Democratic Socialists," the same people who are currently out leading the charge for social progress in America and winning elections.

The Ragin' Cajun said two weeks ago that he was leaving the Democratic Party because he wasn't comfortable with some of the party's new voices.   He has apparently decided to not be so hasty.   He will now stick around and promote social change his own way, perhaps through the underrated art of cajoling.  And that's fine.  Let him backslap and cajole until the cows come home.  There's room in the Democratic Party for good ol' boys, but if they want to climb out of this dystopian hole that the billionaire class and right-wing fear mongers have stampeded us into, they are also going to have to begin listening to what the people are saying and thinking.  

James look at who's out there actually winning elections and then figure out why.  That's the path forward.  If Donald Trump is telling Americans that socialists are actually communists while he's promoting having a government stake in private businesses, correct him and point out his flagrant lies and hypocrisy.  You are just as loud as Trump and a whole lot smarter.

It's not the political name that attracts voters, its the fresh ideas and follow-through.

Don't give up, James, catch up.

Threats of Vengeance from the Great Beyond

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump is a chronic bully who quickly resorts to apocalyptic language when it comes to threatening Iran.  He famously said, for instance, that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran failed to meet one of his many deadlines for a peace deal.  Much to Trump's chagrin, however, Iran figured him out quickly and tends to ignore his noise.  But being a bully and roaring threats into the wind is Trump's modus operandi, and one that he's been practicing since childhood.  Never admit that you are wrong or don't understand something - just get louder.

A civilization did not end that night, and by the next morning Trump was focused on some other high-level presidential activity, like remodeling a White House bathroom.

But Trump's rage mode is always  hovering somewhere close by and tends to flicker on an off like a bargain store lightbulb.   Yesterday that was on full display when Trump took to social media to respond to recent news reports that the Iranian government has him targeted for assassination.  Trump rage-threatened:

"1,000 missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republ;ic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!"

Does Trump not understand th concept of death?   Does he even have an inkling that if he's dead, somebody else will be making the decisions about how to retaliate - for instance, like that guy he's been publicly comparing unfavorably to Marco Rubio for the past year?

If somebody pulls your time card, Donald, or mine, or anyone else's, we might be out there in the Great Beyond raging like hell, but nobody's going to hear us.   What happens next will be somebody else's decision - and the guy in the box will have no say in the matter.

Another Day, Another Boondoggle

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Did Trump's "pool guy" also retrofit the new Air Force One "Palace in the Sky," or was Trump just so anxious to have it in the air ahead of the July 4th weekend that he ordered the big plane rolled out for initial flights before all of the defensive gear was installed?

Trump's first flight aboard the monstrously expensive gift that the Qatari royal family gave him was on July 1st when he and several other politicians flew from Andrews AFB near Washington,DC, to Bismarck, North Dakota, for a speech by Trump that was, like most of his speeches, windy and political.  But he and his guests rode to North Dakota in style as he showed off his big, beautiful Sky Palace to a salivating, rightwing American press corps.

(When Trump received the aircraft from the Qatari royals, he immediately turned it over to the US Air Force for upgrades that may equal or exceed the original cost of the luxurious and enormous jet aircraft.  When he leaves office the very high-dollar jumbo jet will be returned to him under the ultimate guise of going to his presidential library foundation.  Much of the total resources that will have gone into Trump's luxurious retirement plane will, of course, have come American taxpayers.) 

Five days later Trump flaunted his new status symbol before the world when he flew in it from the United States to Turkey for the NATO summit, but yesterday when he left the summit, he was aboard one of the older, but still luxurious,  Air Force Ones.    The Qatari plane had been flown out separately to a British air base where Trump later caught up with it and was able to ride in the Sky Palace back to the United States like the potentate that he is.

So why was there a plane shuffle yesterday and why did we have to fly two luxury jets to Turkey to get our gobbler home?

While Trump was in Turkey spreading bad cheer among our NATO allies, his war with Iran began to heat up again even though Trump has already declared that Iran has been militarily decimated on multiple occasions.    The resurgence in hostilities with Iran caused the Secret Service to advise against Trump leaving Turkey on the new Qatari jet due to security concerns.   Apparently because Trump "rushed" the luxury plane into service it still lacked the same level of advanced missile detection and defensive countermeasure systems as the older Air Force Ones.

Trump's airborne gilded palace was more show than substance, a fitting metaphor for Trump and his personal  history, his businesses, his presidency, and even his open sewer of a Reflecting Pool.

Only 926 more days of this larceny and lunacy, but who's counting!

Bonnie Tyler has Left the Stage

by Pa Rock

Music Lover

I remember well the first time I heard Bonnie's Tyler's powerful love ballad, "Total Eclipse of the Heart."  It was in the mid-1980's, so the song, which was recorded in 1983 had been around a couple of years, but my taste in music ran to the "oldies" of my generation, American rock and British Invasion songs from the 1960's.  Ms. Tyler represented "modern" music, and artists like her and Hall and Oates had yet to hit my radar.

Our family had a new (well, lightly used) full-sized Chevy van which we had just purchased and were anxious to take on a road trip.  I'm fairly certain it was Thanksgiving weekend in 1985 and we had only had the big car for a couple of months and were anxious to put it to use on a long roadtrip.  I was an elementary school principal and. my wife taught at a neighboring school in the same district, and we had three children, roughly ages 6-12, who were all in school.

We selected Chicago (where my wife had relatives who would host us for a couple of days) as our destination.   Road distance from Noel Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois, was over 600 miles which put St. Louis as about the halfway point at a little over 300 miles - mostly a straight ride along Interstate 44.  Our family departed Noel as quickly as we could after school let out on Wednesday and drove straight through, managing to hit St. Louis as rush hour was ending, though it was getting dark and the traffic was still heavy.  One of the sights we saw in St. Louis that night, in addition to the Arch, was a fuel tanker that had just crashed on a busy overpass.   The tanker portion of the vehicle was still on the overpass, but the cab was over the edge and dangling precariously above several lanes of traffic.   I read about it the next day in a Chicago newspaper and learned that the driver had died in the accident.

Things slowed down considerably after St. Louis, and as all of the passengers in our van began falling asleep, I navigated the long and lonely road from St. Louis to Chicago by my lonesome listening to radio - and at some point during the night Bonnie Tryler sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to me and left an impression that has lasted forty years.  

What a singer!  What a song!

The gravelly-voiced Welsh singer, Bonnie Tyler, died yesterday at a hospital in Portugal, after waging a losing battle against an undisclosed illness.   Alexa and I remain big fans of her music, and we often find ourselves trying to sing along to her breakout song "It's a Heartache" (1978) and "Holding Out for a Hero" (from the movie "Footloose" in 1984"), and, of course, "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

What a voice!  What a loss!

Harriet Tubman Cancelled - Again!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Obama administration announced plans in 2016 to replace major slaveholder and  exterminator of Native Americans, Andrew Jackson, on our nation's twenty dollar bill with the image of Harriet Tubman.  Tubman was a former slave, abolitionist, and suffragist who famously led other enslaved people to freedom along the "underground railway."  The contrast between the two people - a white, male slaveholder and a black female abolitionist who fought for freedom - could not have been greater.

But then Donald Trump happened, and one of his early acts upon assuming the presidency was to hang a portrait on Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office and declare him to be one of Trump's personal heroes.  Soon after, the Trump administration also announced that plans to replace Jackson with Tubman on the $20 bill were being put on hold while new security measures were being addressed for the nation's twenties.  

During Joe Biden's administration an effort was made to get the project moving again, but production time required about ten years to get new security measures in place.

(Why does it take ten years to make a new $20 bill, but we could start cranking out new $250 bills before Trump leaves office in less than three years?) 

Trump returned to power before the change in the design of the twenties could be accomplished, and his new administration, some of whom were known for openly opposing the promotion of minorities and women to top levels in the US military, had no problem in again putting Harriet Tubman on the back burner.    Yesterday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, South Carolina plutocrat who buys and restores museum quality mansions, announced that plans to put Harriet Tubman's image on the $20 bill have been officially scrapped.

Of course they have.  That's just one more Trump outrage that the next Democratic President will have to address.

Andrew Jackson served as President of the United States from March of 1829 to March of 1837.  During his lifetime he and his family owned 325 human beings.   Jackson actively bought and sold slaves for profit and as a part of his cotton plantation business operation.  At the time he was sworn in as President he owned about a hundred slaves, and by the time he died in 1845 he owned around 150 enslaved men, women, and children.  Instead of freeing his slaves at the time of his death, he left them to his heirs.

Jackson's forced removal of Native American populations from their ancestral homelands in order to open up more land for white settlement and expand the institution of slavery brought about the deaths of thousands of members on the native population and led to many of the hardships that Native Americans endure to this very day.

Yet Andrew Jackson is a personal hero of Donald Trump.  It doesn't take an Ivy League education to figure that one out!

Bully Craps on World Cup

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I will admit on line one, page one of this essay to not actually knowing much about the sport of soccer, but I am an expert on schoolyard bullies so I feel qualified to speak on the World Cup "red card" debacle.

A week ago today during a match between the United States team and the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a US "striker" by the name of Folarin Balogun received what is known as a "red card" for stepping on the ankle of a player from the other team.  The "red card" was a penalty that brought with it a one-match ban - which, after the US won that game -  meant that Balogun was barred from participating in the next round game in which the US faced Belgium.  The call was controversial and made even more so by the fact that Balogun was a key US player on the team.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and presidential task force member Andrew Giulaini got together and decided the proper US response would be to get Donald Trump involved in a challenge to the referee's call.  Trump, who has about as much knowledge of soccer as the tired old typist posting this blog, got suitably enraged and telephoned the person in charge of the World Cup competition, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a personal friend of Trump's who had given him a laughable "FIFA Peace Prize" award last year.  Trump bitched to Infantino and said he thought the decision should be reviewed - and, surprise, surprise, FIFA changed it's position on Sunday, revoked the "red card" on Balogun, and allowed him to play in yesterday's game against Belgium - which the US lost 4-1.

(FIFA, the International Football - Soccer - Association, had only changed a "red card" penalty one other time in the organization's 122-year history - and that had been more than sixty years ago.)

The United States, which has been a pariah on the world stage ever since Donald Trump crawled out of the Reflecting Pool ooze and became the face of America, had finally started to rebuild some goodwill with the rest of the planet by hosting the World Cup matches - along with Canada and Mexico.    But Trump killed that vibe in its tracks when he pulled off the statesman mask and let his petulant inner-child emerge in tantrum mode.

The United States lost its World Cup mojo the moment Donald Trump picked up the phone to apply pressure to Infantino and FIFA.   Our whiney President stamped out any developing feelings of goodwill, and, in the unlikely event that our great national soccer team had gone on to win the World Cup, the prize would have arrived footnoted and tarnished due to his heavy-handed involvement.

We were finally being accepted back into the world community, but Donald Trump had to crash the party and remind us and everyone else that EVERYTHING is actually about him.

Ben and Me Fifty Years Later

 

by Pa Rock

Student of History (and Literature)

At the time of our nation's"Bicentennial," the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1976, I was a 28-year-old young adult who had already begun checking many of life's important boxes.  I had graduated from high school (check), completed a four-year college degree (check), served in the US military (check), married (check), and started a family with one child who was almost three and a second who would arrive five months later (check).

Having completed four years with the US Army just over a year earlier and learning, the hard way, that a BA degree in history was essentially worthless, I was back in college at the time of the. Bicentennial seeking a teaching certificate, with a high school classroom being the most logical place to put all of that history knowledge to work in a job that would actually pay the bills.  

The nearest college wads fifty miles from where we were living, and my wife and I would often find ourselves wandering around campus waiting on the other to finish classes.  Not wanting to "waste" my time on campus when there was so much left to learn, I would fill holes in my schedule by taking elective courses, something that would count as a credit for the BS in Education that I was pursuing or some which migh be helpful in raising young children.   One of the "minors" of my initial degree (the one in history) had been English, and I was particularly  drawn to literature classes.  By the time I finished the requirements for the education degree, I was certified to teach not only history (and social sciences), but also English (including literature) as well.  Surely to Pete I could find a teaching job somewhere with thaat background!

Two of the elective classes that I took during that stint in college as I worked to complete my second degree were "Children's Literature" and "Adolescent Literature."  The professor of one of those classes - I don't remember which - had a monstrously long-term assignment for his students to read a great number of children's bookss - it seems like the number was 100 or more - and then to write brief reports of just a couple of paragraaphs on each.

On July 4, 1976, while watching my two-year-old son and a neighbor girl play outside in a kiddie pool, I worked diligently on that assignment by reading the entire novel, "Ben and Me" by Robert Lawson.  I'm not sure why I remember that, but I do.   A few days ago I decided that it might be fun to repeat that same activity for out nation's 250th anniversary - so I did!  Neither my fifty-two-year-old son nor any of the lovely sTRUMPettes living on our country lane wanted to splash around in a kiddie pool while I read, so I conducted the activity on my own.   It was the first time I had tackled that material in fifty years, and again, as with the first time, I enjoyed the tail tale of Amos the Mouse and his doddering and inept friend, Benjamin Franklin.

(I learned a few years after that initial reading that Ben Franklin and I were relatives, 1st cousins, ten times removed - Ben's maternal grandparents (Peter and Mary (Morrill) Folger of Nantucket were my 10th great grandparents on my mother's side of the family.)

The late Robert Lawson, the man credited with writing and illustrating this fine, and very short (116 pages) novel, admits in the forward to the book that it was actually written by a mouse named Amos who lived and traveled in Ben Franklin's fur hat.  In the 1930's remodelers had come across the tiny manuscript  in a small room (18 inches by 18 inches) beneath the hearthstone of an older house in Philadelphia.  Mr. Lawson said that he had the manuscript carefully authenticated - the age of the ink and paper, and the fact that the writing was actual mouse script, and then decided that it merited publication.  Unfortunately, the publishing company did its work in such a way as to make it look as though the actual creative effort was that of Mr. Lawson instead of Amos, the rightful author.

I was familiar with the work before reading it in 1976.  Disney had turned the material into a two-reel cartoon feature in 1953, and it played on the Sunday night Disney television program.

The book highlights Amos and the role he played in several important phases of Dr. Franklin's life, including supplying Ben with some of the wording for the original text of the Declaration of Independence which Amos obtained from Red, the radical mouse who traveled in Thomas Jefferson's saddle bag and who had done much of the original writing of the Declaration himself - something I did not know until Amos shared it in his book.  Amos also recalled the inventor phase of Franklin's life and what went into the creation of the Franklin Stove as well as his interest in lightening and electricity, something which almost resulted in poor Amos getting fried during a particularly harsh storm in which he was riding in a special viewing compartment beneath Ben's kite.  Amos also traveled with his human friend to France after America's War for Independence where he (Amos, not Ben) was instrumental in helping to foment the French Revolution.

Amos led quite the life, and Benjamin Franklin was fortunate to have had him around as a friend. close advisor, and biographer.  Amos witnessed so much of our nation's early history from his peephole in the front of Ben Franklin's fur hat, and he had the courage and tenacity to preserve it for us enjoy and learn from centuries later.

Right now my plan is to read "Ben and Me" again of July 4th, 2076, our nation's "Tricentennial," but in the unlikely event I don't happen to be around, I challenge at least one of my children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren to read it for me!

The challenge has been issued.  Don't disappoint Pa Rock - or I'll send a mouse to deal with you!

Sebastian at Nineteen

by Pa Rock

Proud  Grandpa

My second oldest grandchild, Sebastian Files, is celebrating his nineteenth birthday today.   He is a native of Arizona, but grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (Oregon) with his parents, Scott and Molly, and two younger siblings, Judah and Willow.   Last year, after graduating from high school, Sebastian left the family nest and relocated to the Kansas City area where he now lives and works.

One of Sebastian's primary strengths, at least from this old codger's perspective, is his ability to hold a job, not necessarily a common trait among young people.  He had a job in the fast food industry in Oregon while he was in high school which he maintained until he moved out of state, and he has worked at a grocery store, sometimes in a managerial capacity, in the Kansas City area since arriving there last year.  When I discuss his work with Sebastian, he always responds in positive terms - again, a trait which is not universal among young people - or old ones either!  My grandson seems to have figured out that having a positive attitude will make the work day a better experience and help maintain long-term employment.

Another strength of my 19-year-old grandson is that he is one of the most safety-conscious drivers with whom I have ever ridden.  He has a nice car and seems intent on keeping it that way.

Like many young people, Sebastian is also focused on his toys, but his major interests and purchases are of the fitness variety.   He has high quality and expensive bicycles and a kayak - all of which get plenty of use and help to keep him healthy and in good shape.

I'm proud of my grandson and wish him fair skies and a continuing smooth ride into adulthood as he sets out to conquer the world.  Have a great year and a wonderful life, Sebastian!

America 250 and Other Stuff

 

by Pa Rock

Semiquincentennialian

Happy semiquincentennial everyone!  The celebration of our nation's 250th birthday got off with a bang last night in my neighborhood as the dogs and I hovered inside the house listening to what sounded like a combat scene from "Saving Private Ryan."   Rosie and Gypsy were scared of the gunfire they were certain was occurring just outside the walls of our fortress, and Pa Rock was fearful his drunken neighbors would set the woods on fire with their firecracker bravado..  It was truly a night to remember!

Billionaire entertainer Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs football star Travis Kelce will remember last night for a more personal reason.  They were married yesterday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York City (by comedian Adam Sandler!) and (presumably) spent their first night together as husband and wife.

(Okay, I am now officially in "Ramble" mode!)

I saw a clip from singer, songwriter, and social activist Dolly Parton on social media yesterday where she acknowledged and thanked Taylor and Travis for their $2 million donation to her "Imagination Library," an early childhood literacy program that mails free, high quality, age-appropriate books every month  to children from the time they are born until they turn five-years-old.  Dolly gushed with gratitude as she acknowledged and thanked the happy couple.  (Hey folks, Dolly's program is open to everyone, regardless of income level.)

Taylor and Travis made $26 million in charitable donations yesterday to more that twenty causes across the country.  Recipients included organization working with children, such as the one run by Dolly, food banks, and animal rescue operations.  One of their donations was to Children's Hospital in Kansas City - where Travis plays professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs and the couple reportedly own a home.  (As a former child protection worker with the state of Missouri, I have had many interactions with Children's Hospital of Kansas City.  It is a top flight organization that will put the donation to good use for the direct benefit of children.)

Elon, what have you done for anyone lately - or ever?

In other news, ICE reportedly arrested 10,000 immigrants during a five-day period at the end of June.  Clearly America's underbelly survives and still poses a deadly threat to our immigrant friends, work colleagues, and neighbors.

The thought occurs to me that I have personally been riding the planet for almost a third of our nation's history.  Oh, the things that I've seen - most of which I've already blogged about here!

I was here (well, actually in Noel, Missouri) for our nation's "Bicentennial,"  or 200th birthday party in 1976, - a 28-year-old father of a 2-year-old son who would turn three within three weeks, with a second child on the way.  I marked the day by doing something I had never done before, or since, and remember well the thrill of accomplishment that followed.  Today I am going to repeat that endeavor, and I will likely write about it in this space on Monday.

So have a rockin' Fourth - and if you happen to be in Washington, DC, avoid the National Mall and its overheated MAGA cultists like the plague - and DO NOT pee in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool no matter how much it looks and smells like an Okinawan benjo ditch!   (If you do, masked ICE goons or bored National Guard Reservists will likely arrest you for sex crimes and you'll finish off the holiday weekend picking cotton in South Sudan!)

Enjoy your day - and do something memorable so that you can blog about it in fifty years!  Happy Fourth of July!

In Praise of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama

 

by Pa Rock

Patriotic American

(Note:  Today's blog posting was intended to be focused on the ways Trump has actively sought to control and spoil our nation's celebration of its Semiquincentennial, but I got distracted early on and meandered into a forest of presidential trivia.  Suffice it to say that I strongly dislike the way Donald Trump has co-opted this holiday and celebration and used it to glorify himself.   As to the meandering, I guess that's why this blog is called "The Ramble."  Happy Fourth! ~ Pa Rock)

Tomorrow marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of our nation's Declaration of Independence.  The day's formal title is the "Semiquincentennial."  Tomorrow also marks the 200th anniversary of the deaths of two of the more prominent signers of that historic document:  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.  John Adams went on to become the new nation's second President, when running in 1796 as a "Federalist" he defeated Jefferson (who was running as a Democratic Republican).  Jefferson, who placed second in the electoral college vote, became Vice President in the Adams' administration, and four years later, in 1800, Jefferson defeated Adams in the Presidential election in the electoral college.

(In an unanticipated constitutional quirk, Jefferson tied with his own Vice-Presidential running mate, Aaron Burr, in 1800, and after Burr decided that, yes, he, too, would like to be President, the matter had to be settled by a vote in the House of Representatives - which Jefferson won.)

Adams and Jefferson did not get along well during the years they both served in George Washington's administration and later during their own years as President.  Adams promoted the concept of a strong federal (central) government, and Jefferson, a southern slaveholder like Washington, thought primary power should reside in the states.  That political divide still exists in the nation today, though the adherents to each view have taken several different labels over the past 250 years.  Today people who favor a dominant federal government tend to call themselves "Democrats," and those pushing for more power at the state level are often "Republicans."  (From the Civil War until the 1960's, those labels were basically reversed with Democrats favoring states' rights, and Republicans, the party of Lincoln, backing a strong federal government.)

The two early leaders who died 200 years ago tomorrow, Adams and Jefferson, patched up their animosity toward one another after leaving office and moving home.  During their final years they became quill pals and enjoyed a close relationship through written correspondence.  Both obviously worked at "hanging on" until the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration, and as John Adams passed away at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts at around five in the afternoon on July 4th, 1826, his final words were "Thomas Jefferson survives."   But John Adams was wrong.  Jefferson had passed away at Monticello, his estate in Virginia, just after noon on that same day, and word of his demise hadn't had time to reach Adams.

Two elderly politicians, poles apart in their political philosophies, yet inextricably bound in their hopes and aspirations for the new nation which they helped to found and build.  

Those of us of a certain age can remember our nation's 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was known as the "Bicentennial."  The United States had a different vibe in 1976 compared to the noise it makes today.   Then, like now, there was a Republican in the White House, but Gerald Ford was a different species of individual than the one who lives there now.  He was a dedicated family man with a personable wife and four teenage children residing with him in the White House.  Ford was known (perhaps unfairly) for being awkward, clumsy, and often ineffectual as a leader, but he got America through the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and the (basically forced) resignation of his predecessor in the White House, Richard Nixon.  People liked Gerald Ford and they felt he had the nation's best interest at heart.  

Gerald Ford certainly had political differences with Jimmy Carter, the Democrat who defeated him in 1976 and was the next President, but interestingly, after the two men left office they became close friends, much like the closeness that developed between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

More recently the Republican George W. Bush and his wife Laura, and the Democratic couple who followed them into the White House (back when it was still intact), Barack and Michelle Obama, are also becoming close, climbing over those pesky party lines to form friendships.

Donald Trump, who doesn't play well with others, takes great pleasure in publicly berating his presidential predecessors, due, no doubt, to his own massive insecurities - and the former Presidents, in a more dignified manner, tend to ignore him as much as they can.   Civility still has a place in modern society, just not at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Donald, I doubt that you have any Former President buddies after you leave office.  They fly commercial and are basically nice people - so you would have little in common with any of them.  

Oh, and shame on you, Donald, for making the Semiquincentennial all about you.  Gerald Ford had the good sense not to interfere with the Bicentennial, and it was exceptional.  But Ford, of course, was presidential and a good-hearted human being.

Number 7,000 Slides by Unheralded

 

by Pa Rock

Relentless Scribe

A major milestone for Pa Rock's Ramble went unnoticed on Tuesday, the day before yesterday, when this exhausted old typist pounded out the daily edition of this ball-and-cbain that I call a blog.  That entry, the one about Texas forcing public school students to read passages from the Bible, was entry number 7,000 in this pile of writing.

The Ramble was first published on Sunday evening, November 4, 2007, from the apartment where I was living at the time in Goodyear, Arizona.   I was bored and decided it would be a good opportunity to learn something new - so I sat down at the computer and taught myself to blog.

That initial offering was a clever (IMHO) political piece titled "Obama '08," in which I promoted my advocacy for a young and energetic US Senator from Illinois by the name of Barack Obama to be elected President in 2008 - and that joyous event occurred exactly one year later on Tuesday, November 4, 2008!

I like to think I put Obama over the top.  I like to think a lot of things.  Many days I write about whatever I happen to be thinking.

Over the years as I struggled to come up material for The Ramble that would interest others, the subject matter for my essays has grown to enompass not only politics, but also personal writings (stories, poems, family histories, and sometimes even old college assignments), personal travel experiences, stories about my kids and grandkids, tales of family pets and farm livestock, and all manner of curiosities which I felt deserved to be archived and saved for future generations to enjoy.  I have also shared this forum with a few old friends over the years for them to air their personal tales and frustrations.

There were a few days in the initial year of The Ramble when I failed to post anything, but by the time the second year rolled abound my OCD had taken a firm grip and an entry was appearing every day - and some days there have been multiple entries.  (The only exception occurred a few years ago when some senior bastard from Google pulled one posting that had run several years earlier due to a reader complaint - and the corporate bureaucrat then threatened to shut me down - but I'm still here, and he probably is, too - but somewhere an arc is slowly bending.)

If any of my descendants ever wonder what Pa Rock was really like, my life is on full display in mind-numbing detail at Pa Rock's Ramble.  Stop by again - any time.  If I'm still upright and riding the planet, I'll still be typing!

Obama, '28!

Profiteering from the Presidency

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The act of "profiteering"generally refers to trying to make a quick buck or excessive profits by taking unfair advantage of a shortage of goods or an emergency situation.  When Donald John returned to the White House for his final term a year ago last January, he probably saw the limited number of days that he would be able to sit on his political perch and snatch and grab based on his power and position in American government as an emergency.   And while Donald John has done little that will benefit ordinary citizens during this term, he has managed to stuff his pockets with more than a billion dollars.  

In a financial disclosure report filed with the US Office of Government Ethics last week that covers the first year of his second term,  Trump reported the sale of tokens related to the family's crypto business at between $500 million and $590 million for the year, and meme coins and digital trading cards generating around $635 million.   (That's over a billion dollars with just tho two revenue sources, and there were plenty more.  (Trump watches, anyone?  Or golden sneakers?  Or cologne and perfume? Or country clubs and golf courses!)

Trump says he doesn't take a paycheck from the government.  That may be, but he is doing quite well financially by virtue of his position in the American political system nonetheless.  Donald John is getting his while the getting is good!

Trump's financial report to the US Office of Government Ethics was 927 pages in length.  The one filed by Joe Biden during his last year in office was 11 pages, and Obama's final financial disclosure as President was only eight.  The one JD Vance filed was 17 pages.  Thirty-nine years down the road when he's the age Trump is now, it will probably be longer.

The presidency needs to be about governing and making the lives of ordinary Americans better.  Its function should not be to generate personal wealth.  It is a leadership post, not aa profit-center.

Texas Students: Thou Shalt Read Thy Bibles

 

by Pa Rock

Retired Educator

This week the Texas State Board of Education mandated a required reading list for students in grades K-12 of the state's public schools, a list which includes specific passages and stories from the King James version of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.  The forced proselytization will be in effect across the entire state and impact over 5.5 million young people by the start of the 2030-2031 school year.

According in information available on-line, the biblical instruction will include:  picture book versions of stories such as "David and Goliath" and "Daniel and the Lion's Den" in the early elementary grades, New Testament passages about Jesus in 4th grade, excerpts from the sermons of Jesus in middle school, and specific Bible verses mandated to pair with classic literary works for high school students.  

Yesterday three well dressed, exceedingly polite young men came to my door to discuss Christianity through the lens of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I neglected to ask them, but I am sure those well mannered lads would like to see their Holy text, "The Book of Mormon"  (aka "Another Testament of Jesus Christ") included in the Texas state required reading list as well.  "The Book of Mormon" has some tales which would surely benefit the children of the Lone Star State.

And the Quran, the Muslim holy book, also has stories that roll off the tongue like the finest European literature and capture the most vivid parts of the Islamic culture and history. 

There are undoubtedly many Morman and Muslim children in the public schools of Texas who would like to share their religious history with their classmates.  And the Bagavad-Gita, the holy book of the Hare Krishnas.  A young lady with a tambourine handed me a copy at an airport once and it made my travel experience just fly by!

Texas knows that sloshing some religion into the curriculum of their public schools can be a very uplifting and moral experience that will save their students from a life of sin and debauchery.  Just ask the state's attorney general.   But they also understand that it has to be the right flavor of religion - and material that will not interfere with the football program.

Yee-haw!

Coolest Mayor Ever!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

On January 1st, 2025, one full year before he was sworn in as the Mayor of New York City, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani showed up the the annual "Polar Bear Swim" at Coney Island and went for a dip in the Atlantic Ocean wearing a business suit.  His swim was a real crowd pleaser, something that highlighted him as a man of the people, a person who was willing to suffer personal discomfort for the benefit of his city.

Last Saturday Mayor Mamdani went for another swim, this time at a public pool in the Harlem section of Manhattan - and he again jumped in wearing a black business suit and tie.  It was the annual opening day of the city's pools, and Mamdani splashed around in the water with dozens of others, kids and adults, like seals at a birthday party.  A great time was had by all, especially Hizzoner, the Mayor of New York!

The mayor quipped on social media later in the day regarding his formal attire at the pool party.  "Well," he noted with a straight face, "the invitation said to bring a suit."

Zohran Mamdani is obviously having a great time in his role as mayor of our nation's largest city, and the residents of his city are experiencing a great time under his leadership.  Saturday's swim came on the heels of an announcement by the mayor that he had convinced the city's Rent Guidelines Board to freeze rents at 0% for one and two-year leases on approximately one million units. The new freeze will run from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 - and it fulfills one of the new mayor's major campaign promises.  Now more people will be able to stay in their homes without fear of having their rents jacked up by greedy landlords and soulless rental  companies.

But that's not all.  Good news seems to be emanating from the Big Apple almost on a daily basis.   Fox News spent the entirety of 2025 warning the nation that crime would increase drastically under Mamdani, and the opposite quickly proved to be true.  Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as Mayor of New York City on January 1st, 2026, and since that date crime in the city's five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island) has dropped more than 10 percent.  Murders ard down over 20 percent (102 for the first five months this year compared to 129 at the same time last year), and that is an all-time low for the first five months of any year - with the previous record being 113 in 1014 and 2017.  Crime rates are also down in the city's subways and public housing projects.

Obviously there are many factors at play with a decrease in crime, but one overarching factor is likely to be the the pride and enthusiasm being generated by the city's new and very aggressive young mayor - a man who says what he intends to do - and then does it!

Zohran Mamdani, coolest mayor ever - whether he's in the pool or not!

Sully's New Fishing Buddy

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

Sully, my 10-year-old jet-setter grandson, had barely unpacked from his birthday fishing trip to Colorado when his parents hustled the family off for another short getaway - this time to St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast of Florida.   It was one more opportunity for my laser-focused-on-fishing grandson to hone his skills with a rod and reel - this time in the beautiful Gulf of MEXICO.   Sully's older sister, Olive, snapped the following photo of her brother and his new friend fishing beneath a pier.  The friend was undoubtedly on the lookout for any small catch that the young fisherman from Kansas tried to throw back.

Pa Rock hopes they both had a good day fishing!

Sullivan Macy dips a line in the Gulf of Mexico

June 2026

Vance Minimizes Watergate

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Vice President JD Vance seems to finally have settled on a political role model in life and is beginning to transition out of the enormous and wobbly shadow of Donald Trump and into that of former President Richard M. Nixon.  Trump, who doesn't seem to have ever been much of an actual fan of Vance, has, of late, begun to demean his Vice President in public settings and say things that might lead an honorable person resign,  but neither Vance nor his mentor, billionaire Peter Thiel, would ever consider entertaining that option..

Trump's primary sustained insult toward Vance has been to openly suggest that he is considering others to endorse as his successor in the presidency, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become the person Trump most often brings up as an alternative to a Vance candidacy.   In their brilliant new compendium of the first year of the second Trump presidency, a book titled "Regime Change," New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan recount an incident in which Trump asked media mogul Rupert Murdoch at a private dinner last October (in front of Vance and Rubio) to rate the two men against each other - undoubtedly an awkward situation for everyone in the room - except for Trump who has no feelings.

Murdoch responded (with both Vance and Rubio sitting in the room listening) by calling Rubio "brilliant? and saying that Vance had "the potential to be great."  Ouch.

Some of Trump's problem with Vance seems to be rooted in the fact that JD was never as enthusiastic about Trump's war on Iran as Trump felt he should have been.  Now that the war effort has stalled and is falling apart, and the US is in full withdrawal mode, Trump has made JD Vance the face of the surrender that Trump is trying to pass off as some ssort of victory.  Vance didn't like the war effort, and now Trump wants him to own its failure.

But Vance's situation is even more complicated than all of that.  In the midst of everything else, he is on tour trying to sell his new book, "Communion:  Finding My Way Back to Faith," in preparation for a presidential run that will begin eearly next year - and perhaps against Rubio in the Republican primaries.  Vance, a poor public speaker, has already had several embarrassing encounters with the press while promoting himself and his book, including one with the ladies of "The View" who almost ate him alive, and each day of the book tour seems to bring more headlines, often some that may play against the potential presidential candidate's long-term interestss.

This past Thursday at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, Vance took the opportunity to compare himself to Richard Nixon, saying:

"Young senator, vice president, writes some best-selling books, is hated by the media."

A rather good summation, I thought, until he dropped a nugget that choked the horse - and chose to minimize the Watergate scandal, the story that eventually forced Richard Nixon to become the first, and so far "only," person to ever resign the office of President of the United States.   Vance said that if the same story (of the Watergate burglary and the President lying to the nation in an effort to cover up his administration's participation in it), came to light today, it would disappear after one 12-hour news cycle.

And you know what?  I think he's right.  We have become so jaded to presidential corruption happening right out in the open during the Trump years that Americans have lost the ability to be shocked and shamed.  With the Trump administration, corruption is what they do, it's their way of life.  It's a rare day when one presidential scandal manages to consume a full news cycle before it is overrun by another.

Only one scandal has managed to survive throughout the Trump years, and that is the one where our government is lying about and hiding the Epstein files.  That damned thing just WILL NOT go away - will it Donald?  

If JD is right, and again, I think he is, about the public's inability to maintain an interest in a major scandal - and his assertion that today, in these modern times, public interest in Watergate would have faded after just twelve hours, imagine how unbelievably huge the Epstein saga would have been if it had played out fifty years earlier.  Hundreds would have been jailed, thousands of careers ruined, multiple governments brought down, billionaires arrested, and even the House of Windsor might have fallen.

We are no longer shocked by the rich and powerful behaving badly, squandering our natural resources and buying "toys" like mega-yachts and private jets while children go to bed hungry every night - but there is still one moral barrier standing whose breach we will not tolerate - and that is child rape.

If Watergate would have been little more than the equivalent of a pimple on the ass of society today, the Epstein saga would have been a quadruple limb amputation back in 1972.

Thank you, JD Vance, for helping to show us how god-awful the Epstein mess truly is.  Maybe Trump will assign you the task of cleaning up that one, too.