Trump Moves to Kill Freedom of the Press

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

It used to be that the nation's press was instrumental in getting the President's message out to the public, a situation that called on the Commander-in-Chief to at least behave in a quasi-cordial manner to the ladies and gentlemen of the Fourth Estate.  Good relations with the press could make the President - as it did with Reagan, and an antagonistic press had the ability to destroy - as it did with Nixon.

With the advent of social media, however, the role and strength of the press began to show signs of diminishing.  President Obama was the nation's first chief executive to see the power of connecting directly with the people through venues like Twitter.   But it was Obama's successor, Donald Trump, who turned "tweeting" into his personal discourse with America.   FDR had his "fireside chats," Reagan (and subsequent Presidents) had their Saturday radio addresses, and Trump has his Twitter tantrums.

But Trump, who benefited politically from a raft of fake news that swamped social media in the months preceding the election, quickly adapted and began labeling any story that put him in a bad light as "fake news."  He also came to the realization that he could attack segments of the press and override any negative effects with reliance on right-wing media and his own formidable presence on social media.

CNN was the first news outlet to suffer the ire of the tempestuous Trump for stories that the organization did regarding Trump's ties to Russia.  The blustery politician was roaring that CNN was "fake news" weeks before his inauguration.  Trump's press strategy seemed to quickly become based on selectivity.   Breitbart News, a right-wing sludge-pot, gained what many see as an almost insurmountable advantage when its CEO, Steve Bannon, became Trump's most trusted advisor - and now even has a seat on the National Security Council, while others began suffering indignities - not being called on for questions, and the recurring threat of petulant reprisals like changing the correspondent's seating chart in the press room.

The past week the conflict between the Executive Branch and the White House Press Corps flared up a couple of times.  First, Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a press "gaggle," something more informal that a daily press briefing.  Spicer held the event in his office, which was limited in space.  He invited in the press pool which insured that all outlets would have access to what was said, but then he added a few other news outlets to the gaggle - an action which seemed to show a preference for some while excluding others.

Those excluded from Spicer's special briefing included the BBC, Politico, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, and, of course, CNN - among others.  A sense of solidarity quickly developed between the "haves" and the "have nots" when the Associated Press and Time declined their invitations to join Spicer and his select group in support of those who were excluded - and the Wall Street Journal, a Rupert Murdoch publication, said it would not attend any of the exclusive type of events in the future.

The Trump administration was going to pick and choose who to grace with their news.

The following day Trump suddenly announced that he would not be attending the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, a black-tie event that raises money for charity and also provides a platform where the press and the President take turns roasting and making fun of each other.   Trump, the big narcissist, apparently can't take a joke - even if its for charity.

So the President of the United States is trying to drive a wedge through the press by dividing it - and also by ignoring it - and by calling its product "fake."  He seems to think that in this day and age he can make that work.  News will become whatever Donald Trump says it is, and any criticism of him personally is not only "fake," it is a crime against America.  The press, in Trump's world view, is the enemy of the people.

It's almost surreal.

No, it is surreal.  It would have even shocked Orwell!

Back in the day the axiom was "the man who buys his ink by the barrel always wins."  Donald Trump is betting that those days are over.  If they are, he will have won and America will have lost far more than we ever imagined.

First he came for CNN, next he came for the major dailies, and soon he will come for your Facebook!

Monday's Poetry: "Good Bones"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Ohio poet Maggie Smith, long a sustaining force for her craft, saw her fame as a poet skyrocket last year when one of her poems, a piece titled "Good Bones," caught fire with the public in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando and went viral on the internet.  It has since gone on to be translated into several languages and has received worldwide acclaim.

"Good Bones" focuses on the poet's acknowledgment that the world is a troubled place overlaid with her efforts to keep that reality from her children.   She seeks to show them a realistic landscape with the potential to be made beautiful.

"Good Bones" was originally published in the American literary journal, Waxwing, before taking flight on its own on the internet.  Please enjoy.


Good Bones
by Maggie Smith

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.

Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine

in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,

a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways

I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least

fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative

estimate, though I keep this from my children.

For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.

For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,

sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world

is at least half terrible, and for every kind

stranger, there is one who would break you,

though I keep this from my children. I am trying

to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,

walking you through a real shithole, chirps on

about good bones: This place could be beautiful,

right? You could make this place beautiful.

Democrats Fail to Rejuvenate

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

My preference in the race for Chair of the Democratic National Committee would have been Missouri's former Secretary of State Jason Kander, but he chose not to be involved in that melee.   The young Kander (age 35) was both a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a skilled political operative who nearly unseated an incumbent Republican senator from a red state that Trump easily carried.  Kander is young, tough, smart, and politically seasoned with exceptional organizational skills - exactly the qualities that the Democratic Party needs.

My second choice was South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a young (also 35) war veteran who was also elected to office in a very red area - but Pete, who saw the writing on the wall, dropped out of the race prior to the first-ballot voting.

My gut on the matter was that the party needed to undergo a serious shakeup if it was to harbor any hope of stumbling out of the political wasteland any time soon.  The next leader needed to be a firebrand, someone young and dynamic enough to engage with our future and take us there - not someone who was content with snuggling up to the past and prattling on with the status quo.

So when the race narrowed down to two fifty-somethings - Tom Perez and Keith Ellison - neither of whom I found to be particularly exciting - I just sort of turned it all off.  Our other national face of the party, House Minority Leader (and former Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi, a seventy-something, had retained her stranglehold in Congress last month and kept the whipper-snappers at bay for at least another two years.  The Democratic Party was not going to have to deal with any substantive change from within before the elections of 2018.

There is also a troublesome story floating about that Hillary is contemplating a rematch with Trump in 2020 - at a time when she will be seventy-three and he will be seventy-four. 

Another thing the party officially did yesterday was to vote to allow corporate donations by lobbyists into the party coffers.  Obama had put a stop to that shameless activity eight years ago, but then Wasserman Schultz had quietly allowed the return of corporate contributions before the 2016 elections.  Some in the party argued that this money was needed to compete with Republicans, while others noted that the party had a cleaner image without it.  But greed prevailed.

It was more than a little disappointing to hear a commentator on National Public Radio this morning refer to Perez and the "establishment" candidate - and Trump's favorite newspaper, the New York Times, labeled Perez the "establishment favorite."  Back in the day "establishment" was a fighting word.  I guess now it no longer is, but I also sense that it might have become synonymous with a reluctance to fight.

Tom Perez was encouraged to enter the race for DNC Chair by Barack Obama and his administrative team in the White House - and while I love and admire Barack Obama, I can't get past the fact that he was the one who put Debbie Wasserman Schultz in charge of the party.   Her political shenanigans aimed at securing the presidential nomination for Hillary Clinton helped to lay the groundwork for the catastrophe of last November.  And what Wasserman Schultz didn't rend asunder prior to her ouster from that office, dishonest Donna Brazile managed to do in her stead.

And now Perez is the Chair.  The party that needed a new broom has instead gotten a feather duster.

The Bernie faction, of which I am a veteran, by and large supported Keith Ellison, and while it was never verbalized by the politically correct Obama White House crowd, the fact that Ellison was a Muslim must have carried a certain amount of weight in their decision to give him some opposition.  Had Ellison become Chair of the DNC,  Trump, who repeatedly referred to Bernie as a "communist" during the primary campaign, would already be banging out tweets calling the Democrats the "party of Al Qaeda,"  Bullies are nothing if not predictable.

The good news for the Democratic Party is that the base is already fired-up and fighting.  While many of our elected officials seem to be wringing their hands in despair, the party faithful are marching in the streets, taking over town halls, and making their voices heard all over social media.  Laissez faire and lame leadership will not quell the tide of righteous anger that is bubbling up in the bowels of real America.  Just as Trump's people had their moment, we, too, shall have ours.

Good luck in your new position, Tom Perez.   You can either be a dynamo for change in society, or you will undoubtedly be run to the curb by people who are tired of waiting for change.  It's your choice, but you are going to have to act quickly.

Gohmert Doesn't Want to be the Next Giffords

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Louie Gohmert, a congressman from East Texas who has been unkindly labeled as "the dumbest member of Congress" by at least a couple of internet media sources, has, nevertheless, come up with a clever excuse for avoiding town halls.   Gohmert says that Gabby Giffords was shot at a town hall meeting, along with several attendees, and he does not want to place people in unnecessary danger.

What a saint!

Gohmert isn't scared of being verbally abused by angry constituents, but he does labor under a concern for the physical safety for those who would show up to meet with their member of Congress.

Gabby Giffords, to her credit, noted that she and her husband, Mark Kelly, still attend lots of meetings with the public, and she encouraged Gohmert as well as other congressmen to "have some courage" and get out and meet with their constituents.

Well Congressman Gohmert, your concern for the welfare of others is commendable.  Here are some facts that you might want to consider as you move forward in your efforts to enhance public safety:

• Gabby Giffords was shot and almost died in a January 2011 attack that took the lives of six and wounded twelve others.  The shooter was a young man who had previously been diagnosed as a "paranoid schizophrenic," yet had effortlessly bought a gun and ammunition from two separate vendors just days before the shooting.  That's one fact.

• Another fact is that after the Giffords' shooting President Barack Obama established a rule that would have added people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) who had such severe mental handicaps that they received an SSI disability payment and had to be assigned a trustee.  (And even those people would have had an appeal process if they felt strongly about wanting to buy a gun.)

• Yet another fact is that this month both houses of Congress voted to override that Obama rule and once again allow the seriously mentally ill to buy weapons and ammunition without government interference.

• And, a final fact is that you, Congressman Gohmert, not only voted to permit the seriously mentally ill to buy guns and ammunition, you actually co-sponsored the legislation that will roll back the sensible Obama rule.

Don't fear your constituents Congressman Gohmert, engage with them.  And if you really want to do something to keep another Giffords type of slaughter from occurring, be more responsible to the public with your votes.  The NRA puts money in your pocket so that you will do everything in your power to enable the arms companies to sell more guns, but the NRA is not focused on the public safety.  If keeping the public safe is your priority, then you need to move decisively to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.

In fact, if you would concentrate of voting in ways that would enhance the welfare and well-being of your constituents, you might actually enjoy visiting with them!

Smarten up, Louie - and do your job!

Morning in Trump's America

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Those hoping for at least a modicum of restraint and sanity to be in evidence in the Trump administration have by now, no doubt, realized their folly.   Don the Con, ably enabled by his staff of serious sycophants, has moved swiftly to ensure that the needs and concerns of the ultra wealthy and corporate America are the national priority.  The fattest cats in America stoked the Trump campaign with cash, and now they are busy collecting on their investment.

But there were some other important investors in the Trump campaign.

America's morally rigid fundamentalist Christians managed to overlook the naked photos of Mrs. Trump that were all over the internet - and ignore The Donald's boorish and adolescent boasts about "pussy grabbing" - and vote for him anyway. And those "good Christians" also expected payback for their votes.

While the national Republican party has expressed a desire to move on past the culture wars that have fed red meat to their more conservative elements in the past, America's religious conservatives have no intention of letting go of the political hot potatoes that have fed their congregations for years.  Trump was with them on the biggie - abortion - but two other contentious issues - gay rights and legalized weed - have been more problematic.  Trump showed his political nature by managing to be on both sides of those issues.

During the campaign, candidate Trump said he would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans from violence and oppression.  And the words of support for LGBT did not stop there.  As President, he went on to declare that he would continue enforcing an executive order that Obama issued to protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination.  Trump was also all over the place with his pronouncements on pot.

But fear not, Oh Children of the Omnipotent White God, for Don the Con is with you.

This week Donald Trump, with what appears to be an abundance of moral backbone supplied by his racist and homophobic attorney general, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, has moved decisively to re-engage in America's culture wars.  First up was transgender rights.  Officials from the Justice and Education Departments informed the Supreme Court yesterday that the administration was ordering schools to disregard Obama era memos on transgender rights.  Many see that abrupt move as not only being in contravention to sexual safeguards intended with Title IX, but also as a situation that will place transgender students in harm's way.

But Trump the Bully has spoken, and bullies everywhere will have many, many more targets on which to employ their terror.

What's next, Donzo?  Stacking the Supreme Court to the point that it reverses itself on gay marriage? 

Another area which has always been of concern to Trump's backbone, Jeff Sessions, is recreational drug use.  Sessions once famously said that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was okay until her learned that some of its members smoked pot.  Yesterday, Trump's mouthpiece, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, felt the need to remind reporters that regardless of what some states have done in legalizing pot usage, it is still illegal according to federal statutes - and he said those pot-tolerant states would soon be reminded of the seriousness of their electoral folly.

Stand your ground, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia!

And for those who can't quench their blood lust with mere culture wars, Trump has something for you as well.   He wants to re-institute a nuclear arms race, one in which America is preeminent with more nukes than any other country - or, as Mr. Eloquence puts it, "top of the pack."

It's morning in Donald Trump's America.  Someone please hit the snooze alarm.

GOP Cockroaches Run from the Bright Light of Town Halls

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I'm not a fan of Tom Cotton, the Arkansas senator who made an ass of himself by penning an open letter to the leaders of Iran while trying to undercut the President of the United States - back when he was just two months into office.   Cotton proved quickly that he was a shameless showboat intent on becoming an important player on the national political stage.  But as of last night my stock in Cotton has gone up, if only marginally.

Last night Senator Cotton did what few Republican office holders have been willing to do - he manned-up and bravely marched into a "town hall" to face a hoard of concerned citizens.  The event, held in a Springdale, Arkansas, school gym, brought in over two thousand citizens who had opinions to share with their senator.

Tom Cotton is definitely in the minority when it comes to Republicans appearing at town hall meetings.  Some have cancelled the public gatherings when it became apparent that people were fired up and planning to attend.  Some have moved meetings to remote locations within their districts in the hopes that the long drive would keep people from attending, and yet others have suddenly discovered that they had scheduling issues and were needed elsewhere.

My own Republican senator, Ol' Roy Blunt of Missouri, will not be having any town halls back home.  A member of his staff announced that Blunt "does not do" town halls.  When pressed as to why, the flack snapped back, "He just doesn't, that's why!"

Just because a congressman or senator refuses to meet with his or her voters, however, does not mean that the town hall won't be happening.  Several localities have determined that the voices of constituents need to be heard, whether their politicians are within earshot or not.

Rep Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman from Illinois, announced through a staffer that he would be unable to attend a town hall organized by a local progressive group because he was already scheduled to be somewhere else at that time.  Undeterred, the group chose to represent Kinzinger at their meeting with an empty suit - and the show went on.   An empty suit was also used to represent Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania when he declined to attend a public event in his state.

An empty chair with a sign saying it was reserved for Rep. Andy Harris, a republican congressman from Maryland, served as a stand-in for that politician when he failed to attend a local event in his district.

Cardboard cutouts are also being used to "stand-in" for absentee politicians.  Darrell Issa, the richest member of Congress, did not take the bait when locals ran a full-page newspaper ad in San Diego encouraging him to appear at a locally-scheduled town hall meeting.  When Issa didn't show, he was replaced with a life size cutout of Waldo from "Where's Waldo" with Issa's face taped over Waldo's face.

Colorado's Republican senator, Cory Gardner, said that an influx of calls to his office were from "paid protesters from other parts of the country."   So when a town hall was held in Colorado, one which Gardner did not attend, one of the things participants did was to hold their Colorado driver's licenses in the air to show that they were, indeed, Coloradans. 

The notion that people attending these town halls are being shipped in from other places and paid to protest has become standard fodder for Republicans as they struggle to understand and explain the shifting ground of politics in America.  Many have never been exposed to the noise of an organized opposition before, so in their minds it can't represent a significant part of their political reality.  The quick answer is to minimize the protest by saying it isn't real - it's other people from other places - being funded by some insidious secret funders.

Fox News talker Sean Hannity recently posted a tweet which implied that somebody was secretly funding all of the protests which have been springing up around the country.  No sooner had his tweet been posted than Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban fired back a response, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek:

"It's me Sean. I had the TriLateral commission pitch in, then i went to the Illuminati. They were really cheap, so Stewie covered the rest"

The truth is, of course, nothing as glamorous as what Hannity or even Cuban allude to.  The people attending these events are, by and large, local registered voters who just happen to not agree politically with the elected officials and who have vested interests in matters on which the politicians will be working - such as health care.    And no, they are not being paid by anyone to seek to be involved in the democratic process.   Facing up to people with strong opinions takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude, but their opinions need to be heard and acknowledged - and their questions need to be answered.    If a politician doesn't have what it takes to appear before his or her constituents in an open forum, then that public servant needs to find a new line of work.

Serving in Congress is about more than just pocketing cash from lobbyists.

If Ol' Roy Blunt or Congressman Jason Smith ever decide to host a town hall, Pa Rock will be there - and no one will be paying him to attend.  Being an informed voter is an important part of the democratic process, and neither Ol' Roy nor Jason have the right to deny me access.  They work for me - and they work for us - and all of us have a right to expect open accountability from our employees!

Nothing Sadder than an Unused Gun

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

A young man got more than he bargained for when he was shot to death earlier this month while apparently trying to steal diapers from a Walmart near Orlando, Florida.  The victim, a 19-year-old, was gunned down by a concerned and armed Walmart shopper who happened to be nearby when the attempted theft of the diapers occurred.   A young lady who was with the reputed robber was also wounded.

Apparently it went down something like this:  two teen-aged men and the young woman were trying to make off with two carts of diapers when they were confronted by a store employee.  The shooter, an unidentified fifty-year-old male, saw the commotion and decided to get involved.  That is when he conveniently noticed one of the thieves reaching for "something" and opened fire.

Florida, you see, is one of those states where just about anybody can carry a gun just about anywhere.  It is also a "stand your ground" state (remember George Zimmerman) where the least bit of provocation can make a person feel "threatened" and thus justify opening fire on the perceived threat.  A perfect storm for a fifty-year-old boy with a gun who was just itching to shoot someone.

Zimmerman, you might recall, felt threatened by a bag of Skittles.

What, pray tell, would be the point in owning and carrying around a fine firearm if there was never any hope of getting to use it?   Could there be anything sadder than an unused gun?

And what of the store itself?   Should the multi-billionaire members of the Walton family expect their underpaid store clerks and overzealous customers to protect the family's wares, or should they perhaps invest in a few security guards to protect their diapers and Chinese knickknacks?  Perhaps they should even look at who they are attracting into their stores.  With items on the shelves like guns, and ammo, and liquor, perhaps they are catering to individuals who are move likely to resort to violence.

Florida is not alone in this rush toward vigilantism.  Lax gun laws have spread into all fifty states, a cancer giving cop wannabes everywhere the ability and incentive to charge into any hubbub with guns a-blazing!  It's Wayne LaPierre's wet dream - more and more Americans killing more and more Americans, and the rest of the public stampeding into gun stores and Walmarts to arm themselves for protection.

Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies!

The Ladies Fight Back

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

If you don't believe that politics in America is still a basically white, old boys game, just take a look at some of those disgusting group photos coming out of Trump's Oval Office.  The same goes for Congress.  Though women and racial and ethnic minorities have made significant strides since Jeanette Rankin first broke the congressional gender barrier a little over a century ago, the preponderance of our national legislators is still old, white men.

State legislatures are also seeing some shift toward a gender balance, but slightly over 75% of state legislators nationwide remain male.  And in this, the Age of Trump, these old boys focus primarily on three things:  voting rights (to insure the system is sufficiently rigged so that they can maintain their positions and power), guns (to secure the support of the morons and Walmart shoppers), and vaginas (for the blessings of the Christian fundamentalists).  The current herd of men running America prefer policies that curtail voting, proliferate guns, and limit women's reproductive choices - all for purely political reasons.

(A news story out this morning says that HHS Secretary Tom Price may soon be able to gut the requirement that insurance companies offer contraception and birth control at no cost.  The age of enlightenment appears to be dimming.)

If the ladies are ever able to consolidate their majority power, God alone knows the extent of what the pent-up backlash could be - but so far the men and the churches have been successful in convincing women that they are better off leaving their fate in the hands of men.

So far . . . but the worm is showing signs of contemplating a turn.

Recently a female state legislator in Kentucky decided that since men are so concerned with controlling women's bodies, perhaps it was time for government to involve itself with the bodies of men.  State Representative Mary Lou Marzian has introduced a bill into the Kentucky legislature, HB 396, which would require a minimum of two doctor's visits and a permission slip from the patient's wife before any man in the state could receive erectile dysfunction drugs.  Single males and men who could not obtain written permission from the little woman would be S.O.L. when it came to shopping for Viagara!

Rep. Marzian said she was only trying to protect men from themselves.  Her bill would also require that men attempting to buy the erectile dysfunction drugs be required to swear with their hand on the Bible that they would use the medicine only when having sex with their current spouse.  The state representative stressed that her bill was about "family values."

The Kentucky legislature recently passed yet another restriction on abortion, one which requires that women contemplating a pregnancy termination receive counseling twenty-four hours prior to the procedure.   Perhaps Representative Marzian should add a counseling requirement to her bill.  Others are suggesting that the bill could also contain a requirement for a trans-rectal ultrasound to insure that there are no prostrate issues at play.   Also, a mandatory viewing of a film on the unintended consequences of sex might be in order.

Why, the list of potential impediments to the fulfillment of a male sex drive are near limitless.  Keep cranking out those bills, ladies.  Save those gnarly old men from themselves!

If it's good enough for the goose, it's sure as hell good enough for the gander!

Monday's Poetry: "Rocky Mountain High"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

As I was driving across southern Missouri this past weekend I came across a soft rock station on the radio that was enjoyable without distracting from the critical business of watching the road.  I hadn't been on that station very long when it played the late John Denver's classic ode to Colorado - and to an America that he understood and loved, "Rocky Mountain High."  The beautiful words took me back to a less-complicated and happier time.

Folk singer and song writer Woody Guthrie captured the essence of his idealized America in broad strokes with panoramic endeavors like "This Land is Your Land" and "Roll On, Columbia." Decades later John Denver also wrote and sang his vision of America, only Denver took it in smaller bites - state by state.  Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" paid homage to the scenic poverty of West Virginia, and his "Wild Montana Skies" ripped open the soul of the American West in much the same manner as "Rocky Mountain High" had done.  John Denver was a poet's poet, using the briefest of glimpses into the natural world to evoke vivid landscapes where we would all like to frolic and sit around the campfire laughing late into the night.

Legalized marijuana sales topped one billion dollars in Colorado in 2016.  To recognize that milestone of capitalism, I thought this would be a good time to revisit "Rocky Mountain High."  Somewhere John Denver is kicked back into a cloud bank and smiling.

Rocky Mountain High
By John Denver

He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hanging by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changing fast and it don't last for long

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high (Colorado)

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high

It's Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high
Rocky mountain high, Colorado, rocky mountain high
Rocky mountain high, Colorado, rocky mountain high!

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

The Wind in the Willows

by Pa Rock
Reader

Last year after learning that my four-year-old granddaughter and her mother were reading and enjoying the "Frog and Toad" series by Arnold Lobel, I reasoned that if they liked those adventures, they would surely have fun reading Kenneth Grahame's classic, The Wind in the Willows.  I had seen an adaptation of some of that material on PBS several years ago and remembered liking it.  Even if I hadn't actually read the work myself, it was a classic and would undoubtedly be a hit with my grandchild.

So, Pa Rock being the pushy grandparent that he is, ordered a copy of The Wind in the Willows for little Olive and her mother.

Recently my son gave me a copy of the same book, one that he had picked up at a yard sale, and I determined to read it so that Olive and I could discuss the finer literary points of the children's novel.  To my surprise and embarrassment, I quickly learned that small children were probably not the intended audience for this work because it is rife with adult themes and situations.

True, Grahame did create the stories included in The Wind in the Willows to entertain his young son, in much the same manner as A.A. Milne intended when he penned the Winnie the Pooh collection and Richard Adams did with Watership Down, but the level of complexity in Grahame's work suggests that his young son, Alistair, an only child, might have been coaxed toward an early maturation by overly eager parents.

The Wind in the Willows is the story of several animals living in a wooded area along a river bank, with four - Mole, Water Rat, Mr. Badger, and Toad - serving as the primary catalysts of the tale.   As the story opens Mole is busy with spring cleaning when he suddenly tires of the annual chore and decides to go on a walkabout.  While on his stroll he encounters a new friend, Water Rat (affectionately known as "Ratty") and inexplicably moves into Rat's home.

(That move could entail a whole other level of meaning - one which I choose not to explore.)

Mole begins hearing tales about the elusive Mr. Badger who lives deeper in the woods, and determines to meet him - even though Ratty warns that Mr. Badger doesn't care much for company.  Mole goes into the woods one wintry afternoon in search of Mr. Badger.  Ratty eventually follows along out of concern for his wandering roommate.  Together the pair get lost in a nighttime snowstorm before inadvertently stumbling upon Mr. Badger's lodgings.  He invites them in out of the awful weather, and Mole has another friend.

But it is Mole's next new friend who drives the crux of the tale and pulls it far beyond the reach of many children.  Ratty takes Mole to meet the esteemed Toad of Toad Hall, a privileged and somewhat spoiled character who lives a life of leisure on inherited money.  (Toad was probably intended by Kenneth Grahame to satirize the lords and ladies and royalty of British society.)  The fellows' first encounter with Toad leads to an adventure and a mishap.  He takes them for a ride in a horse-drawn gypsy caravan (an ornate wagon whose proper name is a "vardo".)  While on their outing a young rascal in a motorcar forces them off the road and the wagon turns over.  Fortunately there were no injuries, but the incident had a profound impact on Toad who could suddenly think of nothing else but acquiring a motorcar for himself.

Over the coming months Toad acquires several cars, all of which he drives recklessly and too fast and eventually wrecks.  His vehicular irresponsibility reaches such a critical mass that his friends, Ratty, Mole, and Mr. Badger hold an intervention and make Toad a prisoner in his own house to prevent him from rushing out and buying another motorcar.  But Toad, that wily cuss, quickly escapes their well-intentioned captivity and hits the road on foot.  He isn't on his own for very long, however, before he  steals a car, goes for a joyride, wrecks the car, and bad-mouths a law enforcement officer - a combination of crimes for which he receives a twenty-year prison sentence.

After several months of confinement in a dank, old prison, Toad, with an assist from a woman who comes into the prison to read to him, dresses up as a washer woman and manages to escape.  While he is on the run he lies his way onto a train and a river barge, he steals a horse and later sells the stolen nag to a gypsy for a hot meal and a few silver coins, and slowly makes his way home where he discovers that the once grand Toad Hall has been taken over by a trashy band of stoats and weasels.  But with the aid of his old friends, Toad goes to war against the home-stealing varmints and eventually regains his home and his rightful place in society - as long as no one dwells too seriously on the fact that he remains an escaped convict.

So there you have it - a children's book whose wistful vistas of wild woods and babbling brooks are quickly replaced by reckless driving, social intervention, car theft, a joyride, confrontation with police, imprisonment, cross-dressing, escape from prison, life on the lam, lying, horse theft, the sale of a stolen horse, and a big dose of old-school violence.

Olive may have liked it, and I hope she did, but I was appalled!

Missouri's Highway Horrification Peters Out

by Pa Rock
Weary Road Warrior

I made a trip across southwest Missouri today, the first since my close friend was hospitalized and subsequently passed away last November.  At that time the rolling hills of the Ozarks were festooned with Trump/Pence signs - everything from the standard yard-size to vulgar billboard displays - and many cars were branded with Trump bumper stickers.    Now, I am pleased to report most of that trash has disappeared.   I did see one fairly large Trump/Pence sign (approx. 2-feet by 3 feet) cobbled to a larger billboard, but that was all.  During the jaunt of almost four hundred miles, I did not have to endure any other reminders of our national embarrassment!  Even the bumper stickers are gone!

I did try to return one nice yard sign that I had up in support of a local independent candidate for state representative.  The lady, who ran a tough race against a well-funded and entrenched local yokel, told me, rather dejectedly, to keep the sign and either properly dispose of it or turn it into a yard sale sign.   It's always sad to see a valiant effort in democracy reduced to promoting a yard sale.

Missouri's new Republican governor has already joined forces with our veto-proof Republican legislature and made Missouri the 28th right-to-work state in the nation.  (Now we are right up their with the likes of Alabama and Oklahoma - yea team!)  If there is any semblance of collective bargaining or labor protections left in the state, Governor Greitens has almost four full years left in which to destroy it.  All of that - and disappearing medical coverage.  (I dreamed that I was in hillbilly heaven!)

But hey, at least the most offensive trash along the roadways is disappearing - and will soon be replaced by the flowers of spring!  Blooming daffodils to subsume the last vestiges of the blooming idiots!

GOP Takes Aim at School Meals

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Years ago when I was the principal of an elementary-junior high school in a district that had several such schools, I volunteered to have our little school institute a breakfast program.  Because the school was in an impoverished area, many of the children who took advantage of the hot morning meal were able to do so at a free or reduced cost.  It was such a raging success, that the district's five other elementary-junior highs soon came on board with their own hot breakfast programs.

Yes, there were some in the community who opposed the notion of schools providing breakfast to students, but I didn't care.  The research showed that students who had breakfast were better behaved at school and did better academically - findings that soon became evident in our own school setting.  Eating breakfast also led to better health outcomes.

The hard part of the school breakfast and lunch programs was the record keeping.  Someone had to be present in the lunch room to collect tickets or money, and there was also a lot of administrative time dedicated to wading through applications and figuring out who was eligible for free and reduced lunches - and which families had to pay the full price.  But in the end, the program ran smoothly and lots of hungry kids had at least two good meals a day - something of which I was very proud.

Over the years the program has changed, generally for the better.  Through something called the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), schools in poor areas where 40% of the students qualify for free meals, may now offer free meals to all students and then be reimbursed at a variable rate, according to the percentage of low-income families.  That helps to ease the administrative burden of determining who is and is not eligible, and it assures that the schools will receive some reimbursement on all students.  It also goes a long way toward eliminating the social stigma that comes to receiving free meals.

The GOP, which is historically known for losing interest in poor kids at the time of their birth, nevertheless has a strong interest in providing meals to needy students at school - a strong negative interest.  Republicans in the House are looking at "adjusting" the CEP percentage up to 60% in order to combat the "fraud" of children who could afford to pay for meals receiving them for free.  That change will reduce that number of children who are able to eat at school and it will increase the bookkeeping burden on the schools.

Think about that:  the same people who fall all over themselves giving tax breaks to corporations and billionaires, would gleefully yank the cafeteria trays away from hungry kids.  That is immorality in its rawest and most unforgivable form.

Feed those kids!   It's what Jesus would do.

Arming the Mentally Ill in Trump's America

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

For those still suffering under the delusion that Donald Trump and the Republican Party maintain any sense of humanity or decency, consider this:  the House and Senate have each just passed a measure that would roll back an Obama era rule which was aimed at preventing the severely mentally ill from buying guns.  Donald Trump is expected to sign the act - and the public safety be damned!

The Obama regulation required that the 75,000 or so of individuals currently on disability support be added to the national background check database and denied permission to buy guns.  Those added to the database check would have been limited to individuals whose condition was so serious that they had to be assigned a personal trustee - and even those individuals would have had a right of appeal.

But Congressional Republicans, most (if not all) of whose pockets are stuffed with bloody cash from the National Rifle Association, weren't having it.  With a new sheriff in the White House, they quickly rushed through a repeal of the Obama rule, and with it expanded the gun market.

The Republican argument was that instead of putting tighter controls on gun ownership, the government should be tightening controls over the mentally disabled.  Of course Republicans, being Republicans, wouldn't allocate a wooden nickel to anything as frivolous as improved mental health care.

And as for all of those whiney-assed liberals lamenting children being gunned down at school, if teachers and administrators were made to carry guns to school, school shootings and grizzly bear attacks just would not happen.

Lunatics with guns will make America safer - just wait - and watch - and see - and run for cover!

Coon and Friends

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I love hearing about campus unrest whose ultimate goal is bringing about a better America.  It brings to mind days gone by - very good days.

Back in 1962 a young, black Air Force veteran by the name of James Meredith managed to break the color barrier at one of the south's most segregated institutions - the University of Mississippi.   Now, more than half a century later, the campus of Ole Miss is still predominantly white (77%), and many of the old racist attitudes of the Jim Crow era still persist on and around the campus.  (A few years ago, in fact, someone at Ole Miss draped a noose over the neck of a statue of Mr. Meredith that stands on the hallowed old campus.)

Yesterday there was a profile of a current Ole Miss student in the New York Times that shined a light on some of the racial unrest that still persists on campus.  The student, a white junior by the name of Allen Coon, is a Mississippi native who chose to come to Ole Miss with the express intent of shaking things up on campus.  Mr. Coon has proven to be very successful at meeting that goal.

Allen Coon is recognized as an effective campus organizer, and his efforts to address racial injustices on campus have earned him the respect of much of the black community at the university.  As an elected member of the student senate, he drafted a resolution which ultimately led to the state flag of Mississippi (which bears a Confederate battle flag in the upper left corner) being removed from the campus.  Coon's involvement in the removal of the state flag earned him both respect and enmity of his fellow students, and much negative reaction in the surrounding community.

Ole Miss had two "die-in" demonstrations in 2015 to protest police violence - and particularly police violence toward blacks.  Both demonstrations were organized by Allen Coon.  He also initiated efforts to make Ole Miss a "sanctuary campus," one that would offer a safe refuge to illegal immigrants.

Allen Coon, whose last name doubles as a racial slur, describes himself as someone who thinks obsessively about race.  His best friends in high school were a pair of young black men.  The three referred to themselves as "Coon and Friends," with the joke being who was the "coon" and who were the "friends."  His girlfriend at Ole Miss is black, and one thing that Allen Coon worries about is if they marry and have children, should he saddle his bi-racial offspring with his unfortunate last name.

The Times article illuminated the influences that helped to shape Allen Coon into the young liberal activist that he is today - things like his friends, the Travon Martin and Michael Brown deaths, Stephen Colbert, and pop music artists - a variety of things that were all coming together at the exact same time America was experiencing the Trump invasion of its political landscape.  The result was the emergence of a force for good germinating in what some would see as a racist backwater.

Allen Coon, and hopefully many others with his idealistic determination, will be at the ready to balance out the moral outrages of the Trump administration, just as Tom Hayden, and Jerry Rubin,  and Abbie Hoffman, and a whole host of other young people stepped forward to challenge LBJ and his mindless pursuit of war in Vietnam.  The Chicago Seven had their time in the sun, and now Coon and Friends will hopefully have theirs.

America is a diverse nation, and in that diversity is strength.

Spring Teases

by Pa Rock
Farmer in Winter

The groundhog did not see his shadow this February 2nd, leading those of us who believe such signs to know that winter is damned near over.  The past several days, in fact most days since Mr. Groundhog ventured forth to look for his shadow, have been unseasonably balmy with signs of spring on obvious display.  The little daffodils, the small ones up next to the house that have been in the ground for generations, are already up and blooming, and the expensive bulbs that I have planted the last couple of autumns are just starting to peek through.  The maple trees have budded and tiny pinkish leaves are forming - and it won't be too long until the air is awash in those little maple helicopters - and the peacocks at Rock's Roost just love those!

The peacocks know that spring is upon us.  The two males are strutting their stuff and displaying their gorgeous fans that are about six-feet across.  Yesterday I was able to snap a couple of pictures of both of them showing off at once.   So far the seven peahens are steadfastly ignoring their showboating suitors.

The skunks who had taken up residence in the barn last fall have left.   Recently some larger animal has started pushing a brick out of the way that I have blocking the old entrance that the skunks used to use, but the skunk scent isn't back, so I'm assuming it's a groundhog.   Groundhogs used to be regular tenants in the barn until I dumped some concrete into one of their main tunnels two summers ago.  The new arrival could also be an armadillo. Time will tell.

The deer are back in force.  My son saw five out by the chicken coop the other evening eating grain that the chickens had missed.  The birds are also gathered around their feeder as well as any place where I scatter grain for the farm fowl.  I have a bird feeder outside of my living room picture window that holds four large drink cups of chopped corn and sunflower seeds.  It used to accommodate a dozen or so redbirds and a few smaller varieties and last for two to three weeks.  Now hordes of shiny blackbirds descend on it daily and manage to empty the feeder in less than two days.

Does anyone have a good recipe for blackbird pie?

I took advantage of part of this warm spurt by beginning to clean out the coop area where my new baby chicks will live when they arrive in April.  I've hauled out several small loads of chicken litter and rotting wood shavings out and dumped them in the garden area.  Spreading the material is easy - after dumping a pile, I call a meeting of the hens and roosters and lay down the law.  "Stay away from this pile!"  I make that stern demand, and the disobedient fowl will have it scratched through and spread out before I can even make it back to the house!

The yard is beginning to green, leading me to think that mowing will start earlier than usual this year.  Last year I mowed twice in April before my trip to Cuba at the end of the month.  This year I wouldn't be surprised to be cutting grass by the Ides of March.  Once the mowing starts, Pa Rock's life is defined by the length of the grass - and it goes on until early November.

Keep them mowers moving, Rawhide!

 And snow?  The last significant snowfall in this area was in March of 2013 while I was still living in Arizona - and that was just a few inches.  Don't let Lyin' Paul Ryan or anyone else tell you that global warming is a myth - because it isn't!

Guess I'll go fly a kite!

Let America Vote

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

My favorite Missouri politician, former Secretary of State Jason Kander, has begun another crusade, one that merits attention and support.

Kander, just thirty-five years of age, is an Iraq War veteran who was at one time the youngest statewide office holder in the nation.  As he was completing his term as our Secretary of State, Jason chose to try and advance himself in Missouri politics by challenging incumbent Republican Senator Roy Blunt.  And while Blunt's tenacious hold on that senate seat seemed insurmountable, young Democrat Kander came within a hair's breadth of knocking the old toad off of his stool.  Jason Kander lost the statewide election to Blunt by just 2.8 percentage points at the same time Clinton lost the show-me state to Trump by 18.5 percentage points.

Kander gave Ol' Roy the biggest scare of his political life.

Because of Jason's strong support in Missouri, particularly among young Missourians, it should not surprise anyone that he has chosen to remain active and in the public view during his current hiatus from elected office.  Last month it was rumored that Kander would jump into the crowded race to become chair of the Democratic National Committee, but for reasons unknown to individuals of my pay grade, he chose not to trudge that path.

Yesterday the former Senate candidate (and star of a television commercial where he, in essence, flipped a middle finger to the Blunt-supporting NRA by assembling a military assault rifle while blindfolded) announced plans for a new political venture, one intended to increase Americans' access to the polls.  The organization that Jason Kander is founding is called "Let America Vote," and its purpose is exactly what its title implies.

In the launch of this new effort to curb voter suppression, Kander had this to say:

"This means a lot to me.  As Secretary of State in Missouri, making sure eligible voters had access to the polls was a huge part of my job.  This week, I started Let America Vote to continue that work across the country.

"Voting is the fundamental right of every American.  GOP tactics like photo voter ID laws, slashing voting hours, or questionable purges of voter rolls have nothing to do with protecting elections -- they're meant to keep certain people from voting because those people rarely vote Republican.

"I joined the Army to protect this nation.  i did it because I truly believe that our country, our democracy, is a beacon of hope where everyone is equal and everyone's voice is valued.  Voting is one of the fundamental rights that I put my life on the line for, that my fellow soldiers fought and died for.  I have a stake in this democracy -- and I intend to do everything I can to make sure every eligible American can exercise their right to cast a ballot."

The advocate for unfettered democracy then went on to ask recipients of his email announcing the new effort to respond with their own take on what voting rights means to them.  I did that and elaborated by noting that as an older white male I had never had any personal difficulties in voting.  I shared my belief that voter registration should be universal and that access to the ballot needs to be as simple as possible.

Then I went on to share my best voting experience with Kander.  Surprisingly, that was in the state of Arizona.  Registration was completed at the DMV when I showed up the first time to register my vehicle, and ballots were mailed to me several weeks ahead of each election - along with a postage-paid return envelope.  I voted in the comfort of my own home and mailed my ballot back to the election officials.  Or, if I wanted the excitement of visiting the polling place, I could take my ballot there and cast it on election day.  By having the ballot arrive by mail before each election, I never missed getting to vote -  and I never forgot about any election.  It was a great system.

America's strength is in the numbers of people who get to the polls and vote - and keeping people away is a weakness.  I am glad that Jason Kander has chosen to fight voter suppression in America because he is just the person who can spotlight and defeat that insidious old evil.

For more information on this extraordinary young man and his ambitious new effort, please check in at  letamericavote.org.

Welcome to Haven!

by Pa Rock
TV Junkie

I first started getting to know the quirky inhabitants of Haven, Maine, while living on Okinawa a few years ago.   The Okinawans and Japanese have a strong appreciation of science fiction that goes at least back to Godzilla, and the television networks that catered to American residents presented a fine assortment of entertainment from the SYFY channel.

Haven, a fictional community, looks more like Santa Barbara, California, from the aerial views than it does a rugged Maine coastal town, but once the cameras are on the ground a sense of a typical New England fishing village takes over.  Haven, however, is far from typical.  Some of it's citizens, most of whom are basically good people, experience"troubles" which manifest themselves in strange ways.  There is one who can psychically push away people who invade his space.  Another resident of the town can't control his shadow which takes it upon itself to kill people.  There is a psychic fire starter, a person who causes things (and people) to explode when she touches them, another who can only speak in babbles, and one who causes people to switch bodies.  And then there are the animals who have been stuffed by a local taxidermist who reanimate and hunt down the people who killed them.

Haven is a community of oddballs that never fails to surprise - and, not surprisingly, it germinated in the mind of Stephen King.

The central character in the television series, Haven, is FBI Agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) who arrives in town while working a case.  There she meets the local lawman, Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) who befriends Parker and eventually becomes her love interest, and Duke (Eric Balfour), a self-styled "pirate" and saloon keeper who is also a bit of a charming criminal.  The three of them - Audrey, Nathan, and Duke - become the local force in identifying and bringing "troubled" people under control.

As Audrey becomes entangled in the problems of Haven, she gradually learns that she has been in Haven before - in past lives - and that she arrives every twenty-seven years just as the troubles begin expressing themselves.  She was there, in fact, twenty-seven years before when a young man known only as "the Colorado Kid" was murdered on a local beach.   And the young man, who was twenty-seven-years-old at the time of his death, had a connection to the previous incarnation of Audrey Parker.

It all gets a bit convoluted as the mythology surrounding Haven begins fleshing itself out.   There are complications involving time-travel, parallel worlds, and even a connection to the lost colony of Roanoke Island.  The final few episodes feature a Satanesque character by the name of "Croatoan" who is ably brought to life by science-fiction icon William Shatner.

The complete five seasons of Haven (78 episodes) are available on Netflix.  It is a series that needs to be viewed from the beginning in order for viewers to develop an understanding of the origin and impact of the troubles, the most significant aspect of life in Haven.  The town's strange nature is complex, but even so the stories flow smoothly and make sense - in a Stephen King sort of way.

Visitors are always welcome in Haven, Maine - and for those who like their troubles to be a bit more traditional, drive on up the coast to Cabot Cove, Maine, the murder capital of New England.  Fictional Maine is a lovely place!

Oh, Canada!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Sarah Palin is one of the most maligned (and deservedly so) politicians in the annals of American history, and just the mention of her name brings a smile to the faces of millions as they anticipate the joke that is likely to follow.  This week Palin, who was too lazy and self-centered to complete even one term as governor of Alaska, again made the news when word broke that her good buddy, Donald Trump, was thinking about appointing her as the United States Ambassador to Canada.  When asked about that absurdity at a White House press briefing, Sean Spicer fueled speculation that it might be true when he failed to deny that it wasn't.

Sarah Palin as an ambassador on the world diplomatic stage?  The mind reels!

Twitter, Donald Trump's home away from home, literally went up in flames at the news.  There were bursts of anger and shame from some U.S. residents with the general sentiment being that sending Palin to Ottawa was no way to treat a friend.  But the tweeters north of the border accepted the looming insult with a surprising degree of  good humor.

One Canuck wrote that Palin would be welcome, but hoped that she would learn Canadian before she arrived.  Another was a bit less snarky and stated simply that the incoming ambassador should learn one of Canada's two official languages - either French or English.  Either goal might be difficult for Sarah to attain.  She is more into shooting moose from helicopters than she is book-learning.

Another wag reported that he heard Sarah was interested in the job, and that she had hopped a plane to Europe in order to check out Canada in person.  But that's just silly.  Palin knows where Canada is.  She once admitted that as a little girl she and her family would slip across the border into Canada to take advantage of the country's free medical care.

Still another Canadian pined for the notion of Canada building a huge wall across its southern border to keep the riffraff out.  No word yet on whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would expect the United States to pay for it or not.

And one thoughtful Canadian even posited the notion that Canada could reciprocate in kind and make Justin Bieber their ambassador to the United States!  That is unlikely to happen because Canada is better than that.

Sending Sarah Palin to Canada isn't exactly an act of war, but it would be an egregious insult to a long-standing ally and a good neighbor.  Canada deserves better  - and so do we!

Ethics? Trump Don't Need No Stinking Ethics!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Some of the yokels and hare brains who helped elect Donald Trump to the presidency claimed to have supported him because he was "a businessman" and they felt that America needed to be run like "a business."  What they got for their efforts was a businessman who could not let go of HIS businesses - or the businesses of his family members.

As an example, a report on National Public Radio this morning suggested that a Trump hotel project in Dallas is being funded, in part, with money from Kazahkstan, the largest of the former Soviet satellite states.  While Kazahkstan is today independent of the Russian Bear, it still exists in its cold shadow and is characterized by a long-term authoritarian government known for oppressing the rights of its individual citizens.   But Trump will take money from Kazahkstan, thank you very much.

Should an American President accept investment monies from citizens of a foreign nation?  Should a President of the United States have his hand out seeking money from any investors?

Also in the news of late has been a story that the Department of Defense is thinking about renting an entire floor of the Trump Tower in New York City,  a transaction that will cost our government a hefty $1.5 million a year.   The justification for this outrage is that the serviceman carrying the nuclear codes needs to be physically close to the Commander-in-Chief at all times.  The Secret Service is reportedly also planning on renting space in Trump's phallic monument to himself.

Today Trump is hosting the Prime Minister of Japan at the White House, but when their meetings are over, Trump is taking his guest to his resort in Florida - Mar El Lago.  Trump says that he will pay the Japanese leader's rent at the resort out of his own pocket, but even so Trump will still benefit immeasurably by all of the publicity that a state visit by a foreign leader will generate for his business property.

And then there's Ivanka.  Trump's oldest child makes her pin money by hawking clothing and jewelry of her own design, much of which is produced in China.  This week Nordstrom's announced that they were discontinuing Ivanka's clothing line, and Big Daddy rushed to fire up his Twitter account where he disparaged that Seattle-based retailer for picking on his daughter.  Later administration mouthpiece, Kellyanne Conway, went on Fox where she essentially did an infomercial for Ivanka's line of rags. 

Was Trump elected to bully companies into selling Ivanka's wares, or should he be focused on governing?

Trump's intent was to teach Nordstrom's a lesson as he had done earlier when some of his vitriol had brought down the price of Boeing stock.  But America is beginning to stand up to presidential bullying - and Nordstrom's stock took a sharp rise after Trump tweeted his displeasure with the company.

Oops!

Perhaps America could benefit from the leadership of a skilled and successful businessman, but that is not what the country elected.  Refusing to pay contractors and workers, buying cheap goods abroad, using frivolous lawsuits and bankruptcy filings to hide from honest debt, and using the highest office in the land to promote benefits to his own business interests are not the hallmarks of a good businessman.

America deserves better.

In Praise of a Persistent Woman

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

When Mitch McConnell and his party "silenced" Senator Elizabeth Warren from speaking on the Sessions' nomination to be Attorney General, he essentially told her to sit down, shut up, and quit interfering in men's work.   The Senate's churlish little-old-lady in residence, Lindsey Graham, was quick to rush to the turtle's defense, arguing that Warren was long overdue for a slap-down.

McConnell, who despite his outward appearance is no dummy, knew that by silencing Warren he was, in effect, releasing a raging storm that would howl through the Halls of Congress, ignite the press, and blast across the American landscape energizing females and their supporters from sea to shining sea.   McConnell understood that by singling out Elizabeth Warren and trying to humiliate her, he would be instrumental in establishing her as the most powerful figure in the Democratic Party.

And Mitch's turtle sense told him that it was a smart move.  Warren, he reasoned, was far too radical to ever pose a serious threat to a candidate with the political gravitas of a Donald Trump.  Mitch assumed he was helping to create a monster, but one which could be easily defeated in 2020.

Some candidates, after all, are just too "out there" to ever be taken seriously.  Consider the case of Ronald Reagan thinking that the country would possibly elect a B-movie actor to the highest office in the land.  Ridiculous!  Or Barack Obama, a colored man, for God's sake!  There are places for Negroes in the big house that slaves helped to build, just not upstairs as part of the First Family.  The thought of a black man in the Oval Office was just ludicrous!  And a misogynistic, xenophobic, narcissistic scam-artist with the temperament of a junior high bully becoming President.  No way, Jose!

Those were things that Mitch knew, and things that much of America took for granted - and they were wrong.  Now Mitch deftly moves to control Democratic politics by turning the glare of the spotlight on a woman whom he is sure could never be elected President by the America he knows and loves - and he fails to realize that the ground beneath his feet is again shifting.

Elizabeth Warren will have her day, Mitch, and she probably would have had it even without your unkind assist.  You probably need to check in with Elaine a bit more often and get some sense of the surging resentment against patrimony that is rushing forth across our great land.

Hillary Clinton may have lost the Presidency, but she won the popular vote by a margin of nearly three million.  Hillary had some enthusiastic supporters, and she also had some unenthusiastic ones, like me, who reluctantly voted for her in order to stave off an Orwellian takeover by Trump.   But Hillary was never able to develop that "fierce sense of urgency" (Dr. King) that was needed to stem the rising tide of ignorance that eventually floated the Alt Right into the White House.

Elizabeth Warren is brilliant, eloquent, and tough - and she understands the full urgency of the perils that face our country.  She will air her views in the Senate, on Wall Street, at Boston's Logan Airport, and on the streets of America.    Elizabeth Warren is unafraid to speak truth to power, and she will persist!

Mitch, buddy, this might be a good time to hunker down in your shell and try to get some sleep - because things out in the real world are about to get noisy!

And Lindsey, you need to get back to your knitting.

Of Swamp Creatures and Women in Drag

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

One campaign promise Donald Trump has not kept and will not keep is his pledge to "drain the swamp" of Washington, DC.  The troglodyte Trump is, in fact, making himself right at home in the primordial ooze.   To add to his comfort in the slime and sewage, The Donald has flushed in a load of billionaires and generals to ensure that his swamp is swimming in arrogance and authoritarianism, two hallmarks of the Trump brand.

Most of the new vermin that Trump has introduced into the swamp are men, crusty old white men who possess an unbounded sense of entitlement.  But he has also seen fit to import a few females to class up the joint - while maybe answering the phones and serving coffee and pastries to the men.   Despite the sexist label that those pushy broads in the Women's March tried to hang on Trump, he loves the women - and it's been acceptable for a few to hold down jobs in his swamp so long as they dress like ladies.

Yup.  Women are welcome in the Trump administration if they dress like ladies.  While the exact dress code hasn't been published yet, the opening salvo sort of puts one in mind of California during Reagan's governorship when Queen Nancy decreed that all female state employees had to wear dresses.  What about the men in your retro world, Donald?  Will you be bringing back sideburns checks?  And what if Sean Spicer wants to grow a stache - or Kellyanne, for that matter?

I'd be careful if I were you, Orange Buddy, or some liberal judge might just allow blue jeans in the White House.  Of course, for Steve Bannon, blue jeans might be seen as dressing up!

In a related note, comedienne Melissa McCarthy brought down the house with her spot-on impersonation of White House mouthpiece Sean Spicer on last week's Saturday Night Live.  McCarthy, dressed in a man's suit, a short wig, and chomping on chewing gum, impaled the hapless Press Secretary in a scathing routine that will likely be a highlight of both of their careers.   Spicer handled the affront in a relatively good-natured manner, but his boss, Hair Furor, was reportedly not amused.  Trump, who likes for himself and his team to be viewed as strong, took umbrage at a woman playing the role of his press secretary - and particularly a woman dressed as a man, and probably even more particularly, that woman.

Now Trump's long-time nemesis, Rosie O'Donnell, is also trying to poke the pig.  Rosie is openly campaigning to be cast as Trump's brain, Steve Bannon, or Saturday Night Live, or should Alec Baldwin ever tire of his role portraying The Donald, O'Donnell would like to be cast as the lead in the comic send-up of our national melodrama.

How would that grab you, Donald - being played by a woman in drag - especially if that woman is your sweetie, Rosie O'Donnell?

Donald Trump is probably right in his demand that the women working around him dress like ladies.  Otherwise they could start down that slippery slope to ignominy and one day wind up posing naked in GQ!

Keep those standards high, Donald! 

Judgment Day for DeVos

by Pa Rock
Educator

Less than an hour from now the United States Senate will meet to vote on the nomination of billionaire educational enthusiast Betsy DeVos to be this nation's eleventh Secretary of Education.  As it now stands, DeVos, the sister of Blackwater founder and self-styled mercenary, Erik Prince, is likely to be confirmed on a fifty-fifty vote in the Senate with Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker.  And if DeVos wins, America's children will lose -bigly!

Betsy DeVos grew up rich and married richer - and while lolling about in a life of privilege, she never had to spend a single day as a student in a public school.  She was educated well away from the stench of the masses in refined, private settings.   As a result of her breathing so much rarefied air, Betsy somehow came to the conclusion that all children would do better being educated in private settings - or at least straight , white ones without special needs - and the best way to pay for that would be through siphoning tax money away from public schools through schemes like vouchers and into private types of schools favored by DeVos and her rich friends.  Unfortunately, those tin-foil hat solutions, no matter how well intended, will still be beyond the financial grasp of many students in the United States.  Much of their share of the education dollars will go to their betters, as God and Betsy DeVos intended.  Also, those educational machinations, at least the ones implemented by Betsy DeVos in her home state of Michigan, have a history of not working well.

Betsy DeVos supports private, religious, and charter schools over traditional schools, and she fights efforts to make her darlings accountable to those nasty old state legislators who want to know if the public's money is being used effectively.   On those occasions when it has been possible to make comparisons between the experimental schools of DeVos and their public counterparts, the public schools have always performed as well or better than the more expensive and exclusive ones favored by Betsy DeVos.

DeVos does not understand special education and is not supportive of many measures aimed at improving educational outcomes for students with special needs.

Betsy does support an increased presence of God in schools, and she favors teachers and administrators being allowed to carry guns to school.

Donald Trump has made some truly awful choices to serve in his cabinet, and some, like Attorney General-designee Jeff Sessions, would turn America back toward some of those dark places we thought we had crawled out of for good.   But none of Trump's choices, not even Sessions, has the potential to do damage as extreme and long-lasting as that which Betsy DeVos is itching and poised to bring about.  If she succeeds in making education a privilege for those already blessed with privilege, she will have undermined the sturdiest tenet of democracy.  

Of course, that has probably been the game plan all along.

DeVos admitted before a Senate hearing that she and her family have possibly donated as much as $200 million to political candidates.  Secretary of Education is a job that Betsy DeVos has already bought and paid for - and she expects it to be handed to her today - gift-wrapped!

The Senate needs to stand up to his outrage against our children.  My own Republican senator, Roy Blunt of Missouri, has, along with his political family, received tens of thousands of dollars from DeVos and her family.

But Roy, so did Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and she grew a spine anyway and announced that she would be voting against Big Donor DeVos.  Betsy DeVos will negatively impact education for children in Missouri communities like Bolivar, Springfield, Galena, Ozark, West Plains, Branson - and even your home town of Niangua.

The destruction of America's schools is not a legacy that any politician should seek - and voters will be reminded of which senators voted to bring about this disaster.  Roy Blunt, stand up for Missouri's school children and vote a big, loud "No" on Betsy DeVos!  As one teacher to another, we both know it's the right thing to do!

Monday's Poetry: The "Mister Ed" Theme Song

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

My seven-year-old grandson, Judah Files, recently lost a friend.  Izzy, a therapy horse who had patiently taught Judah and many other children to ride, passed away after a lifetime of patient service to others.  This past week Judah was among those present at a memorial service for Izzy.  One of the speakers at that event made a reference to another much-loved horse, television's "Mister Ed" of many years ago.

It hard for those of us of a certain age to hear the name "Mister Ed" without connecting it to the catchy theme song that accompanied the program.

Judah, here is a nice song about a funny horse.  I used to sing it when I wasn't much older than you.  Ask your Mama to sing it to you - and have a wonderful day!  Love, Pa Rock.

Willlburrr!


Mister Ed Theme Song
by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

Hello, I am Mister Ed

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister. Ed.

Go right to the source and ask the horse
He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.
He's always on a steady course.
Talk to Mister. Ed.

People yakkity-yak a streak and waste your time of day
But Mister Ed will never speak unless he has something to say.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And this one'll talk 'til his voice is hoarse.
You never heard of a talking horse?

Well listen to this.

I am Mister Ed.

Remembering the Bowling Green Massacre

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

There are certain events in the annals of American history that can always be relied upon to inspire bouts of patriotic fervor.  Things like the ride of Paul Revere, the battle of the Alamo, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the 9/11 terrorists attacks were rallying events that brought the country together in the face of tyranny, and just the mention of any of these historic events is usually more than enough to get our red, white, and blue blood fired up and ready to fight.

This past week another historical outrage was added to that list when Trump mouthpiece, Kellyanne Conway, reminded America that it was two Iraqi refugees who were responsible for the "Bowling Green Massacre."  Conway, the person who coined the term "alternative facts" in explaining some of the Trump administration's steady stream of lies, cited the infamous massacre in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the Iraqi refugees' part in the carnage as part of a defense of the Trump ban on refugees and visa holders from seven Muslim countries - including Iraq.

The United States is a country that has become sadly inured to violence and even massacres over the years in places like Littleton, Sandy Hook, Aurora, San Bernardino, and Orlando with the terrorists behind those bloody events usually being of the domestic variety.   But Iraqis massacring the good people of Bowling Green?   How did we miss that?

Kellyanne had an answer for that one.  The awful U.S. press had not covered it well. 

It turns out, of course, that the press had not reported on the Bowling Green Massacre primarily because it had never happened.  She was apparently referring to two Iraqi refugees who were arrested in Bowling Green in 2011 as they attempted to send weapons and money to al-Qaeda in Iraq.  No actual violence occurred in Bowling Green, no bloodshed, no massacre - and the press had reported it quite well, thank you very much, Kellyanne.

The brouhaha was just Kellyanne Conway spewing more alternative facts.

If her lips are moving she must be hallucinating.

So-Called President Points Finger at So-Called Judge

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

With the President of the United States codifying hate as fast as he can scribble his name on executive orders - and Congress rushing to legislate crimes against humanity, it is fast becoming apparent that the judiciary is the only branch of the federal government where reasonable people can hope for any relief from the madness that seems be consuming America.

Yesterday Judge James Robart dealt the Trump juggernaut a significant blow when he issued a nationwide restraining order on Trump's executive order banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.   Robart is a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench who was approved by the U.S. Senate 99-0 in 2004.  With Judge Robart's order in place, airline carriers are reportedly again bringing visa-holding passengers to the U.S. from the countries on Trump's banned list.

The judge's order predictably set off a Trump tantrum on Twitter.  The tweeter-in-chief exploded this morning in bursts of 140 characters or less.  The first tweet flew at 6:59 a.m.:

"When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot , come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security - big trouble!"

The second flew seven minutes later at 7:06 a.m., and though the White House spent much of last week denying the President had issued a travel "ban," that's the word Trump used in this tweet to describe his executive action.

"Interesting that certain Middle-Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in it's death & destruction!"

The third tweet came after six more minutes of thoughtful presidential deliberation.  It flew at 7:12 a.m., and revealed that the nation's chief executive had worked himself into a name-calling snit.

"The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned! "

 One note of interest is that Trump has taken to equating himself with "country."  When he takes an action, it is America acting.  When a judge intervenes to safeguard liberty and the Constitution, that jurist is a "so-called" judge who is impeding the vision of America's glorious leader.

With Donald it's always about Donald.

A Peek into Trump's Medicine Cabinet

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Our new leader is a man of many secrets, or, to spin that a bit more positively, Donald Trump zealously safeguards his privacy.  Americans, for instance, don't know much about Trump's finances other than what makes the news over things like bankruptcy filings and failure to pay his employees and contractors.  While he once said that if he ran for President he would show America his tax returns, the real Donald Trump, once he did become a candidate, flatly refused to keep that promise.  He was a businessman, by God, and keeping financial shenanigans secret was a necessary component to being a successful businessman.

And Americans really don't need to delve into Donald Trump's business machinations.  If he or his family were to inadvertently profit from a government spending program or activity, he would tell us.  The Donald is our much admired big brother - so trust him.

Another area of public concern where Trump has kept the lights of public scrutiny turned low is his health record.  The physical and mental fitness of any individual seeking to serve in the presidency is a valid concern to voters, and the matter is even more significant when the individual is someone as old as Donald Trump - the oldest person ever elected President of the United States.

Trump did not share much in the way of medical information during the election - basically just a hand-written note from his personal physician, Dr.Harold Bernstein of Manhattan, saying that he would be the healthiest person ever to serve in the White House - a statement that brought about more laughter than it did confidence in the candidate's health.  It would have been nice to have known a bit more about the overall medical condition of the man who was destined to be the heaviest President since Taft.

Now, well after the fact of the election, more medical information on Donald Trump is beginning to seep out, again courtesy of Dr. Bornstein.   The physician, in an interview with the New York Times, elaborated on his hastily scratched note of several months earlier.  He has now revealed that Trump takes a medication to control rosacea, a common skin disease, baby aspirin to help prevent heart attacks, a statin for lowering cholesterol, and Propecia (Finasteride) for combating male pattern baldness.

Propecia is used by men who set great store in having a lustrous head of hair.  It has been known to have some interesting side effects including sexual dysfunction and mental confusion.  There is a wealth of information available in the popular press regarding these side effects as reported by patients who suffered them.

The same drug, with a higher dosage, is also used to keep PSA levels low and help prevent prostate cancer, and it is used in hormone replacement therapy for transgender women.

As someone who is seventy-years-old, obese, and avoids exercise while enjoying fast foods, Donald Trump is unlikely to ever make the cover of Men's Health, but he is likely to require ever-increasing amounts of medical care.  (Thank God for Medicare - right, Donald?)  And as the Trump presidency rolls on, America's voters have both a right and a responsibility to be kept informed about the President's health.

Donald Trump's complete medical history should be available for public perusal - and so should his tax returns.  He is our creature, and, as such, he should be in full public view - grotesque as that may sound.