The Ozark Hills

by Pa Rock
Road Warrior

Rosie and I are back home this afternoon after a beautiful drive of nearly two hundred miles through the very lush and green Ozark hills.  The drive from Rogers, Arkansas, to Eureka Springs and beyond through Berryville and Green Forest, was idyllic, so beautiful and serene that we didn't even mind getting stuck behind the fellow on the big forklift who slowed traffic down for several miles, or the guy in a pickem-up truck pulling a trailer with a four-wheeler who refused to let anyone pass for the last thirty or so miles of our trip.  It was a nice day to drive slowly anyway - and enjoy the beauty of the Ozarks!

Our path cut straight through Trump country, yet I only saw one bumper sticker  honoring the big, orange scumbag - and it was faded almost beyond recognition.  Never fear though, the hillbillies will be out with their yard signs and fascist paraphernalia as Trump's never-ending campaign intensifies in anticipation of 2020.  Stupid never completely forgets.

I passed one "country" club called "Bikers and Bling" and saw a billboard advertising the "T&A Nightclub," but other than those invitations to misadventure the entire route was family-friendly.   The mountainside town of Eureka Springs was especially fetching.

It was a productive trip.  I accomplished a major genealogical goal at the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho, MO, brought birthday greetings to an old friend, and visited a couple of others.  Perhaps the best news from this trip is that it looks like some of the rain from over that way has followed Rosie and me home.  Hope so!

Monday's Poetry: "Old Folks Laugh"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Rosie and I spent the day on the road and one of our many stops was at a nursing home - artfully called a "living center" - where we visited with a dear friend who will be ninety-one tomorrow.  Mertie doesn't have much personal space in her half-room, so we took her a couple of consumables - Whoppers and a Sonic Cherry Limeade - that we thought she would enjoy.  In the past we have taken small stuffed animals, and she likes those as well - but again, space is an issue.

We sat outside in the cool mid-morning air for quite awhile and Rosie was able to join us there.   Sometimes she is antsy as a teenager in church, but today she calmed right down with Mert and sat on her lap for a quarter of an hour or so enjoying our friend's attentions.

I'm not a fan of nursing homes, and this one is more than a little dreary.  Walking through the main entrance leads directly to the television lounge where the TV is always set to Fox News - and that sort of sets the tone for the whole building.  But, it's not my home - praise Allah - and Mertie seems to be happy there, so I will drop my critique of the place at this point.

Here is a bit of verse from one of my favorite poets, the late Maya Angelou.  In "Old Folks Laugh" she captures the wafting essence of the elderly.

Old Folks Laugh
by Maya Angelou

They have spent their
content of simpering,
holding their lips this
and that way, winding
the lines between
their brows. Old folks
allow their bellies to jiggle like slow
tambourines.
The hollers
rise up and spill
over any way they want.
When old folks laugh, they free the world.
They turn slowly, slyly knowing
the best and the worst
of remembering.
Saliva glistens in
the corners of their mouths,
their heads wobble
on brittle necks, but
their laps
are filled with memories.
When old folks laugh, they consider the promise
of dear painless death, and generously
forgive life for happening
to them.

A Gross Domestic Product

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump and his administration gleefully released some good economic news this past week - the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate had increased  to over 4% per annum.  That set me to thinking about the local economy where I live and what part it played in this rosy national economic snapshot.

West Plains, Missouri, has a few small factories that actually produce goods - including a Caterpillar plant which is the one employer where most of the local available work force lusts to work.  There are also a good array of service providers doing everything from flipping burgers to cleaning septic tanks.  And retail - well, we have a Walmart - and who could ask for anything more!   For a community of 12,000 souls, West Plains is probably fairly typical as midwestern towns go.

But as I got to pondering local economic activity, I tried to focus on the commerce that I could actually see.  I travel across the town every day, from one end of Porter Wagoner Boulevard to the other, with occasional stops along Preacher Roe Boulevard, the Jan Howard Expressway, and even Bill Virdon Avenue.  I know where the citizens of West Plains are spending a large portion of their Caterpillar and Walmart paychecks.  A big part of the disposable income of our local wage earners goes into the tills of the many convenience stores - primarily for lottery tickets.

People who rush into one of these local quick stops for a carton of milk or a pack of smokes, quickly realize that "convenience" isn't that much of a priority when they have to stand behind some retiree who is bent over the counter scratching off of his three lucky number sevens.  And then, if he has a winner, he uses the winnings to buy more tickets and continues holding up the line.

Other lottery scratchers are more polite.  They take their fistful of scratchers tickets out to their car where they can scratch in private.  But again, if they find a winner, they head back into the store to re-invest their winnings.   Nobody wins because they always buy more - hoping for that really big win.

The nation's convenience stores have become the equivalent of small town casinos.

Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have lotteries.  Six states do not - as of yet - engage in this national mania:  Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah.  In 2016 the people of the United States spent over $73 billion on lottery tickets - an average of $325 for every adult in the country.  It's a huge business!

So, I wondered, what is the impact of the lottery on the Gross Domestic Product.  Information, at least information that I could understand, was surprisingly limited on the subject.  I learned that lottery winnings are not figured into the GDP because they represent a transfer payment by the government.  The proceeds of legal gambling, however, are included in GDP - and that should include the sale of lottery tickets.

Donald Trump has a kick-ass GDP number, and at least part of his appreciation should go to my many friends and neighbors who stand at the convenience store counters faithfully scratching, and scratching, and scratching - and never taking their winnings to the bank - or spending them on vacations, home improvements, or educational opportunities for their kids and grandkids.   Those folks are making America great again!

(And while Pa Rock holds himself well above the vulgar practice of ticket-scratching, at least in public  he does admit to buying Missouri Lottery draw tickets, Powerball, and Megaball tickets on a regular basis.  He wants to win millions - so much money that he does not have time left to sink all of his winnings back into the lottery. Pa Rock does his part to inflate the GDP and make America look great again, you betcha he does!)

News Grins

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

In a day and age when most headlines contain the word "Trump," and many of the news stories are about as uplifting as a luncheon of gruel at the local orphanage, it is refreshing when the occasional tidbit slips through that provokes a smile - or even outright laughter.  Here are a few news sparkles from the past week.

The Trump "star" on Hollywood's Walk of Fame has been vandalized several times over the years, particularly since The Donald took up residence at the White House - but each time it has been quickly repaired.  This week an energetic fellow showed up with a pick-axe and made a serious effort to render Trump's star unrepairable.   The man, to the apparent delight of on-lookers, completely obliterated the marker, and then left his pick at the scene and walked away.  Later the proud artiste turned himself in to local police.

The star destroyer was arrested and held temporarily until a former star destroyer showed up and posted the new star destroyer's $20,000 bail.  It sounds like one of those pay-it-forward things that are becoming so popular.

The next day two large men wearing traditional Russian soldier's garb and bearing Russian flags arrived to "guard" the site from further disrespect - again, much to the delight of on-lookers.   The Russian soldiers are probably a good idea because people appear to be on the verge of forming a line to take their turn at wrecking the star.  Could there be a reality television show on the horizon?

Sadly for Donald Trump, his de-faming did not end along the Walk of Fame.  In Washington, DC, a group that included five religious leaders and two retired judges filed paperwork to challenge Trump's liquor license at his International Hotel in the nation's capital.  The group alleged that Trump is "not a person of good character" and should not be granted a liquor license solely based on his wealth and social prominence.  Not surprisingly, they were able to list numerous examples of his faulty character.

And then there was this:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her family apparently own a flotilla of ten or more big boats, and one of those vessels made news this week when vandals untied it from its moorings and set the big craft adrift.  The captain and at least some of crew of The Sea Quest, were asleep aboard the vessel one night recently and awoke to find it banging against the dock on Lake Huron to which it had been tied.   Damages (scratches) to the 164' luxury yacht were estimated at between $5,000 and $10,000.  Betsy's big boat, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, normally sails with a crew of twelve and comfortably accommodates twelve guests.  There is no word yet on which members of the crew will be forced to walk the plank.

All of that, and Michael Cohen is beginning to sing.   It wasn't a completely terrible week for news, even in the time of Trump!

Free the Kids and Lock Up the Real Criminals

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Yesterday was the deadline - the day by which all of the immigrant children who were forcibly removed from their parents by the American government were to be returned.  D-Day.  Get-it-done day.  The day that District Judge Dana Sabraw set to officially end this national disgrace that the Trump administration and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has foisted upon us.

The first thing we learned as the deadline drew near was that the government, so efficient a snatching children from their parents, was incompetent when it came to tracking those children - and could not even cough up a definitive list of who the kids were or where they were being kept.  Then we learned that some of the parents were being deported before they got their children back.  Some, in fact, were being told that they had to leave as a prerequisite for reunification with their children.  You must go home now if you want to get your kids back later.

We heard stories of milestones being missed - babies who took their first steps or said their first words while being kept away from their loved ones.  We saw pictures of children in cages and heard about three-year-olds representing themselves in court proceedings.  We saw tear-stained faces - of young parents, and children, and babies.  They were sobbing over this evil that had swamped their lives, and decent Americans were sobbing with them.

During this rolling horror we saw members of Congress and other public officials being denied access to detention centers as petty government bureaucrats hustled to control the story and limit photo ops.  If Americans could not see it, then it obviously did not exist.

But it did exist - and it was a nightmare that would have frightened Lovecraft.

Yesterday was the deadline for it all to end, and, of course, it did not.

The government is patting itself on the back for managing to get 1,400 children back to family members - for correcting a problem that should have never happened in the first place.  But the government is also saying that 711 others still remain in some form of non-family care.

Seven hundred and eleven children still being kept away from their families in direct violation of a court order.  In the several weeks since Judge Sabra issued his order, there should have been no higher priority of our government than getting those kids back with their parents.  The Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the Justice Department should have had that as their only focus.  But those were other peoples' children, the brown spawn of "animals," an "infestation," and they were not the priority they should have been.

It was a mission failure for 711 young people and their families.

Secretary Nielsen of Homeland Security, Director Homan of ICE, and Attorney General Sessions didn't care enough to do what Judge Sabraw directed, and for that they should be jailed.   Nielsen, Homan, and Sessions have no shame, so we must step up and be ashamed for them.  The shame is ours.

It is now officially past time to free those children and reunite the families.  That time has come and gone.  Now it's time to let decency prevail - for a change - and end this moral outrage!

American Voters Believe Trump has been Compromised by Russia

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

While it is disheartening to note that Trump supporters generally remain steadfast in their support of their failed businessman leader, the good news is that Trump supporters are far from being a majority of American voters - they weren't in the majority in 2016, and they still aren't.

This week Quinnipiac University released its latest poll of actual American voters, and the results were not that good for Donald Trump and his supporters, particularly in regard to Russia - the country that Trump claims he is so tough toward.

Over two-thirds of American voters, according to Quinnipiac, are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about Trump's relationship to Russia - and a majority of American voters (51%) believe that the Russian government has compromising information on Trump.  Only 35% of respondents did not believe that the Russians have something on Trump - but Republicans don't believe it by a ratio of 70% to 18%.  (Or, conversely, nearly one-in-five Republicans do believe that the Russian government has compromising information on Donald Trump.)

Fifty-four percent of American voters, according to Quinnipiac believe that Trump is not acting in the best interests of the United States, while 41% think that he is.

And as to the Mueller "witch hunt" that Trump likes to rail about:  55% of American voters think that Robert Mueller is conducting a fair investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election cycle.  Thirty-one percent believe otherwise.  Significantly, 63% of American voters are concerned that Russia will try to interfere in this fall's midterm elections.

Trump says he is tough on Russia - and he may even believe it - but most American voters do not.  They have told Quinnipiac how they feel - and now they must - MUST - go to the polls and tell the world!

The fate of American democracy is in the balance.

Presidential Manure

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald John Trump lies - a lot.  Lying is clearly his security blanket, a big part of his comfort zone.  An independent research group called the Fact Checkers began doing what its name implies during Trump's first one hundred days in office.  The group had intended for its service to the American people to be only temporary, but as Trump became more comfortable in office, the amount of lies he told on a daily basis began to rise.  The Fact Checkers decided it was in the long-term public interest to stick with the charlatan and keep monitoring his discourse.

During Trump's first 100 days in office he was telling an average of 4.9 lies or "misleading statements" per day.  Recently that number has climbed past 9 per day with an overall average of 6.5 per day.  This past June 4th when Trump completed his 500th day in the presidency, he had clocked over 3,300 false or misleading claims.

Perhaps his high water mark - so far - was an amazing thirty-five lies that he told at a speech in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 29th of this year.  Among other jewels scattered to the rubes in that crowd were claims that he had more than tripled savings by repealing Obamacare, that the individual mandate of Obamacare was unconstitutional - even though the Supreme Court had said otherwise, and that he had passed the 'biggest" tax cut in history, although it actually only ranked eighth.

The old joke is that if his lips are moving, he is probably lying.  Sadly, that is never more true than when it is applied to the wit and wisdom - and never-ending flow of small words from Donald Trump.

Trump's lies are so numerous and unrelenting that it would be hard to ever identify his most egregious untruth - but some words that he uttered yesterday in a tweet certainly have to be near the top of the list of his absolute biggest whoppers.  Yesterday Donald John Trump, a known tool and lackey of Putin's Russia, tried to make it look as though Russia feared him and would work to elect Democrats.

In one of his more bizarre - yet calculated - tweets, the Trumpeter said this:

"I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!"

Scrape that off of your boots and spread it on the garden!

Here's the truth:  Earlier this week Corey Stewart, the GOP Senate candidate for Virginia, was regaled with laughter in a public debate after he stated that Donald Trump "stands up" to Russia.  Nobody believed that one - and it's getting to where only fools believe Donald John Trump on any subject, let alone his beloved Russia.

Putin said publicly in Helsinki that he had wanted Donald Trump to win the presidency.  That's another truth - Trump's manure to the contrary.

Pinching Quarters

by Pa Rock
Savvy Shopper

I am a creature of habit, a practice which tends to limit my shopping pattern to just a few businesses.  I find a place where I like to shop and remain loyal to that business as long as I can.  Last winter I left a grocery store that had been my major food provider for the preceding four years because the service provided by that store, the cheapest in town, just kept getting worse.  I then switched my allegiance to Aldi's.

One of my routines when shopping at the previous grocery store was to gather up two or three shopping carts in the parking lot when I arrived and take them into the store.  I wanted to help out.  Aldi's, for those of you who have never visited one of their stores, has a unique way to avoid the plague of shoppers leaving their carts all over the parking lots.   The carts are locked together, and it takes a quarter (25 cents) stuffed into a slot to free a cart.  When the shopper has finished, he returns the cart to the gathering spot, re-locks it, and gets the quarter back.

This two-bit commerce has led to the evolution of a sort of shopping cart etiquette that often plays out on the parking lot as people are leaving and entering the store.  As a person arrives to shop he or she is often met by somebody returning a cart who offers that cart to the new shopper.  The proper response when that happens it to say "Yes, thank you" and hand them a quarter - because theirs in still in the slot in the cart.  Often the other person will take the quarter as he relinquishes the cart, but sometimes the quarter is declined and the new shopper is encouraged instead to "pay it forward" and pass the cart along to someone else when they are done.

I never carry change, so I keep a quarter in my car so that I can get a cart when I go to Aldi's.  When I am done shopping I turn my cart in, get the quarter back, and put it back in my car so I will have it next time.  If someone gives me a cart as I am walking toward the store, I give them that quarter and then pocket theirs when I turn in the cart.  If they give me a cart and refuse my quarter, I pass the cart along to someone else when I have finished with it.   It may sound complicated, but in reality it is a simple process that runs very smoothly.

People seem to develop a social bond over the shopping carts and a sense of community prevails.  There is, however, one demographic which seems to have somewhat of a problem with the process, particularly being charitable.  That demographic is old folks, the few shoppers who are older than myself.

Last week as I was trying to enter the store, I had to literally step around a little old lady who was crouched down behind the glass entry door watching the parking lot.  I wanted to shop, but sadly, she wanted to talk.  "See that fellow," she said, "the one in the straw hat?"  I acknowledged her quarry.  She continued, "I gave him my cart, and he turned it in and took the quarter.  Can you believe that?"  What I couldn't believe was that she concealed herself in the store to spy on the guy that she had trusted with her quarter.

Then just a few days later another old codger gave me a cart as I was walking toward the store.  I offered him a quarter and he declined, asking instead that I pass it along to another shopper when I finished - if I could.  "Certainly," I said, and headed on toward the store.  But the guy wanted to make sure, and he chased me down.  "You will," he entreated, "pass it along - if you can."  Once again I assured him that I would not pocket his quarter.

Conversely, young people often pass me their cart, decline my quarter, and make no demands on my future actions whatsoever.

I guess the older we get, the more important those quarters become.

Mike Pompeo, a Glutton for Embarrassment

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has barely had time to unpack from his failed diplomatic jaunt to North Korea and his recent swing through Europe which culminated in the Helsinki fiasco, and now he finds himself being led by the nose into the next diplomatic circus:  Iran.

Donald Trump always has an international conflict on the front burner, something to take the public's mind off of his domestic incompetence and endless corruption.  But Trump's administration, and certainly his inner-circle, is shockingly devoid of individuals with actual diplomatic experience, and his efforts abroad quickly turn into further embarrassments:  witness Singapore, Brussels, London, and Helsinki in just the past few weeks.

But Trump himself never fails at anything, and reports that indicate otherwise are just so much "fake news" - as most Americans with more tattoos than teeth will readily attest to - or would attest to if they knew what "attest" meant.

Trump likes sharing the stage with world class despots, people like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.    He must reason that being photographed next to strongmen makes him look strong as well.  Un and Putin command the respect of their people - literally "command" it - a prerogative that Trump feels should be his as well.  But the United States has a pesky "democratic" tradition, one which allows, and sometimes even demands, outspoken public responses to the actions  of our leaders, particularly when they try to lead with their heads up their rears.

Nothing is sacred in the Untied States, not even the pronouncements of the King.

The "success" of the summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore was being questioned before Air Force One even made it back to the States.   The "success" of the summit with Putin in Helsinki did not even last until the two world leaders made their way off of the stage.  Donald Trump conducts diplomacy off-the-cuff, without preparation, and solely on instinct.  His diplomacy is shockingly devoid of diplomats.  And Mike Pompeo, a recent second-string Kansas congressman, would be woefully unprepared for his current job - if Trump ever managed to give him much rein to do the job.

But Trump, ever the stable genius, really doesn't need diplomats to handle diplomacy in much the same way as he doesn't require generals to handle defense.  Late night telephone calls with other geniuses, people like Sean Hannity and Steve Bannon, build his knowledge and fuel his desire to act. Then by daylight Trump has tweeted his daily positions on world events and charted U.S. diplomatic policy for the next several days.  Who needs diplomats - or generals, for that matter?

This "presidenting" stuff is a piece of cake!

So Hannity or some other foot soldier of Benjamin Netanyahu has cranked The Donald up over Iran, and that has become our next crisis de jour.  This morning Trump tweeted his equivalent of the "fire and fury" threat to Iran, and he has poked poor Mike Pompeo into action.  Pompeo gave a speech at the Reagan Library over the weekend attacking the leaders of Iran as being out of touch with their people.  In his prepared remarks Pomepo called the leaders "hypocritical holy men" who are more interested in "spreading hardline views abroad than they are in helping out their own cash-strapped citizens."

Pompeo added,  "Sometimes it seems the world has become desensitized to the regime's authoritarianism at home and its campaign of violence abroad, but the proud Iranian people are not staying silent about their government's many abuses."  Then he followed up with this:  "The level of corruption and wealth among Iranian leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government."

Sound familiar?

Something fun:  Take the above quotes by Mike Pomepeo and replace "Iran" and references to its leaders with "United States" and references to our own leaders.  Poor Mikey could have just as easily been discussing the United States under the Trump administration.

The only thing certain about the currently escalating conflict between our own government and that of Iran is that we will have moved on to a new crisis within the next week or two, and the U.S. Secretary of State and possibly the Secretary of Defense will have been devalued in the process - because the government of the United States is run by something that resembles the mafia more that a government.

Consider resigning, Secretary Pompeo.  There is life beyond the embarrassment of working for the Trump administration.

Dark Money Portends Dark Times

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Early last week federal prosecutors filed charges against a Russian national who was residing in the United States, accusing the woman, Maria (Mariia) Butina, with conspiracy and operating as an undeclared foreign agent on American soil.  The feds apparently have such a solid case against the attractive 29-year-old that she was denied bail because they feared she would hightail it home to Mother Russia.

And they are probably right.  Putin's Russia is not the least bit happy with this young Russian asset being behind bars.  There is no word yet on the possibility of a presidential pardon.

According to a report in Rolling Stone as well as other news sources, Miss Butina founded a gun rights group in Russia and developed strong ties to the National Rifle Association here in the United States.  It is thought that she was instrumental in funneling large amounts of Russian cash to the NRA for that group to use in helping Republican political candidates.

The NRA contributed in the neighborhood of $30 million to the Trump election effort in 2016 - $11,000,000 in direct aid to the Trump campaign, and $19,000,000 in efforts to undermine the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.  It is unclear if any money from Russia was included in those donations.  One reason that it is unclear is that on the same day of Ms. Butina's arrest, the U.S. Treasury Department issued new rules which allow the NRA to keep the source of some of its dark money donors secret.

It is now been revealed that Maria Butina and her handler, a Russian government official named Alexander Torshin, had met privately with representatives of the U.S. Treasury Department earlier this year.  Butina and Torshin also attended an NRA convention together and facilitated ties between that group and the Russian government of Vladimir Putin.

So did Russian rubles make it into the campaign coffers of Donald Trump.  Rolling Stone would like to know.  Vanity Fair would like to know.  And the American public needs to know.

But the trail of rubles may not end with Donald Trump.  The NRA is notorious in its monetary support of chosen candidates - nearly always Republicans.  Aside from Donald Trump, the top sixteen political recipients of NRA cash are all sitting Republican senators.  What follows are lifetime totals for NRA donations as reported in Business Insider on February 28th of this year - two weeks after the horrific shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida.

John McCain of Arizona ($7,740,521),  Richard Burr of North Carolina (6,986,931),  Roy Blunt of Missouri (4,551,546),  Thom Tillis of North Carolina (4,418,012),  Cory Gardner of Colorado (3,879,064),  Marco Rubio of Florida  (3,303,355),  Joni Ernst of Iowa (3,124,273),  Rob Portman of Ohio (3,061,941),  Todd Young of Indiana (2,896,732),  Bill Cassidy of Louisiana (2,861,047),  David Perdue of Georgia (1,985,773),  Tom Cotton of Arkansas. (1,968,714),  Pat Roberts of Kansas (1,584,153),  Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania (1,467,821),  Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (1,269,486), and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (1,261,874).

(Please don't loose any sleep over Mitch McConnell just placing 16th.  He is primarily bought and paid for by the tobacco lobby, a powerhouse in his home state of Kentucky.)

Number 17 on the list of NRA sycophants is Congressman French Hill of Arkansas ($1,089,477).  All  other Republican members of the Senate and the House have to get by on six-figure NRA donations - or less.

It is unclear how much of this corruption of democracy is the result of Russian money being laundered through the National Rifle Association, and now, of course, with the new rule from the Treasury Department, the American public may never know the extent of their senators' and representatives' indebtedness to the Kremlin.

These elected leaders who each have their pockets stuffed with NRA dollars - and possibly Russian rubles - have no sense of shame, so we must all endeavor to be ashamed for them.  Our democracy has been sold - possibly to buyers abroad.  Dark money portends dark times.

Duck Down

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived in the country music Mecca of Branson, Missouri, yesterday to begin an investigation into the watercraft accident on Table Rock Lake that killed seventeen people, including nine members of one family, during a sudden storm that sprang up on Thursday evening.  The victims, aged one-year-old to 76-years-old, were passengers on one of Branson's famed "Duck Boats," land and water contrivances which bear similarities to the landing craft that shuttled Allied troops onto the beaches of Normandy  during the D-Day invasion.

The sudden storm was reportedly so intense that it generated large waves on the lake and placed watercraft in peril.  One survivor, a mother who lost all three of her children and her husband in the accident, told reporters that they were shown life jackets when they boarded but told that they would not need them.  Apparently none of the passengers nor the two-man crew were wearing life jackets when the Duck suddenly began taking on water and sank.

The Duck Boats are a very popular Branson attraction, and they are common sights on the streets as well as on Table Rock Lake.  They provide tourists with a way to move around the small city in relative comfort while enjoying the fresh air and breezes of the Ozark hills - without being stuck in their cars in Branson's infamous snarled traffic.  Branson has no mass transit other than a few taxis and hotel shuttles.

While I have been to Branson many times, and even worked there occasionally as a traveling child abuse investigator for the state, I never took the opportunity to ride on the "Ducks."  I did ride one in Hot Springs, Arkansas (Bill Clinton's hometown) during the early 1990's - a ride that included downtown Hot Springs, Bathhouse Row, and a large part of Lake Hamilton.  Hot Springs had two "Ducks" at that time.  A few years later in 1999 one of those Ducks sank in Lake Hamilton, killing thirteen.

Hopefully the current investigation into the tragic accident in Branson will result in recommendations that improve the safety of these popular tourists attractions.  (One recommendation that needs to come out of this terrible tragedy:  make wearing life jackets mandatory for all passengers and crew.) Midwestern tourist destinations like Branson and Hot Springs have a lot to offer in the way of sightseeing and entertainment for tourists, and the Duck Boats add to that tourist appeal.   They will undoubtedly remain a part of the tourist attraction mix, but the unique land-water tours need to be made as safe as possible.

All the Democracy Money Can Buy

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

This past Monday, a mere five days ago, federal authorities arrested a Russian citizen, 29-year-old Maria Butina, on charges of conspiracy and being an undeclared agent of a foreign government operating on American soil.  The charges are so serious that poor Maria has been denied bail.

Ms. Butina, who had for the previous two years been active in Republican political circles and events, had reportedly been instrumental in moving large sums of money to the coffers of the National Rifle Association.  The NRA poured more than $30 million into the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and, according to a recent investigative article in Rolling Stone, the FBI is investigating whether some or all of that money may have originated in Russia.

Coincidentally this past Monday, a mere five days ago, the U.S. Treasury Department under the control of the Trump administration, issued a new rule that said that certain groups, including the National Rifle Association, no longer had to reveal their "dark money" donors.

How convenient.

The NRA, a well known terrorist organization that is hell-bent on arming every white malcontent in America,  can now launder money from despots, spread it around to Republican political operatives, and never have to bothered with letting the world know where the money originated - but if this old farmer misplaces a receipt, it's pack a bag and head to jail!

Ca-ching!  Ain't democracy grand!

Trump Hits the Links for Fun and Profit

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump's groveling before Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was not the only outrage perpetrated on America during last week's overseas jaunt.  If fact, it was a week awash in moral outrages.  One of the most cynical Trump maneuvers on the trip was getting the U.S. government to pay for him to stay at one of his own resorts.

Trump purchased the Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland a few years back for a pricey $205 million (including the cost of renovations).  The resort, like many Trump business ventures, has been a consistent money loser.  But now, thanks to The Donald's status as a world leader with an unlimited checkbook, that may be on the verge of changing.

Trump and his entourage, which included Eric, one of his two dim-witted adult sons, stayed at Turnberry for two nights and charged American chumps taxpayers a modest $68,800 for their mini-vacation.  The funds came out of the State Department's budget.  When news of this targeted robbery broke - in the Scottish press - Eric was trotted out to try and contain and control the damage.  Eric argued that the story was "fake" because the Trump's have a heretofore unannounced policy of never profiting off of their own properties while on government business.

At that point some American journalists jumped in wanting to know why that policy had never been publicized before - and seeking to see the resort's books to back up Eric's convenient claim.  Journalists, of course, stand about as much chance of seeing any of Trump's business ledgers as American citizen's have of seeing any of his tax returns.

But that's what Eric said.  Poor us, we didn't make a damned dime off of our two-day holiday.

Even if it was true that the Trump's business did not profit from his stay there, the golf resort still received an untold amount of free publicity off of the presidential visit - and that free publicity is all profit.  First and foremost, the Trump family takes care of itself - much like Don Corleone did with his relatives!

While the Trumps wine and dine and golf, good Americans, the ones who actually do pay taxes, bend over and pay the bills.  No wonder Trump was in such a relaxed mood by the time he got to Helsinki!

(Here's a free suggestion for Theresa May from Pa Rock:  Nationalize Turnberry and turn it into a public housing estate.  At least then it would benefit real people.  And who knows, the Queen herself might show up for the ribbon-cutting - wearing the Obama broach!)

Trump's New World Order

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Two disparate elected public officials, one a Democratic senator from the northeast and the other a Republican congressman from the south, have coughed up a couple of suggestions that, if implemented by Congress, might just go a long way toward figuring out what sort of hold Vladimir Putin has on Donald Trump.

Senator Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire wants to know what was discussed in the almost completely private 2-hour meeting that was held by Putin and Trump in Helsinki earlier this week.  I used the word "almost" because there was a third person in the room during the meeting, a person whose job it was to pay rapt attention to every word the two leaders uttered.  That person was an American translator.  Senator Shaheen would like to subpoena the translator to come before Senate investigators and spill his or her guts.

It will be hard for the Trump administration to hide behind the old ruse of "national security."   It would be the upper chamber of Congress, a branch of government that is the co-equal of the presidency, seeking the information.  If Trump has nothing to hide regarding his lengthy secret confab with a ruthless dictator, then he should be more than happy to cooperate.  If he balks, well that just adds to the growing depiction of him being in Putin's pocket.

The other original thinker in Congress is soon-to-be-retired Congressman Mark Sanford of South Carolina.  Sanford postulates that with all of this legitimate concern over Trump's seeming subservience to the Russian Bear, now might be the exact right time to get a look at his tax returns.  Has there been, as many allege, massive amounts of Russian money laundered through Trump properties?  Getting a look at those elusive tax returns would either answer many questions - or illuminate what questions need to be asked.

Trump's shameful performance in Helsinki was an embarrassment and a national disgrace.  The American people have a right to know exactly what motivated their elected leader to turn his back on his own people while heaping praise on ruthless thug who openly and blatantly interfered in our most recent national election.

There are four ways to get at the truth:  the Mueller investigation, which Trump rails against daily and labels a "witch hunt," the press - which Trump criticizes and marginalizes almost nonstop, the courts - which he is quickly packing with people who are automatically indebted to him for their jobs, and Congress - both houses of which are controlled by a political party that is solidly under his control.

Senator Shaheen and Congressman Sanford are a pair of very brave individuals who are racing through an electrical storm seeking the keys to Donald Trump's increasingly bizarre behavior and his outlandish affection for Vladimir Putin.   The rest of Congress needs to step up and do the same.  Our national honor, and indeed our national security, are at stake.

We are witnessing the creation of a new world order, one that is apparently being engineered by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.  Canada, Great Britain, and the countries of NATO are no longer our steadfast friends - and Russia is suddenly our very best friend.

Balls!

The Russians really are coming - and the President of the United States is rolling out the welcome mat.  Congress, if Donald Trump will not stand up for America, then you certainly must.  Do your jobs and find out why Trump is refusing to do his!

McCain Explodes!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Much of the United States appeared to be in shock yesterday after Donald Trump stood next to Russia's Vladimir Putin and declared his belief in Putin's denials that Russia was involved in U.S. election manipulation in 2016.    Trump sided with the Russian dictator even though United States intelligence agencies had concluded otherwise - and twelve Russians had been indicted for U.S. election interference that very week.

Trump's public defense of Putin was regarded by much of the world as a stunning disrespect of American democratic principles.  There were many voices in social media using the word "treason" to describe Trump's statements in Helsinki.  Two of the more popular Twitter hashtags for the day were "#TreasonSummit" and "#SurrenderSummit".

American politicians were eager to try and surf the wave of public anger, with some members of Trump's own GOP even taking potshots at their Glorious Leader.  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Trump's remarks the "most serious mistake of his presidency" and declared that they "must be corrected - immediately."

Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska with a history of poking Trump, declared that Trump's Helsinki performance indicated that he has a "Trump First" rather than an "America First" foreign policy.

Retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the current head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was effusive in his disdain of Trump's Helsinki remarks.  Corker said that Trump's comments were "regrettable" and "very disappointing" - and that they made the U.S. look like a "pushover."   He also commented that the Russians were probably enjoying caviar in celebration of Trump's seeming capitulation.

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, another Republican who is retiring after this term, labeled Trump's remarks as "shameful."  In a tweet he lambasted his party's leader:

"I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful."

Senator Flake said that he plans to introduce a resolution in the Senate, perhaps as early as Monday, which would reaffirm Senate support for the FBI and the investigation by Robert Mueller's team.

Sadly, Flake appears to be the only Republican official with any substantive plan for countering Trump's Helsinki self-serving actions, and his is certainly far from being any great shakes.  None are using any language that suggests Trump should be removed from office.

They are angry, but not righteously angry.

And then there is John McCain.  McCain who is homebound in Arizona suffering from incurable brain cancer, has no intention of going "gentle into that good night."  He is pissed off and exploding like Mt. Vesuvius.   Yesterday Johnny Mac posted this on his homepage, and it has since been widely distributed across cyberspace.  What follows is the full text of McCain's statement on the Trump Helsinki fiasco:

“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake. 

“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world. 

“It is tempting to describe the press conference as a pathetic rout – as an illustration of the perils of under-preparation and inexperience. But these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions throughout the world. 

“Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in Brussels and Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history of the American Presidency. That the president was attended in Helsinki by a team of competent and patriotic advisors makes his blunders and capitulations all the more painful and inexplicable. “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”

What a damned shame McCain in not well.  If he was able to return to Washington, he would likely be the one Republican who would have the cajones to wave his American flag right in Trump's flustered face!  And that needs to happen - and it needs to happen now! 

Monday's Poetic Recipe: Emily Dickinson's Cocoanut Cake

by Pa Rock
Cake Appreciator

One of the major benefits of being retired, perhaps the major benefit of being retired, is having time to waste on projects that I could never have fit into my busy life back during the days when I was a slave to regular work schedules and paychecks.

Casey's is a chain of midwestern convenience stores that cater to travelers and local customers with gas and a variety of refreshments, including above-average pizza made locally in the stores, and a wide-ranging assortment of quick-stop paraphernalia.  My little community of West Plains, Missouri (population 12,000) is home to four Casey's.  This year is Casey's 50th anniversary.  I know that because the chain is hosting a big 50th anniversary sweepstakes.

And that has become my current waste-of-time retirement project.

Any purchase at Casey's during July and August generates a special receipt with a sweepstakes code number.  Those code numbers can then be entered onto a special internet form (it takes about two or three minutes per entry), and "many" lucky people will be notified that they have won instant prizes.  All entries are also eligible for the the $50,000 grand prize drawing later in the summer.

Over the past few weeks I have collected eighteen Casey's receipts (including for gas purchases) and carefully entered each and every one - along with a good dose of my personal information - into the internet.  Usually my entries are immediately tagged with a reply telling me that although the corporate office at Casey's  is sorry, I am not a winner of an instant prize.  But then, early this past week, my luck changed.  This time the message read that I had won . . . a cake doughnut!  The company proudly informed me that my prize would be mailed in approximately four weeks.

Note to the U.S. Postal Service:  Please hand stamp.

With that recent accomplishment in mind, I set out today to find a poem honoring pastry.  Unfortunately, I didn't come across anything that tickled my taste buds, but I did find a recipe ingredient list for "cocoanut" cake in the original script of one of America's premier poets - and master baker - Miss Emily Dickinson of Amherst, Massachusetts.  Dickinson, who despite being a recluse, often baked treats for neighbors and shut-ins.  Baking instructions were not included, but several contemporary bakers have their own baking suggestions available on the internet.

Miss Emily's ingredients for "cocoanut" cake were:

1 cup cocoanut
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoonful soda
1 teaspoonful cream of tartar

This makes one half the rule–

I love coconut - and strongly suspect that the concoction shared by Emily Dickinson would prove to be delicious.  Should anyone attempt it, succeed, and then decide to share a piece with this humble typist, please ask the post office to hand stamp the package!

Green Morning!

by Pa Rock
Farmer in Summer

Yesterday my lawn was crispy brown, the sad result of several extra hot and extremely dry weeks in the Ozarks.  The few roses out by the road were almost dead, and the once magnificent patches of four o'clocks were withered and begging to be put on life support.

Then, yesterday evening just at dusk, something wonderful happened.  It wasn't long after I had finished my twilight routine of faithfully carrying water to each of my young trees (seven dogwoods, two figs, and two oaks) and several pots of begonias that splash color around my rural sanctuary, that the surprise rain shower erupted over The Roost.  The glorious rain fell for about thirty-minutes, soaking the parched ground and lowering the air temperature to a bearable level.

This morning the lawn is once again greening up and a sense of vibrancy is returning to the farm - as well as to the farmer.  The weather forecast indicates that temperatures will drop somewhat for the next couple of days.  The downside, of course, is that I will once again be mowing - probably tomorrow, but even that will seem somewhat pleasurable after all of this insufferable heat.

It's a green morning in the Ozarks, and Pa Rock could not be happier!   Have a wonderful day!

An Embarrassment Abroad

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

For the past several weeks our glorious leader, Donald John Trump, has been a traveling fool - he has traveled and, at each and every stop, he has played the fool.  Last month he attended the G-7 meeting in Canada where he spent two days parading his petulance before other world leaders whose countries have strategic economic alliances with the United States, signed an accord with the group, and then left the meeting and headed for a summit with Kim Jong-Un, the despotic little tyrant who runs North Korea.

While Air Force One was in the air headed to the meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore, Trump threw one of his famous tantrums and withdrew his approval from the G-7 accord.  He smiled for the cameras with Kim in Singapore, and then returned to the U.S. boasting that he had struck a deal with North Korea for them to denuclearize.   It now appears that the "agreement" was only a figment of Trump's imagination and all that he actually accomplished by visiting with the wily North Korean was to add some legitimacy to Kim's desire and claim to be a significant world leader - something U.S. Presidents before Trump had sought to avoid.

From Quebec to Singapore, Trump's foray onto the world stage was an abysmal failure.

Now, barely a month later, he is at it again.

Over the past week Trump has attended the NATO summit in Brussels where he managed to attack one of our prominent allies, Germany, over a fuel supply agreement that it has with Russia.  It looked as though Trump might be trying to destabilize the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

There were also indications that Trump's ultimate aim might be to destabilize, and maybe even destroy, NATO, something that would play very well in Russia, but in the end he just harangued other members over what he perceived to be their shortcomings in financially supporting the defense alliance.

Trump also appeared to be fomenting a political rebellion when he arrived in Great Britain after the NATO summit.  He made news when he gave an interview to a London newspaper in which he was highly critical of Prime Minister Theresa May, telling the newspaper in essence that he had told her how to do her job but that she had not listened to his sage advice.  He also made news with the size of the protest crowds that followed him during his time Great Britain.  Trafalgar Square, according to some estimates, had more than a quarter-of-a-million people gathered to protest Trump's visit, the largest British protest ever of a visit by a foreign head of state - and the mayor of London  seemed to encouraging and enjoying the demonstrations.

And then he and Melania took tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle.

Trump, who has already insulted two world leaders, both female, on his current tour, showed his oafishness by walking, almost staggering, in front of Queen Elizabeth, and blocking her path.  No one expected him to bow before the British monarch, but most felt that he might have at least walked beside, or even offered an arm to, the ninety-two-year-old monarch.  But not our Donald John.  He stepped right in front of the elderly lady because that's the way he rolls.

(Remember the footage several months ago of Donald and Melania boarding Air Force One during a rain shower?  He marched smartly up the stairs to the big plane holding an umbrella - over himself - and Melania dutifully followed along behind in the rain - with no umbrella.)

Today Trump is in Glasgow, Scotland, playing golf at one of his properties.  Thousands of Scots are in the streets protesting his visit.  Tomorrow - or the next day - he will meet with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland - even though the Justice Department issued indictments against twelve Russian citizens yesterday for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.  They were allegedly working at the behest of the Russian government - and for the benefit of Donald Trump.

Trump won't be walking in front of Putin, or bad-mouthing him to the press, or telling him how to run his country.  No he won't.  You betcha he won't.

He owes Putin - bigly.

Little Beauregard's Ulterior Motive

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Apparently the United States Department of Justice under the control of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, has decided to reopen the murder investigation of Emmett Till, the fourteen-year-old young man who was tortured and lynched in Mississippi sixty-three years ago.   Till, a black youth from Chicago, was visiting relatives in rural Mississippi in 1955 when he was accused by a white woman of whistling at her.  The woman's husband and his brother were arrested and put on trial for the murder of Till, but a white jury acquitted them.  Years later the pair admitted that they had indeed killed Emmett Till.  The white woman who had accused Emmett Till of flirting with her also admitted late in life that she had lied about the incident.

When Emmett Till's body was returned to Chicago for burial, his mother insisted on holding a public funeral with an open casket because she wanted the world to see the evil that had been perpetrated on her son.  Images of the brutalized Till have horrified generations of Americans and were felt to have been a powerful force in instigating the civil rights movement of the 1960's.

The Justice Department closed its case on Emmett Till in 2007 due primarily to the fact that the two admitted perpetrators were already dead and any others who might have been involved were likely dead as well.  But now, eleven years on, that same Justice Department says it is preparing to reopen the case based on new evidence.

Why, one must wonder, would the Justice Department, now under the control of a former tool of the White Citizens Council, Jeff Sessions, want to reopen the wound that helped to launch the civil rights movement and destroy his beloved ante-bellum, genteel South?  Part of the reason could be the renewed interest in the case following a new book on the murder that was published last year, but another reason might be that reopening the case will frustrate researchers (and members of the general public) who are trying to access official records dealing with the killing.

Doug Jones, the new senator from Alabama and a Democrat, has this week introduced legislation that would require the government to release information about unsolved killings related to the civil rights movement.  The family of Emmett Till is also still seeking information and answers from the Justice Department regarding the youth's brutal murder.

If the Till case is reopened, the Justice Department and other lesser law enforcement agencies will have cover for keeping their files on Emmett Till's murder away from the prying eyes of the public - because the records will relate to an on-going investigation.

That's one possibility.

Another possibility, of course, is that Little Beauregard woke up one morning and was suddenly overcome with a desire to achieve some justice for an old racial travesty.  

Jeff Sessions seeking justice for a dead black youth?

Don't bet your MAGA cap on that!

If Attorney General Sessions acquiesces to a re-opening of the Emmett Till case, he has an ulterior motive - and that motive isn't based in a burning desire for granting civil rights to minorities.  You can bet your MAGA cap on that!

Twitter Poised to Clean House

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

We have all seen those ads which offer people the opportunity to "purchase" thousands of Twitter followers for a modest fee.  Just a few dollars can fluff up a Twitter base to the point that it makes the user look as though he or she has more political, social, business, or celebrity impact than is actually the case.   Apparently what is being sold are fake accounts set up for the sole purpose of making Twitter users appear to be more prominent on the platform than they actually are.  They do not represent the accounts of actual people.

And we have also heard the stories about "bots," especially Russian bots, whose primary purpose is to infest the social media platforms with fake accounts and messages to shape content that other users view.  The net result is that it becomes harder and harder to trust social media as an honest arbiter of public opinion.

Many of the accounts do not represent real people, and some are even malicious contrivances designed to influence thoughts and actions.

Twitter has just announced that beginning today it is going to start removing fake accounts and "bots" from its platform.  I will be interested to see if my 1,543 "followers" diminish in number.  I will also be monitoring the account of Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) - 53.4 million "followers" - to see if it takes a noticeable hit.

It's time to begin cleaning up social media, and kudos to Twitter for breaking out its big broom.

Pelosi and Hoyer as Barnacles

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer are weathered old barnacles who have tenacious grips on on our rusting ship of state.   They have some power and are determined to hold on to it fiercely for all of their days.

Pelosi, in particular, did not get to where she is today, however, by being naive.   She knows that there are many good Democrats across America who are not enamored of her, and she recognizes that she has become a lightening rod of dissent within certain party circles.  Some Democratic candidates for congressional seats are facing considerable blowback from the voters of their districts because of Pelosi, and those candidates are being put on the spot regarding whether they will support Pelosi in her bid to retain the leadership of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives.

Pelosi's response to these candidates is that it is perfectly fine to speak out against her on the campaign trail.  She will sort through all of that political bother once the upcoming election is over.

One constant complaint about the Democratic Party in Congress is that it stymies the advancement of its elected members.  The Democratic Party in Congress operates on a seniority principle, and once those senior Democrats finally achieve power, they are loathe to give it up.

Republican members of Congress, on the other hand, appear to be more democratic in the treatment of their members than the Democrats are.  Way back in 1994 the Republicans instituted a plan that limited the amount of time that a member could serve as a chair of one of the twenty or so various congressional committees.  A Republican committee chair gets three two-year terms at the helm and then must step aside.  That practice shakes things up in the congressional party hierarchy, but, as happened this year, some chairs feel ill-used when they have to give up their fiefdoms of power and decide to retire from Congress.  Some wags feel that dynamic is a "brain drain" whereby Congress loses members who have developed valuable institutional knowledge.  Others see it as a much needed  reinvigoration of the Republican Party and Congress.

But Democrats aren't having any of that touch-feely democratic stuff.  They are breeding barnacles - like Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer.

One other Democratic barnacle, a man who held the exalted position of Democratic Caucus Chair in Congress was Joseph Crowley of New York.  His position as a party bigwig within Congress was secure via seniority.  Crowley even fostered hopes of eventually replacing Pelosi as the party leader and perhaps even becoming Speaker of the House.  Crowley was so powerful - and protected in his power - that he seemed to have forgotten that his visions of grandeur ultimately rested on the will of the people who sent him to Congress again and again.  To the horror of Crowley and the other Democratic barnacles, he was soundly defeated at the polls in a primary election last month by a very young woman, a new face and a new energy who is headed to Capitol Hill with a stated agenda of shaking things up.

Nancy and Steny should have taken the primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Ortiz as a wake-up call, but one suspects that they remain complacent and secure in their bubbles of power.  They have a better knowledge and control of their districts than poor Joe Crowley had with his, and with the current party rules, their positions in Congress are set in cement.

Pelosi and Hoyer are as strong and immovable as the statues and marble columns that litter the building in which they work.  The Grim Reaper is the only one who has the ability to remove them from power.  But, in addition to ruling the Democrats in Congress with iron fists, Pelosi and Hoyer also cast a shadow over the future of their party.

Hey, Nancy - Hey Steny - here is my humble plan for invigorating the Democratic Party within Congress and hopefully increasing its membership significantly.   You two should promote a plan to cap the amount of time that members can serve as chairs of congressional committees - in fact, you could borrow the one that the Republicans have already put in place - and then you should announce a similar plan to limit the amount time that the party leader and whip could hold their positions.

And then - announce that you will not run for leadership positions when the new Congress organizes in January - regardless of whether the Democrats are in the majority or not.  Tell the candidates and the voters that you will give up your powerful holds on the machinery of government and will instead dedicate your efforts to welcoming new members and teaching them how to navigate the halls of power.

It's time for change.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered the message, and now you need to take it to heart.

The Fight Begins - and God Save Robert Mueller!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I don't have a television provider and last night I chose to avoid watching Trump do his Supreme Court Pick Pageant on the internet, but I knew the second that Old Orange Gas Bag had announced his choice because the inbox alerts on my phone started lighting up like the Vegas Strip.  He had chosen former G.W. Bush election-fixer Brett Kavanaugh - and predictably no one, at least no one who regularly emails me, was happy with the selection.

My email correspondents were in a slobbering rage as they warned me that Kavanaugh was determined to kill Roe v Wade and that he is on record as a strong opponent of Special Counsels and attempts to remove sitting presidents.  He was certain to be a disaster for humanity at all levels - and please send money.

Kavanaugh is just one more sideshow in the Trump carnival of depravity and disaster that we will have to endure until this festering freak show completes its run.  There is a chance, of course, that his nomination could be derailed if Democrats can dig up something that would be so vile and disgusting that it even managed to embarrass Trump's evangelical base, but those folks are demonstrably shameless so that is highly unlikely.  And even if this nomination were to be derailed, the same blowhard would quickly select another nominee - one at least as awful as Kavanaugh.

The only hope would be a substantial change in the political makeup of Congress and particularly in the Senate.

The Senate must become significantly more Democratic, or Trump must be indicted and suffer mortal political wounds.  Anything short of one or both of those outcomes will insure that this vile and abysmal crap will continue for two-and-a-half more years - at a minimum.

We have brought it on ourselves.  We own the monster and we may have to endure his determined destruction of civilization until he wears himself - and us - out.  This November's election is shaping up to be the most consequential in our history.

We must register, we must vote, and we must drive the soulless enablers of Donald John Trump out of the corridors of power!

And God save Robert Mueller!

Monday's Poetry: "I Saw Emmett Till This Week at the Grocery Store"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Tonight, in something akin to a television reality show, Donald Trump will unveil his Supreme Court pick - the second of his presidency.    Trump released (as a campaign gambit) a list of people from which he would select Supreme Court appointees shortly before the 2016 general election - a list that was created by a couple of extreme conservative organizations and designed to keep his sheeple in a tight flock.

The "winner" of tonight's show will be bad news for America, a person who could negatively effect life and culture in the United States for four decades or more.  The only question left to be answered at this point is just how awful will Trump's nominee be.  How badly we are screwed will be a matter of degree.

With the subject of justice weighing heavily on my mind, I hit the internet this morning searching for a poem to illuminate that topic.  My "winner" is a reflective verse about social justice by Chicago poet Eve L. Ewing.  It is entitled "I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store" - and its focus is Emmett Till, the Chicago fourteen-year-old who was beaten and lynched by a group of vigilantes while he was visiting relatives in rural Mississippi back in 1955.  Till was accused by a white, 21-year-old grocery store owner of flirting with her.  Many years later the woman admitted that her testimony about Emmett Till had been false.

This is a beautiful poem in which the poet compares the murdered teen to the to the sweetness and delicacy of the plums that she imagines him buying.  It reminds us of a bleak and mean era of American history, one which Donald Trump and his judicial "winners" seem to hold in a nostalgic respect.

If America is to grow better, our historical outrages - like the story of Emmett Till - must not be forgotten.  Eve L. Ewing reminds us of our regrettable and shameful past, and she does it in a most eloquent manner.


I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store
by Eve L. Ewing

looking over the plums, one by one
lifting each to his eyes and
turning it slowly, a little earth,
checking the smooth skin for pockmarks
and rot, or signs of unkind days or people,
then sliding them gently into the plastic.
whistling softly, reaching with a slim, woolen arm
into the cart, he first balanced them over the wire
before realizing the danger of bruising
and lifting them back out, cradling them
in the crook of his elbow until
something harder could take that bottom space.
I knew him from his hat, one of those
fine porkpie numbers they used to sell
on Roosevelt Road. it had lost its feather but
he had carefully folded a dollar bill
and slid it between the ribbon and the felt
and it stood at attention. he wore his money.
upright and strong, he was already to the checkout
by the time I caught up with him. I called out his name
and he spun like a dancer, candy bar in hand,
looked at me quizzically for a moment before
remembering my face. he smiled. well
hello young lady
       hello, so chilly today
       should have worn my warm coat like you
yes so cool for August in Chicago
       how are things going for you
oh he sighed and put the candy on the belt
it goes, it goes.

Trump Goes to War - and Quickly Loses

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Cadet Donald John Trump looked good in his school uniform, damned good, so good in fact that now he dreams of standing on a massive reviewing stand with our nation's men and women marching by in their simple and subservient uniforms and saluting him smartly as they pass.  Generalissimo Trump!  The glory of commanding the military without all of the fuss and bother of actually having to serve.

Perhaps Ivanka could even design a uniform to highlight his magnificence.

The impatient Generalissimo, however, could not wait until his vanity parade this November to show the world his military ability, and decided to exercise his tactical brilliance on the world economic stage in the meantime.   Trump, ever the stable genius, began his very own trade war!

"Trade wars are good and easy to win."
                              Donald John Trump

Generalissimo Trump began his global economic offensive by proclaiming past injustices against America and vowing to right those wrongs.  His first act of aggression was to institute tariffs (taxes) on imported steel and aluminum.   Those tariffs would make it more expensive for Americans to buy their steel and aluminum from overseas (as Trump himself had done in his past life as a simple civilian), and would necessarily make it more likely that American builders and manufacturers would buy American.  Easy peasy.

Trump had fired a shot and won the war - except, of course, he hadn't.

Trump took a particular interest in China, and his administration drew up a list of $34 billion worth of Chinese goods to tax - while, of course, leaving the Chinese shoes that First Daughter Ivanka imported to sell in her fashion business off of the list.  China retaliated with tariffs on pork, soybeans, and cars - products specifically selected to hurt geographic areas that had been big Trump supporters in the election of 2016.

The European Union, an assemblage of once-staunch U.S. allies, also retaliated over the tariffs on steel and aluminum with tariffs on peanut butter, bourbon, and Harley Davidson motorcycles - again products calculated to impact heavily on Trump supporters.

Canada was also quick to post a list of American imports that it would tax - a list including metals, food products, household goods, and appliances.  Our other neighbor, Mexico, announced tariffs on American bourbon and many agricultural products - again targeting constituencies that had been strong Trump supporters.

Trump was quickly discovering that sometimes the victims of bullying would fight back, a most inconvenient truth.

American farmers and manufacturers were getting a one-two punch.  The prices that they had to pay for goods were going up because of the tariffs imposed on imports by the Trump administration, and it was becoming harder to sell overseas due to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries.  Donald Trump had already lost his trade war - bigly - but he was too busy preening and practicing his salute to even notice.

Now Harley Davidson, an iconic American manufacturer, has announced that it will have to move some production overseas to avoid the new European Union tariffs - that means hundreds of American jobs and paychecks leaving the country.  An enraged Trump responded by essentially declaring a war on Harley Davidson.

He won't win that war either.

It almost feels like Donald John Trump is working for someone other than the American people.  Perhaps that will clarify after Helsinki.

Twenty-One (or More) Candidates Seek to Unseat McCaskill

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Missouri will hold it's primary election one month from today.   The top position at play is that of the U.S. Senate seat currently being held by Missouri's senior senator, Claire McCaskill.  In addition to McCaskill who would like to be retained in office, the Democratic Party has fielded six other candidates who wish to do their bit to usher McCaskill into retirement.   The Republican Party will have eleven potential senators on its ballot, the Libertarians have three, and their is one declared candidate running on the Independent ticket as well as one very big name who is apparently considering running as an Independent.

All-in-all, Missourians going to the polls next month will have a good selection of senate candidates from which to choose.

McCaskill, a former denizen of Jefferson City, must have camped out at the Missouri Secretary of State's office on the night before filing opened, because she managed to get her name at the top of the Democratic list.  Other Democrats on the ballot will include Angelica Earl (a former ACA counselor who supports single-payer health care and openly refuses donations from the fossil fuel industry), David Faust, Travis Gonzalez, John Hogan, Leonard Steinman II, and Carla Wright.

McCaskill is easily favored to win the Democratic primary, although, as I like to point out to our state Democratic Committee, she has not won it yet and is not yet the official Democratic candidate - and they should damn well quit acting like she is!  The primary is the official method of choosing the candidate, and the state committee should remain neutral and impartial until after Missourians make their wishes known through the August balloting.

(Interestingly, being an incumbent is not sacrosanct, even to McCaskill herself.  In 2004 she challenged incumbent Missouri Governor Bob Holden in the Democratic primary and defeated him - only to lose the office to Roy Blunt's son, Matty, that November.)

State Attorney General Josh Hawley who has held his statewide office less than two years, is the heavy favorite to win the Republican primary.   Unlike McCaskill, Hawley apparently did not sleep in the hallway outside of the Secretary of State's office, and his name will appear second on the Republican primary ballot.  First place honors go to Brian Hagg.  Other GOP senator wannabes include Bradley Krembs, Tony Monetti, Kristi Nichols, Ken Patterson, Austin Petersen, Peter Pfeiffer, Fred Ryman, Christine Smith, and Courtland Sykes.

The Libertarians have fielded Japheth Campbell, Don Donald, and Dennis Lagares to seek the Senate nomination on their ballot.

Kansas City attorney Chris O'Dear is seeking the position as an Independent, and also toying with the notion of running as an Independent is Eric Greitens, the disgraced former governor of Missouri who was forced from office last month.  At this stage in the collapse of his political career, Greitens would probably have a negligible effect on the race, but any votes that he did receive would likely be at the expense of the state Republicans' other golden boy, Josh Hawley.

The good news is that there is a lot of variety in senate choices for Missouri - at least during the primary.  Yes, the field will be narrowed considerably by November - undoubtedly to McCaskill and Hawley - as well as one Libertarian and an Independent - but for August at least there is still a sense that anyone can prevail.

Pa Rock never misses an election - and he will definitely be voting in Missouri's August primary!

A New American Hero

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

July 4th, the anniversary of our nation's independence from an oppressive foreign government, is a holiday that traditionally recognizes the liberty that so many Americans have fought to preserve - at least the ones without bone spurs.  Americans celebrate the Fourth in a variety of ways, often through relaxing activities like picnics, parades, and fireworks.    Sometimes, however, they get more creative in recognizing and honoring the importance of our independence and civil liberties.

Many celebrate the holiday by visiting Liberty Island in New York Harbor and touring our national symbol of freedom - the Statue of Liberty.  This year a few of those visitors staged peaceful protests during their visits to Liberty Island.  Early in the afternoon a group of seven individuals from a group called "Rise and Resist" unfurled a large banner at the base of the Statue of Liberty with a message that said "Abolish ICE."  Those seven were escorted from the island by members of the National Park Service.

Later in the day another member of "Rise and Resist" made a spur-of-the moment decision to launch her own protest.  Patricia Therese Okoumou, age 44, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was originally from the Congo, decided to try and climb the statue.  She made it over the base and up onto the platform where the statue stands - without the aid of any climbing equipment (other than a pair of pink tennis shoes).   Ms. Okoumou eventually achieved a perch on the lower folds of the robes of the Statue of Liberty.

She was protesting the Trump administration's practice of putting children and families in cages.

After occupying the Statue of Liberty for four hours, Ms. Okoumou was finally talked into climbing down by members of the New York Police Department's Emergency Services Unit and charged with misdemeanors of trespassing, disorderly conduct, and interfering with government agency functions.  She appeared in court yesterday wearing a shirt which said "White Supremacy Is Terrorism," and pleaded "not guilty" to the charges.  As she left the courthouse, Ms. Okoumou again stated her opposition to putting children in cages.  In paying a bit of homage to former First Lady Michelle Obama, the protester also said, "When they go low, we go high - and I went as high as I could!"

Right wing pundits predictably went nuts in discussing the incident, saying that the climber was an ungrateful immigrant who had put people involved in her "rescue" in unnecessary danger.  Other Americans, however, were inspired by the very effective peaceful protest.

One suspects that Henry David Thoreau, the grandfather of American civil disobedience and the man whose writings inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr, would have been especially pleased.  A lone woman, a person who had experienced the awfulness of life under an oppressive government, bravely took a stand to protest her displeasure with the actions of the government of her adopted country - and she did it in a non-violent manner on an island called "Liberty."

Patricia Therese Okoumou, one of the "huddled masses" who had been welcomed to our shores by Lady Liberty, returned to that iconic symbol of freedom to have her say about securing freedom for others who were seeking sanctuary in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Patricia Therese Okoumou has proven that she understands the promise of America.  Her actions on Liberty Island were brave and eloquent, and they elevated her onto America's ever-growing roster of national heroes.

She went as high as she could go - and she forced us all to raise our eyes to the heavens.

Sebastian is Eleven!

by Pa Rock
Proud Grandpa

My second oldest grandchild, Sebastian Phoenix Files, is eleven-years-old today.  He lives in Oregon with his parents and brother and sister, and we only get to see each other two or three times a year.  Because I don't get to see Sebastian very often, he has always changed each time that I do see him.  That makes it feel like he is growing up very fast - and, of course, he is.

I was living and working in Kentucky when Sebastian was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and he was just a few weeks old when his Uncle Nick, Cousin Boone (who was eight), and Pa Rock boarded the train in Topeka, Kansas, and headed west to meet the newcomer!  We got off of the train in Flagstaff and rented a car for the drive south to Phoenix.  As we drove down out of the mountains and headed across the desert to Phoenix, we were challenged by oppressive heat, but a rare thunderstorm hit as we drove into Phoenix.  I have always felt that we managed to somehow create that rain and bring it in with us.

Boone spent part of that trip calculating how old he and Sebastian would both have to be before they were able to play together.  Sadly, they saw each other so seldom over the ensuing years that the opportunities to interact were rare.

That was in July of 2007.  Three months later I moved to Phoenix for a new job, and got to spend a little more quality time with my second oldest grandchild.  One night I even babysat while Sebastian's parents walked to the Arizona State Fair which was being held just a few blocks from their home.  We watched "The Polar Express" on television, and, years later, that movie had become one of his favorites.

Sebastian, happy birthday.  Have a great day and don't eat too much cake and ice cream.

Pa Rock loves you, buddy!

July 4th for Dummies

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Happy birthday, America, on this the 242nd anniversary of the signing of the document that declared our independence as a free and sovereign nation.   As we celebrate this patriotic holiday, it might be a good time to reflect on the resilience of America and to pay homage to its unique ability to survive all manner of tragedy and hardship.

America's strength has always been her people, a unique blend of native residents of many tribes who were forced to share their ancestral home with immigrants who piled in from every nook, cranny, and crevice of the globe.  We were a literal melting pot that mixed diverse peoples and ideologies and came up with a strain of humanity that was uniquely defined as "American."

That diversity was our strength, something that helped up to stand out from much of the world.  We weren't tied down to any single provincial view of the world, but instead were open and accepting of a multitude of points of view.    Race, ethnicity, and tolerance were a flowing concept in America, things that pulled us forward and made us stronger - and special.

Now, of course, that is changing rapidly.  Certain elements of our society failed to release their innate fears and prejudices and were unwilling to move forward.  In a fluke election that was decided by a quirk in the Constitution and blatant interfering by Russia, these stubborn sectors of society were able to elect a President who campaigned from a posture of intolerance and hate - and that new administration has focused on rolling back the social progress of much of the last century.

Less than two years into this new political reality, our government has turned its back on historic allies in North America, Europe, and Asia, and made questionable alliances with totalitarian states like Russia and North Korea, threatened the stability of NATO, precipitated a global trade war, and basically declared war on a large segment of our own population by drastically reducing access to health care, education, decent housing, basic nutrition, and the voting booth.

And yet a certain segment of the population wave their flags, light their fireworks, and shoot their guns in the air proclaiming that America is once again on the verge of greatness, something they define by race, gender, religion, and privilege (or, more specifically, lack of privilege) - all imposed on society by a government in sync with their narrow and bigoted world view.

Some celebrate the Fourth while others contemplate what was and what can be.

Bette Midler posted a defiant tweet this morning, one which poses a hope for the resurrection of our better selves:  The Divine Miss M said this:

"It's the 4th of July. Only 125 more days until the Mid-Term elections. And if it goes the way I hope, THAT will truly be #INDEPENDENCEDAY!!!"

Optimism.   I'll light a firecracker to that!