What If the Democrats Go Rogue?

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The Democrats will hold their national convention in Milwaukee July 13-16, and while the party seems to be attempting to crown a "presumptive" nominee at this point - Joe Biden - nothing is as of yet set in cement.  There is still one other contentious and obstinate candidate refusing to yield the field - Bernie Sanders - and Biden has yet to corral enough delegates to claim the nomination outright.

There is still room for things to happen.

First, the political environment is in a high state of flux due to presidential primaries being delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic - and the effects that the health emergency that are rippling across society.   It is impacting the way candidates interact with the public and controlling much of the political dialogue.   The person who controls the nation's ability to respond to the crisis is in a far better position to attract news coverage than some noisy outsider trying to be heard above the din of the pandemic.

Second, all three of the remaining "announced" candidates - Biden, Bernie, and Trump - are elderly and statistically more prone to contracting the virus than younger individuals would be.  That puts constraints on the ways that they are able to campaign, and increases the odds of a medical event suddenly interfering with their lives and their campaigns.

And third, we are operating in a different political world than the one that was in existence back at the time the early primaries and caucuses were playing out.  New situations and realities make room for fresh perspectives and new voices.

This past week as Donald Trump has continued to mangle the national response to the coronavirus pandemic,  he has begun to be seen in stark contrast to some Democratic governors who are struggling to contain the medical emergency in their states.  In particular he has been blatantly dismissive toward the needs of the governors of California, Michigan, Illinois, and New York - all four of whom have been focused on enforcing social guidelines to protect their citizens.  The Democratic governors have been showing leadership abilities far beyond anything coming out of the White House.    On the other hand, Trump has been completely agreeable to the requests of the Republican governor of Florida who has done little to enforce or even suggest limitations on social interactions to the citizens of his state.

Trump's response to states for aid appears to be flagrantly partisan in nature, and he is putting a national spotlight on the valiant Democratic governors who are struggling to overcome the obstacles that he is placing in the way of federal aid to their states.   Trump talks in terms of his television ratings, and the Democratic governors speak relentlessly of hospitals, ventilators, and make-shift morgues.

Political chatter regarding New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo has been on the rise this week as he and Trump have squared off snarling at each other on multiple occasions in the last few days.  Cuomo is beginning to be seen as someone whom a broad range Democrats could enthusiastically support in a race against Trump, someone who has the determination - and the fight - and the fire to expose Trump for the grifter that he is, and to set him out on the political curb with the rest of the trash in November.

But, at this late stage of the process, could the Democratic convention go rogue and choose someone other than Joe Biden to head the ticket?

 Of course it could.

If Biden arrives at Milwaukee without enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, the super-delegates (a group originally set aside to keep the radical Bernie from claiming the nomination) could conceivably also deny Biden the nomination when they are loosed for voting during the second ballot.  And if Biden hasn't broken out of his lackluster shell and pounced on Trump by that time, they could choose to go in another direction.  Also most of Biden's original delegates will become "free agents" after the first ballot.

With Biden's (and Bernie's) advanced age, there needs to be a Plan B.  What looks like a slam-dunk today may yet bounce off of the rim in some new and unanticipated direction.   Democrats need to stay flexible and be ready to make some quick, bold moves in order to defeat the GOP and Trump in November!

Monday's Poetry: "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox"

by Pa Rock
Country Music Appreciator

Last week country music lost one of its greats when Kenny Rogers succumbed to cancer.  Yesterday country singer and songwriter Joe Diffie died of COVID-19 in Nashville, and now it is being reported that country and folk music singer an songwriter John Prine is in extremely critical condition and on a ventilator battling COVID-19.

Some of the brighter lights on the American country music scene seem to be flickering out all at once.

This morning - way before daylight when I got up to do my very few morning chores - I saw the report of Joe Diffie's death on the internet.  Upon seeing that, I asked Alexa to play some of his music.  Alexa did her "shuffling" thing, and then the first song she played was a Diffie country classic from 1993 which gave tongue-in-cheek directions for how to celebrate his own demise.

(I suspect Alexa may had stacked the musical deck when she shuffled.  She is a clever little AI minx with a mischievous sense of humor!)

Joe Diffie's "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox" is regarded as a "novelty" song, and it was a big hit on country radio stations in the 90's.  It's ironic that while the artist was proposing going out in a loud, honkey-tonk wake sort of affair, he expired at a time - and from a medical condition - in which mandatory "social distancing" would prevent that type of ribald exit.

Maybe we'll have that party later, Joe.


Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox
by Joe Diffie

Well, I ain't afraid of dying', it's the thought of being dead
I want to go on being me once my eulogy's been read
Don't spread my ashes out to sea, don't lay me down to rest
You can put my mind at ease if you fill my last request

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Just let my headstone be a neon sign
Just let it burn in memory of all my good times
Fix me up with a mannequin, just remember I like blondes
I'll be the life of the party, even when I'm dead and gone

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Just make your next selection, and while you're still in line
You can pay your last respects one quarter at a time

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die.

Surviving Locally in a Time of Crisis

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The West Plains, Missouri, City Council met in a special session on Friday afternoon and approved a  stay-at-home measure that is to run from yesterday (Saturday) until April 15th.  More than 700 local businesses, individuals, and families sat in on the session through internet hook-ups.

This is a Republican area in the Reagan mold - one that is suspicious of any government policy that places controls on what people can and cannot do - so there is grumbling and people talking about ways to get around this assault on their god-given rights to spread whatever disease they want to.   Thankfully, cooler heads are prevailing - at least for the time being.

(I saw on the internet yesterday that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is angry that more mayors aren't encouraging their citizens to buy guns.  Lots of NRA dollars have flowed through Huckabee's pockets over the years since he gave up preaching and turned to graft on a grander scale.)

I live about a half-mile beyond the city limits, so I presumably can leave my driveway without some twenty-year-old law enforcement officer pulling me over to watch him flex his authority, but even so, with the city in a virtual lockdown, there wouldn't be much reason to go out anyway.

Yesterday, before the new rule (emergency ordinance?) went into effect I made a hurried trip to the bank to deposit a couple of checks at a drive-through window.  I also withdrew a small amount of cash just in case the preppers are right and the government closes all of the banks and gives their money to Greenpeace.

Over the past few days I also made one trip to Walgreens where I tried to get ahead on all of my prescriptions - and came close to achieving that goal.  I made one quick trip to Aldi's where I purchased the 12-can limit of cat food and a brown paper bag to carry the cat food home in.

And, in an effort to maintain a positive outlook, I also made a trip to the feed store and placed an order for baby chicks - which should arrive April 28th.  If I can keep the little birds healthy and safe until they are big enough to work the yard, they should help keep down the chiggers and ticks this summer.  (One angry little tick made a valiant effort to put me underground last summer!)

I guess when you boil it all down, a lot what we do in life is actually about survival.  The city uses ordinances, Huckabee uses guns, and I use chickens!

And through it all the grass keeps growing.  I will begin mowing this week!

Trump Owns the Spread of Coronavirus in the U.S.

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

One month ago today Donald John Trump reassured the citizens of the United States that they had nothing to fear from the coronavirus.  It was just a "hoax," something that was being perpetrated on them by Democrats.  It was a political ploy to impede his effectiveness in office - much like its Democratic ploy predecessor, the "impeachment hoax."  The coronavirus cases in the US were very low and Trump expected them to disappear completely within the following few days.

That was then, this is now:

Yesterday the number of coronavirus cases in the United States shot past 100,000, with total American deaths at 1,568, making our country the most coronavirus-impacted nation on earth.  Yesterday Trump also signed a two-trillion dollar relief package aimed at helping businesses, medical providers, and even some individual citizens get through the panic that has been loosed on society by this "hoax."

Even though yesterday's signing of the relief package - what some see as yet another government giveaway to greedy corporations - would not have happened without Herculean efforts by Democrats in both the House and Senate, Trump chose to sign the measure in the Oval Office with only administration officials and Republicans present.

That election stunt was soon followed by another.  Trump put the word out that he wanted his signature on all government conoravirus relief checks.  And the third election stunt by the man who had labeled coronavirus as a "hoax" only a couple of weeks before arrived in mailboxes coast-to-coast yesterday:  A government-printed-and-funded postcard entitled "President Trump's Coronavirus Guidelines for America."

That was a helluva lot of blanketed campaigning on just one day, and neither the Trump campaign nor the Republican Party had to pay for a dime of it!

Yesterday Donald Trump also flew his pettiness flags high and proud when he publicly chastised two of the nation's governors. Democrats Cuomo of New York and Whitmer of Michigan, for not being "appreciative" enough of his efforts to help their states, and openly signaled that his administration would not be fully meeting their requests for medial assistance during this time of crisis.   He even denigrated Governor Gretcchen Whitmer of Michigan further by dismissing her as "that woman governor" from Michigan - and said that he had asked Vice President Pence not to return her calls.

And with regard to the entire pandemic mess that has swept across the United States in the last month, Donald Trump says that he takes "no responsibility" whatsoever.

Trump disbanded the office designed to oversee pandemics in the United States two years ago.  He was briefed last December about what looked to be a worldwide crisis in the offing, but chose to do nothing.  He did nothing to prepare US medical facilities to meet the impending emergency, even after it arrived in the United States and numbers began climbing.   There was no leadership from Donald Trump - only reaction - and that was inadequate and painfully slow.

The crisis is here, it's not a "hoax," and it is still growing daily.  The coronavirus is a national emergency that is threatening to become a catastrophe of biblical proportions, and Donald Trump is fixated on using it to get even with people that he doesn't like - and to turn it into votes.

When it comes to the spread of coronavirus in the United States of America, Donald Trump is the man responsible.  He owns it, so he might as well put his name on it in big gold letters!

Cruise Ships Hit Tax-berg

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The once glamorous and highly profitable cruise ship industry has, of late, been listing - and some even dare to speculate that it may be on the verge of sinking.

A few highly publicized incidents of people trapped on ships that were in distress, recent reports of coronavirus spreading aboard cruise ships and passengers being barred from getting off, as well as a general perceived decline in the quality of cruises over the past decade or so have all combined to dramatically lessen the appeal of vacations on board cruise ships.

Congress and the White House spent the better part of this week trying to craft a stimulus package that would give assistance to Americans who have been impacted by the coronavirus, as well as offer financial supports to American businesses that have suffered economic hardships as a result of this severe health crisis.  And when talks began focusing on businesses that were hit the hardest, airlines and cruise ships were always mentioned.   Both have seen obvious big declines in revenue over the past several weeks - and little hope of a turn-around any time soon.

The last time airlines received a government "bailout," the CEO's largely used the money to feather their own nests and "buy back" company stock - a move which raised the value of the airline stocks overall and further enriched the major stockholders.  This time Congress was expressing some concerns about seeing that the cash got down to a level of providing a better quality of life to airline employees, and a better flying experience to the general public.

We'll see how that plays out.

The cruise ship industry was another matter.

Over ninety-percent of all cruise ships that use U.S. port facilities fly the flags of other nations.  That means, among other things, that they pay taxes to other countries and not to the United States.  A goodly portion of these ships are de facto American vessels, but they register in foreign ports to avoid the higher U.S. tax rates and to keep from being subject to U.S. labor laws.

Most of the employees of cruise ships are foreign nationals with no rights to pursue litigation in the U.S. courts.    Passengers aboard these vessels are subject to maritime law and also find it highly difficult or impossible to seek legal redress against a cruise ship company in a U.S. court of law.

The world's largest cruise ship line, Carnival, flies a Panamanian flag but advertises itself as being "headquartered" in Miami, Florida.  The company's founder and current board chairman, Micky Arison, lives in Miami and is also the owner of the Miami Heat NBA basketball team, but he pays his cruise ship taxes to Panama

(Carnival owns several other cruise lines including Costa, Cunard, Princess, Holland America, as well as a few others.  Disney Cruises are registered in the Bahamas, and Celebrity Cruises claim Liberia and Malta as their home ports.)

As all of this talk of stuffing government money into the pockets of big business began heating up, the Trump administration reportedly was kicking around ways to quickly transfer registration of all of these international cruise ships back to the United States.   Trump is a close friend of Carnival's Arison, and Arison has been spotted at Mar-a-Lago multiple times this month.  There have even been reports of Arison making offers to use some of Carnival's suddenly empty cruise ships for hospital space - a move that would generate revenue for the beleaguered company as well as possibly improve its image with U.S. taxpayers.

But while some might equate paying a membership at Mar-a-Lago with paying United States taxes,  Congress was apparently having none of it.  (That quid pro quo dog just won't hunt!)   This week's stimulus, as written, will not be stimulating the cruise ship industry - at least not several big cruise ship companies who have chosen over the years to pay their taxes to other countries.

And that's as it should be.

Thank you, Congress!

Pandemicus Politicus Update

by Pa Rock
Baby Boomer

An old friend, someone in my age range, sent around a not-so-funny email this morning which stated that the new nickname for COVID-19 is "Boomer Remover."  That bit of "humor" following a few days in which Donald Trump and his know-nothing parrots have been talking up the idea of declaring the national health emergency to be at an end and sending people back to work in order to save the American economy.

In pandering for a return to normal times, Trump lamented that the cure - shutting down businesses in order to keep people at a distance from one another - was perhaps worse than the disease. Sure, more people would die if America went back to work, but they would die so that capitalism and the stock market could survive!

Priorities, people!  Priorities!

Senior citizens, those who have been identified as being the most at-risk age group in this raging pandemic, would likely experience rising mortality rates if America returns to work at full force -  and they might be expected to raise some self-centered objections.  But several Trump sycophants, such as Lt. Governor Dan Patrick of Texas, launched a quick counter-offensive which bluntly questioned the patriotism of old farts who balked at dying for their country's economy.  The Texas GOP politician even framed it as a sacrifice that the elderly should make for their grandchildren.

And who among us would wish to harm our beloved grandchildren - never mind that a resurgence in the deadly virus would surely kill some of them as well.

The poor and people of color, people more likely to be without insurance and the means to avoid and fight off the virus, are also at higher risk of dying as the pandemic spreads.  Also at high risk would be our caged immigrant population and incarcerated Americans - again, primarily poor people and people of color.

And so the discussion continues.  Medical personnel and scientists talk to us about lives, and Republicans speak of dollars.

Many of the Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) have already retired and are drawing social security, a retirement fund that we paid into throughout our working careers, but something that Republican politicians like to portray as living on the dole and socialism.  We are, many of them sadly proclaim, a drain on the economy - something that a deadly, out-of-control pandemic just might fix, just as it also might prune the general assistance and welfare rolls, rid the nation of recent immigrants and refugees, and eradicate prison populations.

More deaths would be lamentable, but they just might make America great again.

A social cleansing.

An economic rebirth.

A fascist wet dream!

Aunt Mary Unloads

by Pa Rock
Proud Nephew

I have written about my sweet Aunt Mary in this space before.  She is a sprightly 94-years-old and still zips in and out of traffic in rush-hour San Diego like she owns the roads.  And she undoubtedly feels that she does own them because Aunt Mary has lived in San Diego since the start of World War II and probably knows more of the city's history and secrets than any history professor at UC San Diego.

Aunt Mary used to be a model at department store fashion shows in the San Diego area, and even at ninety-four she is still a California blonde with stunning good looks.  I try to get out to see her every couple of years or so.  Aunt Mary lives alone, but she has two adult daughters, my cousins Janet and Linda, in the area who check on her regularly.

I called Aunt Mary a few days ago to see how she is weathering this national health crisis.  She said that she has found the perfect time of day to visit her local market - when it is least busy - and she always remembers to wash her hands any time she has been out and about.    At some point in our conversation the subject arose of how long the isolation routine in California would remain in effect, and she lamented that it would probably last for months.

I chimed in that our government was talking a much shorter time frame - and she equated "our government" with Donald Trump and almost reached through the phone to slap some sense into me.  "Rocky," she snapped, "You can't believe a word that man says!  Not a single word!"

"Yes, ma'am,"  I stammered back.  I knew better than to question the knowledge of that particular elder - and I knew she was right!

We all love you, Aunt Mary.  Rock on!

The News from 1948

by Pa Rock
Old Fart

Monday of this week I had the privilege of turning seventy-two-years-old.   Several of the friends from my youth have not been so lucky.

This spring finds us all going through challenging times, and many news reports suggest that the spreading coronavirus pandemic is especially dangerous for old people - such as myself.  I used to go to town every day at noon to run errands, but now I have cut those trips to every other day - and sometimes skip multiple days in a row.  It is difficult changing long-held routines, but I am quickly becoming aware that I have plenty to do at home to keep me busy.

My oldest son grilled steaks for my birthday, and the other two kids and their families checked in over the phone.  I am accepting of the fact that I probably won't get to see any of my grandchildren any time in the near future.  Right now this awful disease is controlling our lives, and playing by the new rules is essential for survival.

I was born in 1948 in the post World War II "baby boom."   Today I saw three coronavirus-related stories of others who were also born in 1948.  Prince Charles, the heir-apparent to the British throne (11/14/1948) has announced that he has tested positive for coronavirus and is now self-isolating.  American singer Jackson Browne (10/9/1948) has also informed the world that he has tested positive for coronavirus.

And another great American voice, James Taylor (3/12/1948), has just donated one million dollars for coronavirus relief to a Boston hospital.

And meanwhile I remain in semi-seclusion at home, steadfastly avoiding Trump's call to go to town and find a job - anything to keep the stock market off of life support.

Today Alexa and I are listening to Jackson Browne, like we do many days, and at some point we will switch over to James Taylor, like we also so many days, and we rock on among our new circumstances.  Some day the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump presidency will both be over and we can all get back to the life as it used to be, but for the time being we survive and plod ahead one day at a time.

Be smart, America, and stay safe!

Trump's Self-Worth as a Human Is Bankrupt

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump, our "businessman" President, recognizes only one measure of success:  money.  Ever since he began running for office in 2016 he has seen his personal wealth essentially stay flat while the wealth of other US "billionaires" has been generally on the increase.  He is essentially losing ground among the big boys - and that has to hurt someone as wealth-focused and materialistic as Donald John Trump.

The most recent Forbes Magazine list of the richest Americans which was released this past October had Trump in 275th place with an estimated wealth of $3.1 billion.  That is down sixteen spots from the year before - and 119 spots lower than it was before he was President.

In addition to a strong desire to be rich, Trump also fixates on appearing rich.  He is like the used car dealer  who wears the gold chains and drags around the flashy wife.  Trump trades up on wives every few years, and always puts his name on as many buildings as he can - whether he actually owns them or not.  With him, appearances are a big indicator of wealth.

Since assuming office, Trump has also measured his success with the nation's success - and again that is primarily a monetary measure.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed throughout the entire eight years of the Obama administration, and when President Obama left office it was just shy of hitting the 20,000 mark.  That finally happened within weeks of Trump coming into office and he took complete credit for hitting that benchmark.   And, not surprisingly, Trump claimed all credit for the stock market's continued rise during the first three years of his presidency.

The economy was great because Trump was great.  End of discussion.

But then the coronavirus arrived and quickly made inroads into America's once robust economy.   Emergency precautions went into effect which shuttered businesses, closed schools, and sent many American workers home, often without even the basic benefit of paid sick leave.  The economy went into a downward spiral, and American fears regarding the pandemic were soon reflected in a collapsing stock market.  Within weeks all of the gains that the market witnessed during the Trump years had evaporated.  Trump's only measure of success had turned against him.

Yesterday Trump went before the press and began campaigning for a return to normalcy.  He muttered his resolve that "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself," and indicated that within a week his administration might begin lifting restrictions on public gatherings - and encouraging people to go back to work.

Others promptly pointed out that without adequate testing, we don't even have a clear idea of the impact that the coronavirus has already had - or the impact that it is likely to have - and that a return to work and life-as-usual at this point would run a clear risk of many more deaths.

But Trump had thrown down his gauntlet.  A healthy economy was his top priority.

Last night Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, want on Fox News and made essentially the same point with Swanson Foods heir and commentator Tucker Carlson.   Lt. Governor Patrick cloaked the whole matter in patriotism and declared grandparents (the ones most likely to die from coronavirus) would be willing to die to save the economy for their grandchildren.

And there you have the evolving GOP position of the killer virus in a nutshell.  Those unwilling to die for the sake of the economy are not good Americans and they don't love their grandchildren!

Oh, please!  When I step into a Walmart, Kroger, or Target and see Donald Trump and Dan Patrick stocking shelves and interacting with the general public, maybe then we can talk - but until that time they are just a couple of rich buffoons who expect to benefit off of the sacrifices of others.

Well screw that!  I love my grandchildren, and my goal is to spend more time with them - and not to sacrifice myself on the altar of capitalism so that they can enjoy playing games on the latest iPhones.    I want my grandchildren to grow up with a deep respect for their own self-worth and the self-worth of others - and not to measure success by dollars or how many buildings they can get their names on.

Donald Trump may have money - though clearly not as much as he would have us believe - but when it comes to his self-worth as a human-being, well . . . that account is bankrupt!

Monday's Poetry: "Dharma"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Yesterday was the 79th birthday of former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins.  I first became familiar with the work and voice of Billy Collins when he was a guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion radio show back in 2013.   One of his poems that he read on that program was "The Revenant," a sardonic and very funny account of a dog that had been "put down' by his owner, an account that was given from the dog's point of view.  I borrowed it for this space in November of 2013.  The first stanza goes as follows:

"I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you - not one bit."

And then the poor dog proceeded to air his thoughts on the relationship that he had with his master!

Over the years Mr. Collins has written other poems which featured dogs as the central characters.  Yesterday, in honor of the poet's birthday, Garrison Keillor, who now pens a daily internet column called "The Writer's Almanac," featured one of those, a piece called "Dharma" in which the poet reflected on a dog in his life that he obviously loved and cherished.  Dharma is, in many respects, much like my little Rosie.

May neither ever face the ugly - and ghastly - needle of oblivion!

Rosie, this one's for you!


Dharma
by Billy Collins

The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or an umbrella,
without any money
or the keys to her doghouse
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.

Who provides a finer example
of life without encumbrance -
Thoreau in his curtainless hut
with a single plate, a single spoon?
Gandhi with his staff and his holy diapers?

Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar,
following only her wet nose,
the two portals of her study breathing, 
followed only by the plume of her tail.

If only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god.

Of Meat, and Guns, and Toilet Paper!

by Pa Rock
Local Shopper

There is an independent butcher shop that I like to frequent here in West Plains.   It is clean and orderly with a nice variety of fresh meats - and well staffed to insure a minimum wait time. Once a month or so I go there to stock up on ground chuck, sausage, and a roast or two for the crockpot. The store also has steaks, chicken, and shrimp - as well as a nice selection of cheeses.  The things that I buy there go a long way toward supplementing my monthly grocery needs.

The butcher shop is always busy, yet never what I would describe as unnecessarily crowded.

Yesterday I stopped by this neighborhood market looking for stew meat - which I found.  I also found a clamoring crowd of people, a most disconcerting discovery in the little business that had once been outside of the main thrust of the city's business traffic.  It was busy.  In fact, it was about two clicks south of being in a panic situation.  One grizzled shopper was lamenting to anyone within hearing distance, "Walmart's done run out of hamburger!"

Jesus Horatio Christ!  Walmart is out of hamburger, and people living in rusted-out mobile homes with holes in the floor and no in-door plumbing are buying more guns to protect their toilet paper!

I grabbed two pounds of stew meat - and three one-pound packages of ground chuck - and hit the door a-runnin'!   My toilet paper was home alone!

Donald Trump is a Truly Nasty Person

by Pa Rock
Nasty Citizen Journalist

Yesterday at the White House coronavirus task force briefing, a daily event that has lately been taken over by Donald Trump himself, NBC journalist Peter Alexander asked Trump what the reporter later referred to as a "softball" question - or one that would give the President an easy opportunity to reassure the American people in a time of crisis.  Alexander looked at Trump and asked:

"What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now, who are scared?"

But instead of taking that simple question and using it to calm America, Donald Trump chose instead to perceive it as some sort of threat, and he replied by exploding in a vindictive rant against the reporter:

"I say you're a terrible reporter.  That's what I say.  I think it's a very nasty question and I think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the American people." 

Trump, who is not known for his intellect or his ability to think of his feet, took Peter Alexander's softball question and threw it in the trash, passing up an opportunity to reach for great rhetorical heights, and to revert to the use of his favorite derogatory adjective - nasty - instead.   The moment was pure Donald Trump.

A very quick review of news articles on the internet shows that Trump uses the term "nasty" to describe both women and men who make him angry in about equal measure, but some reports seem to suggest that he particularly likes to use it to describe women because he feels that the word throws them off balance provokes more of a reaction.

America first saw Trump flying his "nasty" flag in a debate with Hillary Clinton in which he referred to his opponent as "such a nasty woman."   But that is literally only one of numerous times that he has chosen to take that particular low road.  He has also railed against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as being "nasty," as well as Democratic Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Mazie Hirono.  Trump has called Carmen Yulin Cruz, the female Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico as "nasty," as well as Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen after she mocked him for talking about buying Greenland from Denmark.

Donald Trump has called reporter April Ryan "nasty," as well as his former aid, Omarosa Manigault Newman.  He also called Manigualt Newman a "dog,' and he publicly referred to comedian and actress Rosie O'Donnell as a "pig."

And after calling women "nasty" and comparing them to various farm animals, Donald Trump also likes to use blood imagery.  He once described Fox News anchor Megan Kelly as having "blood coming out of her whatever," and MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski as "bleeding badly from a facelift."  Both of the bloody descriptions were, of course, lies - as is most of what Trump says.

But it's not just women.  Trump also likes to turn his slimy tongue on men as well, particularly political opponents and journalists.  Over recent years he has called several Republican senators "nasty" including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Mitt Romney.  He has also used that juvenile appellation on former President George W. Bush and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.  Trump has called Hillary's former campaign manager John Podesta "nasty,"  as well as Sidiq Khan, the Mayor of London.  Some of the journalists that he has slimed with that same name - besides Peter Alexander - include Juan Williams, Tom Friedman, David Gregory, Donny Deutsch, and the late Charles Krauthammer.

Yesterday after Trump's imperious assault on journalist Peter Alexander, entertainer Bette Midler, not a Trump fan, took to Twitter and lamented that Trump "only knows sixteen words - an one of them is 'nasty.'"

Somewhere around fourth or fifth grade, Donald Trump's parents told him that he no longer had to pay any attention to his teachers - and that is where his acquisition of knowledge came to an abrupt end.   People who didn't like Little Donnie were "nasty," and that's all he really needed to know from that point onward.

But in truth it is Donald John Trump who is nasty, and as long as that fact goes unchallenged and he remains in the Oval Office, Donald Trump's nastiness sticks to us all.  Someday he will be gone, and when that glorious day arrives we all need to take a couple of bars of Granny Clampett's lye soap and hit the showers - and scrub until we bleed from our whatevers!  Then and only then will all of the nastiness be at an end!

Congressional Coronavirus Scorecard

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The rapidly growing coronavirus disaster has now reached a couple of tentacles into the halls of Congress.  Over the past few days two members of the House have come forward with announcements that they have tested positive for the virus, and now a rapidly spreading scandal in the Senate has ensnared several senators in what appears to be an insider trading scandal based on an early private briefing that they received on the pandemic.

The virus has attacked the House, so far, in an even-handed manner.  Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a Republican, and Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a Democrat, are both reporting that they have tested positive.   Speaker Pelosi, who has been outspoken in her opposition to a "vote from home" option for House members, has now referred that option to a committee for study.   House members, by the nature of their jobs, meet with constituents and mingle with crowds - and are thus at risk of contracting the virus - and the Speaker, who will be eighty in six days, may have suddenly realized that there are advantages to maintaining a space between herself and House members - whether they are currently ill or not.

In the opinion of this humble typist:  All people who could do their work from home during this national emergency, should be allowed and encouraged to do so - even members of Congress.

 So far no Senators are reporting that they have tested positive for Coronavirus, but several have suddenly found themselves being accused on insider-trading because they dumped stocks after receiving an exclusive Senate briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.  They managed to sell their stocks before the bottom fell out of the market, possibly as a result of the insider knowledge that they acquired while functioning as U.S. Senators.

News broke last night that Senator Richard Burr, a Republican of North Carolina, had managed to off-load $1.7 million in stocks before the market began its collapse.  The law that Burr and others have been accused of breaking is the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act of 2012,  Interestingly, Burr was one of only three United States Senators to vote against that act when it originally passed.

NPR has also released a tape of Burr meeting with wealthy constituents and informing them that things were going to get bad - at a time that he was being openly optimistic in talks with regular members of the public.

Senator Burr plans on retiring in 2022, but critics, including commentator Tucker Carlson of Fox News, are calling on his to resign now.

Newly appointed Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia (a Republican whose husband is the president of the New York Stock Exchange) is also being accused of insider trading due to selling 27 stocks after being in a confidential Senate briefing that addressed concerns about the impending crisis.  She also bought one stock that dealt with software used in working from home - and has done quite well on that investment.   Loeffler insists that neither she nor her husband have any control over their stock sales and purchases - and says all of their stock transactions are handled by third parties.

Also implicated in the growing scandal - so far - are Senators James Mountain Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California.    Feinstein, like Loeffler, in insistent that all of her stocks are in a blind trust, however, she also indicated that the trust is under the control of her husband.

In the opinion of this humble typist:  Anyone who profits off of knowledge acquired while working a public trust, especially members of Congress, should resign and then stand trail for insider-trading.

That's the Congressional Coronavirus Scorecard as of today, but like the cases of the illness itself, the numbers seem certain to rise.  The virus marches on, and (sadly) so does the greed!

Grocery Store Employees are Emergency Workers - at least in Minnesota

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Minnesota, despite its occasional dalliance with the oddball conservative politician (Michele Bachmann, for instance), has nevertheless been a fairly reliable progressive state.  That tendency to look for solutions to problems which actually benefit people was in evidence last Sunday when the state's governor, Tim Walz, signed an executive order that recognized certain groups of workers as bonafide emergency personnel and vowed to provide them with free child care in order to insure that, in this age of suddenly-closed schools, emergency workers would be able to obtain child care and get to their important work of helping others and saving lives.

The executive order signed by Minnesota's Governor Walz identified a wide assortment of healthcare workers and law enforcement personnel as emergency workers, as well as firefighters and other first responders and even court workers.  The governor's action in signing the order assured that anyone classified by the state as an emergency worker would be eligible for free childcare in order to be able to get to work, save lives, and maintain order.

But Governor Walz's order went even further than just recognizing the workers who roll up their sleeves and deal in urine, blood, and mayhem.    His order also covered food distribution workers, and, in particular, individuals working in grocery stores stocking shelves, dealing with customers, and insuring that our basic food distribution system is working.  The executive order that the governor signed classified these people as "Tier 2 Emergency Workers" and provided them with the benefit of free child care so they could also get to work and do their bit to save lives and maintain order.

Earlier this week news legend Dan Rather posted this tweet on his Twitter account.  It bears repeating:

"You know who are also heroes? Those working the checkout counters and stocking shelves at supermarkets and pharmacies. Their work, at some risk to their own health, is vital to the health and safety of our country."

Yes, those responsible for keeping the doors open and the shelves stocked at our local stores exhibit exceptional bravery in just showing up for work in these daunting times - and Minnesota rocks for making their lives just a little less stressful!

I have a grocery store worker living at my house, and I respect the level of commitment and pride that he takes in his work. While some of us hunker down at home awaiting an end to this pandemic madness, my son and dedicated individuals in every small town and large urban center in America are meeting the challenges of insuring that we have access to food.

Thank you Minnesota for seeing the value and necessity of their work - and God bless them one and all!

Trump's Hoax Gets Real

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Way, way back in the political dark ages - at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina on February 28th of this year - Donald John Trump entertained his supporters by assuring them that all of this coronavirus talk was nothing more than the Democratic Party's new "hoax,' one like the previous impeachment "hoax" whose intent was to bring down his administration.

That was so very long ago - nearly three weeks.  It was just a "hoax," nothing more.  Keep booking those cruises and attending rock concerts and political rallies!

In the interim between then and now, as the number of cases and deaths in the United States began climbing, and as more Americans began to worry that the situation might be more dire than Trump had admitted, various administration stooges and flacks (people like Kellyanne Conway and Larry Kudlow) rushed forward to assure the press and the public that the situation was being "contained."

And now, still not three weeks out from the evening that Trump entertained his flying monkeys with ribald quips about a hoax, Americans have finally begun to realize the extent of the very real danger that they are facing.   In fact, the situation has spun so far out of control in a very few days that Trump has even taken to talking seriously about the situation.  He now says that he has realized for quite sometime that we were probably facing an actual pandemic.

(And even though there is a taped interview from 2018 circulating in which Trump discusses his reasons for shutting down the White House pandemic office, he now credits others in his administration for that political miscalculation - and adamantly states that he bears no responsibility at all in the rise and spread of the deadly coronavirus in the United States.)

Now, still less than three weeks after Trump called the entire matter a hoax, we are firmly steeped in a health crisis that has left much of America's population hiding in their homes and waiting for some sort of responsible guidance from their beleaguered government.  The stock market has plunged by nearly a third in that same very brief period of time (the DOW is down over 1,200 points already this morning), and certain sectors of the economy - like restaurants, lounges, theaters, cruise ships, and airlines - have slowed markedly and laid off thousands of employees.  Shortages of many items - like toilet paper and hand sanitizer - have resulted in black market operations and near-panic situations.

Now, fewer than three weeks out from Trump's "hoax" remarks in South Carolina, the country is in crisis mode, facing a downward spiral in confidence regarding its ability to survive the impending health and economic hardships that seem to be steadily advancing across the dystopian landscape.  Every day the news gets worse, and every day Americans are left with the sense that they are saddled with a leader who rejects all responsibility and has no notion at all of how to lead us out of this snowballing catastrophe.

Now that all of that is upon us, some are beginning to come to the realization that perhaps we have been the victims of a hoax after all, a cruel hoax by the name of Donald John Trump.    A leader would have heeded warnings about a coming pandemic that have been circulating for more than three years - and he would have maintained and enhanced the office designed to deal with the crisis rather than close it out of an act of spite toward his predecessor.  A leader would have been stockpiling medical supplies and equipment to meet an impending crisis rather than spending obscene amounts of time trying to dismantle public healthcare in his country.

A true leader would have met this medical crisis head-on, with sleeves rolled up and exhibiting a fierce determination to rise to the challenge and defeat the foe.

That's the way a leader would have acted.

Donald Trump played golf and blamed everyone else for his failures.

Chef Jose Andres, a True American Hero

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump likes to bloviate about - and honor - individuals who are much like himself.  For instance, shortly after coming into office Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a known bully, liar, and racist, for the crime of refusing to follow a lawful order of a federal judge.  And last month Trump gave the once highly esteemed "Presidential Medal of Freedom" to radio hate-monger Rush Limbaugh, also a bully, liar, and racist.  Those two individuals have much in common with Donald Trump and fall well within his comfort zone.

Trump considers people like Joe Arpaio and Rush Limbaugh to be American heroes in the same sense that he considers himself to be one.

It's a shame that Donald John's field of vision isn't just a bit wider or he might be able to look down the street from the White House and see a true American hero.  Jose Andres is a Spanish-born American chef who has restaurants in several American cities including a few in and around Washington, DC.

Chef Andres closed all of his restaurants in Washington, DC, and New York City on Sunday due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, and he announced that employees in those restaurants would continue to be paid for the next two weeks.   He also announced that some restaurants would reopen today as "community kitchens" offering affordable or free meals to people in need.  At some locations people will be able to drop by and pickup a packaged meal, and at others they will be able to actually sit down and enjoy a meal.  The brunt of the expense of this effort will come out of the personal pocket of Chef Andres.

Chef Jose Andres has also been taking his campaign to feed people in need onto a wider political stage.  For the past several days he has been engaging with New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo with suggestions that the governor use his state's newly closed schools to prepare meals for the hungry in their immediate communities.  Most schools already have functioning kitchens and cafeterias with the ability to prepare and serve meals - and to seat patrons while they eat.  They are resources that can and should be used to meet this national emergency.

Our country has suddenly found itself in desperate times, and it's good to know there are real heroes out there - like Chef Jose Andres - who are prepared to stand up and meet the new threats that challenge us all.

Donald Trump would serve himself and our country well if he took the time to seek out actual heroes and pay homage to them.  They are out there struggling to make our lives better, and they deserve our country's recognition and support.

Chef Jose Andres and people like him truly make America great!

Thanks, Chef!

The Dirty Forty

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I feel sorry for GOP Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel as she tries to navigate between the long shadow of his famous uncle, Mitt Romney, and the enlightened elements of the Republican Party - and that squat and squalid shadow of her presumptive boss, Donald John Trump, and the coarser elements of the party.   Somehow she must keep members of both wings of the Republican Party in-line and on-message.  It has to be a very demanding job fraught with unimaginable difficulties imposed by countless political animals striving to survive in the very confusing Age of Trump.

And how exactly does one toe the party line, or get others to toe it, when the President of the United States can (and often does) change the entire national narrative with one ill-tempered tweet?

It has to be a completely thankless - and often embarrassing - job.  But still Ronna persists - or at least she did until last week when Ronna and her family went into a self-quarantine mode after the party chairwoman became ill and doctors recommended that she receive a Coronavirus test - which she promptly did.  Ms. McDaniel and several other prominent Republicans were tested last week after spending a weekend at Mar-a-Lago as part of Donald Trump's entourage.  A couple of international guests at Trump's "resort" have tested positive for Coronavirus since the conclusion of the weekend party.

Ms. Romney developed symptoms that were in line with Coronavirus and went to her local hospital for evaluation.  The test was administered, and so far the results aren't known - or at least thy have not been released to the general public.

I wish her well.

Yesterday GOP Chairwoman McDaniel took to Twitter to reassure America's hourly wage earners - our working poor - that they, too, would be alright.  She said:

"If you're an hourly wage earner in America, you need not be concerned about staying home.  If you're sick, stay home.  You're not going to miss a paycheck because of this legislation that's moving through the Congress."

McDaniel was referring to the Coronavirus relief bill that was supported by the Trump administration and passed the House of Representatives late Saturday night.   The Senate will take up the measure on Monday when it returns from a long weekend away from the Capitol.  The legislation, HR 6201, contains a provision for free Coronavirus testing for all Americans.  Additionally workers at some businesses would receive 14 paid sick days which would be refunded to their employers through tax cuts, and some would receive up to three months of paid emergency sick leave.  Also, the legislation would provide for free food to children whose schools were closed by the health crisis.

Republicans were able to exclude some small businesses from the requirements for paid sick leave for employees.

While HR 6201 is good legislation that will help alleviate the displacement and pain caused by the pandemic,  it is not the panacea that Ronna McDaniel portrayed in her tweet.   Many workers will miss paychecks if they are unable to go to work.  The legislation needs to be improved.

The Senate will hopefully pass the measure and get it on to Trump's desk so that it may be signed and implemented immediately.  Some senators are already pushing forward with the old fraud that the best measure would be to give more tax breaks to employers up front and then the benefits could "trickle down" to workers.

Not surprisingly, even with an endorsement from Treasury Secretary Mnuchin who was speaking for Trump prior to the House vote, forty House members still voted against the emergency relief measure.  Those forty, who should forever more caucus in Congress as the "Dirty Forty," included thirty-nine good old GOP white guys and one good old GOP white gal - a very representative collection for Republican Party House members.

They are (alphabetical by last name):

Brian Babin (TX-36),  Jim Banks (IN-03),  Andy Biggs (AZ-05) (Rep. Biggs bought his way into politics after winning $10 million in the American Family Sweepstakes),  Dan Bishop (NC-09),  Ken Buck (CO-09) (Rep. Buck is a nationally known gun nut),  Ted Budd (NC-13),  Tim Burchett (TN-02),  Bradley Byrne (AL-01),  Ben Cline (VA-06),  and  Michael Cloud (TX-27).

Warren Davidson (OH-08),  Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) (Politico Magazine once called Rep. DesJarlais the "biggest hypocrite" in Congress after it was revealed that he supported two abortions by his ex-wife and one by a woman he was dating),  Jeff Duncan (SC-03),  Tom Emmer (MN-06),  Russ Fulcher (ID-01),  Mike Gallagher (WI-08), Louie Gohmert (TX-01) (Rep. Gohment has been hailed by some left-of-center internet publications as "the dumbest member of Congress),  Lance Gooden (TX-05),  Mark Green (TN-07),  and  Glenn Grothman (WI-06).

Kevin Hern (OK-01),  Jody Hice  (GA-10),  Jim Jordan  (OH-04)  (Rep. Jordan has been criticized for failure to report sexual abuse of student athletes at Ohio State University when he was on staff there),  Steve King (IA-05)  (Rep. King has been the subject of numerous complaints over statements he has made which some regard as racist), Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Billy Long (MO-07),  Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Tom McClintock (CA-04),  Alex Mooney (WV-02),  and  Ralph Norman ((SC-05).

John W. Rose (TN-06),  Chip Roy (TX-21),  Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05) (Rep. Sensenbrenner is the 2nd most senior member of the House - having served 40 years - and is not seeking re-election this fall),  Jason Smith (MO-08) (Rep, Smith is my representative in Congress.  He has had his picture taken with most of the cows and large pieces of farm equipment in his rural district, but consistently refuses to meet with constituents in public forums),  Brian Steil (WI-01) (Rep. Steil has former Speaker Paul Ryan's old seat in Congress),  Greg Steube (FL-17),  William Timmons (SC-09),  Michael Waltz (FL-06),  Randy Weber (TX-14) (Rep. Weber represents Ron Paul's old district),  and  Joe "You Lie!" Wilson (SC-02).

Taken in total, these forty are an angry group of parched souls who apparently think Americans should be free to catch any disease they damned well please without interference from the government.  As Ronna McDaniel struggles to put a human face on the Republican Party, she has to not only worry about not offending Trump and his fragile ego, she also has to constantly look over her shoulder and keep an eye on the troglodytes in her party who think of no one but themselves.

It's not an enviable task, and, to make matters worse, she is ill.

Get well, Ronna.  Your party needs you - whether they realize it or not.

Social Distancing Collapses at America's Airports

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

As I was hiking the internet this morning to see what was new in the world, I came across some unusually disturbing photos on Twitter:  pictures of crowds taken overnight inside of two of America's major airports:  Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Chicago's O'Hare.  Actually the word "crowds" fails to capture the true horror of the humanity that was clogged and squashed into those two facilities.  There were endless lines so deep and wide that it would have been nearly impossibly for someone occupying a space in one to have more than just a general idea of where they were headed.  And the sad reality was that those burgeoning masses of people seemed to be headed nowhere at all!

Those two major United States airports, and undoubtedly several others as well, were dealing with the double-whammy of crowds rushing home from Europe in order to beat Trump's deadline for their return - and emergency medical checks at the airports to insure that the returning travelers are well enough to leave the airports and return home.  (Checks which will probably reveal only those who are obviously symptomatic.)

And the tired and angry passengers were literally shoulder-to-shoulder, elbow-to-elbow, belly-to-butt, angry body pressed up against angry body - a veritable playground for communicable diseases of every sort!

The much ballyhooed new buzz-term of "social distancing" (the notion that people should avoid crowds at all costs and keep six-to-ten feet between themselves and others) had clearly succumbed to the modern realities of air travel and government bureaucracy.

At some point, hours and hours from now, all of those people will eventually make it out of the airport madness and start to find their way home - into every urban neighborhood and every backwoods, remote corner of America.   They are coming home, slowly but steadily, and they are bringing the world back with them!

And somewhere in New Jersey Donald Trump is playing golf with a clear and relaxed conscience.    He had nothing to do with any of this.

Jennie Two-Dimes

by Pa Rock
Penny Pincher

When the alligator-in-drag who works as a teller in my local bank listened to my complaint last week about the bank's change-counter cheating me out of fifty-cents, she looked down her snout at me like I was the cheapest bastard on the planet.  And maybe I am, but that fifty cents was important to me.  I would undoubtedly have a need for it at some point in my future, and when the time came, I wanted to be ready.

That was big money, but I can also get pissy over a nickel.

Years ago I spent a week or so in Denver to attend my daughter's high school graduation.   While I was there I decided to take a tour of the U.S. Mint - the place were many of our nation's coins are made.  The tour guide was telling us about how coins enter and leave circulation, and he noted that men are big-time coin hoarders.  They keep a box or a cup or some container by the bed and empty the change from their pockets into it every night at bedtime.   Women, on the other hand, carry theirs in coin purses, like their mothers did, and hold up the check-out lines at cash registers as they painfully count out every penny,

And being a guy, I am also a hoarder.  I separate my change into two jars.  One jar is for coins that are thirty-years-old or older.  Those I save so that my grandchildren will have something to split up and feel rich about when I am gone.  Newer coins go in the other jar, and those periodically go into a savings account at the bank where I am pursuing the dream of eventually getting a newer car.  (The car I drive is only fifteen-years-old, so I am in no rush.)   So far I have enough set aside in that account to pay the sales tax on a fairly new jalopy!  But, the balance is fifty-cents short of where it should be.

I keep a quarter in my car, and it is a very important quarter.  I never carry change in my pockets - it is all at home in those two jars - so I use the quarter in the car to get a cart whenever I grocery shop at Aldi's.  A quarter will secure a cart, and when the cart is returned, the customer gets his quarter back.  I carefully put mine in the same dashboard compartment so that I will have it the next time I shop at Aldi's.  That is an important routine in my life.

I also park in the far corner of the Aldi's parking lot so that I get maximum steps on my pedometer while walking to and from the cart-return and to and through the store.

A few weeks ago a skinny lady with a white ponytail rushed up to me after I had emptied my shopping cart into the car and was heading across the lot to return it.  "Please," she beckoned, "May I have your cart?"  I was going to cost me some steps, but I pushed it toward her with a smile on my face.  When she took the cart she handed me two dimes and.said "This is all I have.  I hope you don't mind."  I did mind, but I smiled and gave her the grocery cart anyway.  "God bless you," she chirped as she pushed her cart toward the store.

Her two dimes meant that I was going to have to remember to get a quarter out of the jar when I got home and put it in the car - a very inconvenient process.

A couple of weeks later it happened again - Same woman, two dimes, and a hearty high-ho "God bless you!" as she trotted off.  But I played along and pretended that I was glad to help her out.

And then this week we had round three of our little dance.  The same woman chased me down for my empty cart, gave me two dimes along with her standard apology, God-blessed me, and hurried off.  Now the bitch was into me for fifteen cents!  This time I was starting to simmer, and instead of getting into the car and driving off, I stood in the parking lot and watched the dime-slinging cart-snatcher.   Rather than going into the store, however, she walked across the lot to the cart return area.  When she got there she turned and saw me watching - and then hurried toward the front door of the store with my her cart.

I can sense that she is conducting a scam, but that seems like an awfully lot of effort to go through just to net a nickel!

Some rich folks who enjoy showing their disdain for quarters choose just to leave their carts in the parking lot - though never when I happen to show up without a quarter!  There is a Subway sandwich shop next door, and I have always thought that if someone was clever - and hungry - he could spend the morning returning those carts and then take his pocketful of quarters to Subway for a nice lunch.

But the ponytail hustling for nickels - that has me puzzled.

I have now named her "Jennie Two-Dimes," and I suspect that I may make an issue of her God-blessed effrontery the next time she comes running for my cart.   Any SOB who can challenge an alligator for fifty cents at the bank ought to be able to make a sweet little lady cry over a nickel in a parking lot!

Look for me in the police reports under "public nuisance!"

America Panics and Isolates: Friday the 13th Edition

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

One of the things that I did to prepare for the quickly approaching zombie apocalypse was to sort through my cabinets and try to figure out what foodstuffs I already had - and what I needed to stock up on.  It took the better part of two days, but now I have a handle on the situation.  One area in which I was lacking was soups, so yesterday I went to one of the local groceries - the one that usually has the best buys on brand-name canned goods, and bought some soup.

Business at the store was brisk, though not dangerous.  I managed to get what I needed for the larder - and then get out of the way and let others have their turns.

Late in the day I talked to my Kansas City son.  Things up Tim's way are apparently a bit more serious.  He and his three-year-old son had ventured into the local Trader Joe's yesterday morning and discovered the store to be enveloped in pandemonium.  They managed to get most of the staples that they were seeking, but the experience seemed to have left some emotional scars on my forty-year-old offspring.   He said the only thing that he could compare it to was the gas lines and panic after  9-11.

Tim related that his neighbor had gone to Costco yesterday morning and found it to also be in turmoil.  She told him that the check-out lines extended back as far as the meat department.  (That's the length of the warehouse for you non-Costco shoppers!

Cancellations are also coming down the pike fast and furiously.  Another friend in the Kansas City area sent me a copy of a notice yesterday morning stating that all meetings and events in which more than a thousand people would be expected to attend were now cancelled.  Tim told me later in the day that he heard that number of attendees had been lowered to two-hundred-and-fifty.  (That should effectively kill the Cher concert at the Sprint Center on April 18th.  I will be sitting patiently at home awaiting my refund!)

The NBA has cancelled the rest of its season, March Madness  is no more, and all NCAA spring and winter championships are cancelled.   Baseball spring training has been suspended, and the opening date of the MLB season has been postponed for at least two weeks.  NASCAR will go ahead with its next planned races, but without live audiences.  Anything and everything that has been open to public attendance is being re-evaluated, and most are being cancelled, suspended, or modified to exclude the public.

The Democrats are moving this weekend's planned presidential candidate debate from Phoenix to Washington, DC, and there will no longer be a live audience.

The footlights of Broadway are off until at least April 12th as the Great White Way shuts down!

And every one of those cancelled or reformatted events represents a major hit to the economy.

Another slice of society that is taking a direct hit during these challenging times is the senior care (rest home) industry.  I have a friend in her nineties who is in one of those facilities, and fortunately I was able to visit her this past weekend.  Now most are closing their doors to outsiders - even family members.  That is causing some anguish and anger among relatives who want to get in to check on their family elders - understandably.  But that particular population is one of the most susceptible to the rampaging killer virus.  (Thinking of you, Mertie!)

For the time being it looks as though the best response to the increasingly ragged situation is to gather food and supplies and then hunker down for the duration.  At some point it will begin to get better!

Either that, or we will all go the way of the Dodo - and Mother Earth can finally begin to repair herself.

Trump Finally Owns the Stock Market - and the Rest of the Mess!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I saw a headline yesterday which declared that after an amazing eleven-year run, the bull market that had driven the nation's economy for so long had finally come to an end.  We are now, the article stated, firmly in a bear market.  America's once bullish stock market was crawling off into hibernation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is just one of the economic indicators that economists like to follow and quote.  The viability of stocks are also gauged through daily averages of the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 - as well as through other tallies maintained by various investment houses.  But when people talk stock numbers in general, they often refer to the Dow.

The Dow Jones closed at 19,827 on January 20, 2017, the day Donald Trump assumed office.  It had come tantalizingly close to 20,000 during the closing days of the Obama administration - and indeed had been climbing throughout almost the entirety of the Obama years, but at the last minute it failed to cross  the 20,000 mark.  Shortly after Trump came into office the Dow did cross 20,000, and Trump nearly broke both arms patting himself on the back for being such a great economic leader.

I assumed the market would suffer a major downturn after the inexperienced, bumbling, and basically dishonest Trump came into office - but I was wrong.  I failed to factor in the dishonesty and greed of America's business leaders who saw an opportunity to make some quick profits off of an economy that was being guided by Trump and his gang of opportunistic greed heads.  The market kept going up.

But all of that ended last month as fears of the Coronavirus began spreading in international business circles and suddenly US businesses found themselves reacting to world events over which they had absolutely no control.  Add to that the sudden reality that Trump and his administration literally did not have a response to the situation - nor did they seem to have any clue as to what they should be doing.

The world was going to hell in a hand basket - and the world knew it!

On February 12, 2020, one month ago today, the Dow reached its high-water mark of 29,556 - just short of 30,000 - and then it began to tumble.  Yesterday's close was 23,550, or 6,001 points short of the high just one month prior.  A decline of 6,000 points in a one-month span!  That bear is definitely headed into the hills and looking for a cave in which to sleep it off.

As I sit at the keyboard this morning, the Dow is down to 21,858 - or nearly 1,700 points since yesterday's close.

Trump went on television last night to try and show that he has some understanding and control over the Coronavirus situation.  He announced some travel restrictions from countries in the European Union, long a Trump target of vitriol and abuse, and suggested that government loans might be available to help small businesses get through the crisis.  But this is the same leader who a mere two weeks ago was calling the situation a "hoax" that would soon disappear.

Coronavirus isn't disappearing - and the stock market continues to slide.  At this rate all of the stock market gains of the Trump administration will be gone within a few days and the numbers will be below those achieved during the Obama years

It's your stock market now, Trump, and your economy.  Maybe if you had used the past three years learning how to govern and actually manage the economy, we wouldn't be in this mess.  But you chose instead to spend three years playing golf and ignoring the world around you - and now you own this mess - the spreading virus, the disappearing health care coverage, the infrastructure that never got fixed, the heightened levels of racism and hatred, and the collapsing economy.

It's all on you, Bubba.  It's all on you!

Toilet Paper Wars

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

A couple of weeks ago I decided to do something nice for my grandchildren by sending their parents  some disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.  But as I sniffed through the market sites on the internet I quickly learned that disinfectant wipes were suddenly over-priced, and hand sanitizer prices were through the roof.   I managed to buy everyone a case of the wipes (that sounds like a disease itself!) without mortgaging the farm, but the hand sanitizer was beyond my means.  (A small package of three or four bottles was selling for more than $200 on Amazon.com!)

The next day I went to the local Walgreen's and a "Dollar" store and found hand sanitizer in both locations.  I bought enough for my own personal needs - without hoarding.

And then a few days later I ran out of toilet paper.  (It happens!)  That afternoon while grocery shopping at my local Aldi's, I picked up a 30-pack - I always buy in bulk.  It wasn't until a day or two after that when I heard there was a toilet paper panic in progress nationwide.   A 30-pack will take care of my needs for quite awhile, and if that runs out I always have the benefit of being a paid subscriber to the West Plains Daily Quill!

Yesterday I happened to be in Walgreen's to pick up medicine, and while I was there I checked to see if the store still had hand sanitizer.  They were sold out.   Later I was shopping at Aldi's and noticed that they were out of toilet paper.  A friend who shops at Walmart told me that store was also out of toilet paper.

If people can't wipe their butts or scrub their hands with sanitizer, this whole Coronavirus thing could get ugly fast!

This might be a good time for my friends at the Quill to have a subscription sale!

Trump Obsesses While GOP All-Stars Self-Quarantine

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump would have us believe that he is a raging germaphobe - except, of course, when he is having unprotected sexual relations with a porn star.  And as a part of Trump's germaphobia, he has apparently whipped up a paranoid fantasy that journalists who travel with him are plotting to infect him with Coronavirus.  Remember Coronavirus - the "hoax" that Trump warned the country about a couple of weeks ago?

Trump, who fears falling victim to the hoax disease, is nevertheless still working the rope lines in Florida shaking hands with his fawning followers - and he is still insistent on holding his large, raucous MAGA rallies even though more responsible artists and con-artists are cancelling large public events.  Trump is apparently far more worried that an individual sinister journalist will get to him.

All of that is just a random example of the scattershot thought processes of Donald John Trump.

Yesterday it was announced that anyone with flu-like symptoms - such as coughing or sniffles - would be barred from flying aboard Air Force One.  That announcement came shortly after Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz ("Gas Mask" Gaetz) disembarked the presidential plane after catching a ride from Florida back to Washington, DC.  Within the hour Gaetz "self-quarantined" after learning that he had had contact with a person who had a confirmed case of Coronavirus.  Whoops.

(After Gaetz made a spectacle of himself last week by wearing a gas mask in the Capitol while performing his official duties, one of his constituents reportedly died from Coronavirus.)

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held less than two weeks ago (February 26-29) at National Harbor, Maryland.  Everybody who is anybody in conservative Republican circles was there - except for Utah Senator Mitt Romney who was told to stay away.  It was learned over the weekend that one individual who attended the conference was later diagnosed with Coronavirus.

Five Republican politicians who had contact with the infected individual "self-quarantined" on Monday.  Those choosing to live in isolation while drawing their public salaries for the next ten to fourteen days include - in addition to "Gas Mask" Gaetz - Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ), Rep. Doug Collins (GA), Senator Ted Cruz (TX), and Rep. Mark Meadows (CA).  Meadows, who has been announced as Trump's next chief-of-staff, took a preliminary Coronavirus test which came back negative, but he chose to go into isolation anyway.

In addition to flying with Gaetz on Monday, Trump was also photographed last Friday shaking hands with Rep. Doug Collins at a CDC briefing on Coronavirus.

Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert reportedly also had direct contact with the infected individual, but chose not to self-quarantine.

There is a controversy brewing over the fact that CPAC is refusing to release the name of the Coronavirus carrier, choosing instead to protect his or her identity for reasons of "privacy."  Yet, some people were given the information.  Brandon Darby, a reporter for Breitbart News, tweeted this assessment of that situation:

"Good news:  if you're rich and important, you get to know you were exposed to someone with Coronavirus at CPAC. 

"Bad news:  if you're not rich and important, you don't get to know if you were exposed to someone with Coronavirus at CPAC."

One news report speculated that the infected individual visited in the "Green Room" at CPAC (the room celebrities gather in before they go on stage).  Others who "may have been" in the Green Room at the same time as the infectee include:  GOP Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, conservative commentator Michael Knowles, Heritage Foundation President Kay James, presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Rep. Louis Gohmert, "Gas Mask" Gaetz, and entertainers Diamond and Silk.

Somewhere Mitt Romney is smiling, or chuckling, or rolling on the floor laughing his Mormon ass off!

Monday's Poetry: "The Ship that Sails"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Early yesterday morning it was revealed that the Trump administration had been hiding a public health recommendation of the Center for Disease Control.  The CDC had issued guidelines to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus, but the Trump gang, in their infinite wisdom, had deleted one specific guideline - the one which said senior citizens and others with fragile health should not fly on commercial airliners.  In what looked like a brazen move to protect the profits of the airline industry, thousands and thousands of elderly travelers were put at risk.

Later yesterday Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the US Institute on Allergies and Infectious Diseases also recommended that senior citizens not travel aboard cruise ships.  Dr. Fauci made statement publicly, thus denying the Trump administration the opportunity to distort or bury it.

As one who has been on several cruises, I can attest to the fact that many, many elderly folks enjoy that mode of travel and vacation.  Cruises have also become a popular form of vacation with younger people traveling on limited incomes as well as with some families.   But if the seniors quit sailing, the industry will suffer major financial setbacks.

The Trump administration is rushing to prepare an aid package (tax cuts) for American businesses that are being hurt by the Coronavirus outbreak, but Democrats in Congress say this time a business bailout must also do something directly for workers - like paid emergency sick leave.

(Generally Republicans see aid to businesses as stimulating the economy and aid to workers as socialism.)

But as of this morning and at this hour, important people in our government are suggesting that old folks stay off of cruise ships as a matter of health and survival.   For those who refuse to let the government push them around - even when it is in their own best interest - and insist on cruising anyway, the following few lines are for you.  They stress the importance of actually living life.  The poet is unknown.


The Ship that Sails
by Anonymous

I'd rather be the ship that sails
And rides the billows wild and free;
Than to be the ship that always fails
To leave the port and go to sea.

I'd rather feel the sting of strife,
Where gales are born and tempests roar;
Than to settle down to useless life
And rot in the dry dock on the shore.

I'd rather fight some mighty wave
With honor in supreme command;
And fill at last a well-earned grave,
Than die in ease upon the sand.

I'd rather drive where sea storms blow,
And be the ship that always failed
To make ports where it would go,
Than to be the ship that never sailed.

Trump Hides CDC Recommendation on Seniors Flying

by Pa Rock
Senior Citizen Journalist

My sister and I and one of our cousins have been planning a family reconnection-getaway for the past year or so, and that big trip was scheduled to take place in two weeks.  We were  flying from three different states and planned to meet-up in Boston - and then take a short hop to Nantucket for a week of exploring the small island that was once home to several of our ancestors in the 17th and 18th centuries - and was, for a time, the whaling capital of the world.

But then this Coronavirus mess hit and left us wondering whether all of that commercial flying at this time was particularly smart.  Yesterday, after much soul-searching - and with no help or advice from our government - we made a decision to pull the plug on our big holiday - at least for now.

This morning I arose before daylight, as I usually do, to check email and take care of the cats and the chickens - and as I was scrolling through the morning's news I came across a tidbit that caught my attention - bigly!   It seems that the Center for Disease Control, an agency of the federal government whose primary mission is reflected in its title, had released a plan several days ago to help contain the spread of the virus, and one recommendation included in that plan was that "elderly" people and those who are "physically fragile" not fly on commercial airplanes.

But the Trump administration, which apparently knows more about public health than the professionals it hires to safeguard public health, did not want to tell seniors not to fly - and it removed the recommendation from the report.

Yesterday an anonymous government source (a whistleblower - or a "snitch," depending on one's perspective) managed to alert the press to the administration's dangerous interference in public health policy.

(My cousin and I will each be 72 this year, and my baby sister turns 70 in the fall.  We may not be viewed as elderly when compared to the likes of Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump - but we have all been drawing our Social Security and using our Medicare for several years, so we are, by practical measures, "elderly.")

And our decision regarding the trip would have been much easier to arrive at if our government had just been honest and forthright in letting us know more about the risks of flying.  I can't speak for my two relatives, but I am old enough to remember when the government actually did try to serve the best interests of the public - instead of trying to pick the path that offended the fewest voters.

The Trump administration is dishonest to its rotten core, and to believe otherwise is foolhardy and potentially self-destructive.

Wash those hands, stay out of crowds and confined spaces, do your own research, and stay safe - and don't count on the government to be any help whatsoever - at least while Donald John Trump is golfing on our dime.

Ridge-Running and Ammunition in Bulk

by Pa Rock
Road Warrior

Rosie and I are back home at The Roost  after a very long drive across northern Arkansas.  The route that we took yesterday through southern Missouri was about sixty miles longer, but it was all straight driving on four-lane highways.  The Arkansas route is mostly two-lane and has lots of twists and turns along miles and miles of scenic Arkansas "hollers" and ridges.    (The Arkansas route goes through Eureka Springs - and anyone who has ever been there will know the challenging roads of which I speak!)   Traversing the Arkansas route takes as long as the much lengthier Missouri route.

I didn't see anything worthy of note on the trip, but I did hear one radio commercial that was concerning.  It was an ad from Bass Pro Shops - Cabela's which aired on a popular classic rock station out of Fayetteville.  The ad was promoting sales of "bulk" ammunition.  Who the hell needs to buy ammunition in bulk?  My first thought was of the Las Vegas shooter who mowed down his victims by shooting from his hotel room windows into an outdoor country concert.  He probably bought his bullets in bulk.

Surely our country could place limits on the amount of ammunition that a person can buy over a specific length of time - without that posing a threat to the "right" to own guns an ammunition.   The only people that I can conceive of who might want to buy their bullets in bulk would be paranoids who  generally feel threatened by others, or evil individuals who want to kill in "bulk."  And yes, I definitely do not believe that people in either of those groups should be allowed to own weapons or ammunition.

People like that are the reason that the NRA doesn't allow weapons in its national headquarters and guns aren't allowed in the halls of Congress.  And people like that are reasons to limit the number of guns and bullets that individuals can buy.

And you can take that notion and file it under "public safety," because that's what it is.  And this citizen would argue that maintaining public safety trumps a misreading of the Second Amendment.

And it's good to be home!

Traffic is on the Increase, and the Dow is on the Decrease

by Pa Rock
Road Warrior

Rosie and I got up early and drove to McDonald County, Missouri, this morning where I dropped off my tax information to the preparer who has done my taxes for the last forty years or so.  It's a beautiful day and we did the 217 miles of four-lane highways and one-quarter mile of dirt road in about four hours - with the only stop along the way being for filling the car with gas and a bathroom break.  Then we drove twenty-five miles further south to my sister's new place in Rogers, Arkansas.

This afternoon Abigail and I visited with an old friend who is in a resthome close by.  Tonight we may get to see a few of Abigail's kids, grandkids, and granddogs.

Traffic ran fast and smoothly until I reached Northwest Arkansas.  Here it is bumper-to-bumper.  I can understand why people with jobs live elbow-to-elbow in tightly wound urban areas, but it baffles me why those who don't have to live this way - like retired individuals - would choose to make their homes in all of this confusion.   But, as my dad used to say, "To each his own."

The Dow Jones dropped another 800 points today.  Thanks, Trump.

Jessica Cisneros: A Rising Texas Political Star

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Not all of the political  news from Super Tuesday focused on Bernie and Biden.  There were a couple of big stories out of the GOP U.S. Senate primary in Alabama where Roy Moore, a good ole boy known for his fondness of young girls, came in third with just seven percent of the vote and didn't make it into the runoff election, and former U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, came in second to a former Auburn football coach and did make it into the runoff election - one he would have rather avoided by placing a strong first in the primary.  The next morning Sessions was roundly criticized by his old boss, Donald Trump, on Twitter.

(Other Trump sycophants need to pay attention to the miseries of Jeff Sessions and take note.  Trump has no loyalty to anyone but Trump.)

There was also a race of national interest in South Texas where incumbent Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar faced his toughest challenge in his fifteen-year congressional career.  Cuellar, a 64-year-old self-described "conservative" Democrat who opposes abortion and has voted with Donald Trump seventy percent of the time - the most of any Democrat in Congress - was primaried by a 26-year-old immigration attorney by the name of Jessica Cisneros.

Cisneros, who was supported by the Justice Democrats, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and several nationally prominent individuals, gave Cuellar the political scare of his life on Tuesday when she garnered 48.2% of the vote against the very well-heeled incumbent's 51.8 percent.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to South Texas to raise money for Cuellar, and he was also financially supported by the infamous Koch family of Wichita, Kansas, as well as by the American Bankers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Over ninety-five percent of Cuellar's political contributions this cycle came from Political Action Committees and large donors, and less than one percent from small individual donors.

In addition to being an abortion foe and supporting Donald Trump on most votes, Congressman Cuellar also has a 93% approval rating from the NRA and he supports the NSA having the ability to spy on private citizens who have committed no crimes.

But even with all of that money and support, political nobody Jessica Cisneros almost kicked Henry Cuellar off of his seat aboard the national gravy train.  Just imagine what she will be able to do in a better political environment two years from now!

The political star of Jessica Cisneros is on the rise in the Lone Star State.  She's one to watch!

Pandemicus Politicus

by Pa Rock
Hand-Washing Fool

With the most serious health crisis that our nation has faced in decades looming on the horizon, one thing appears certain:  the Trump administration will fail to meet the challenge - and fail bigly.

The past several days have witnessed a cascading failure of government responses to the rapidly escalating public health emergency.   The tone for the Trump administration's response was set when Dear Leader appointed Vice President Mike Pence to head the government response team.  Pence, who is seen by many to harbor strong "anti-science" feelings, was thought to be an odd choice for coordinating efforts to combat the rampaging virus.

Mike Pence, whom some are calling the Coronavirus "czar," had not held that position for very long when he was caught on camera at a press briefing wiping his nose with his right hand and then shaking hands with a group doctors and government officials.  Pence has also been criticized for his failure to lead during an AIDS outbreak in his home state of Indiana while he was governor.

Now that an official government response team has been formed and Donald Trump has someone he can blame when the crisis gets out of hand, there is a pronounced effort by the government and the team to keep everything about the situation as secretive as possible.   Trump was reportedly furious that material regarding the health of the nation was getting around his control and into the press.

Yesterday at a government briefing on the Coronavirus outbreak, the White House announced that the press could not film or record the event, even though the Trump administration had vowed just days earlier to be completely transparent in its handling of the matter.

(The press has been allowed to take photos of Pence's Coronavirus committee participating in solemn prayer.)

Some are speculating that Trump's seemingly futile efforts to control the news about the viral outbreak has more to do with stabilizing the stock market than it does with protecting the public.

And Donald Trump, who claims to be well-briefed and up-to-speed on the topic, is proving, to no one's surprise, woefully ignorant regarding the burgeoning medical catastrophe.  At a press briefing this week in which he grilled medical experts and pharmaceutical executives on when a vaccine could be available.   Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and others, advised Trump publicly that while a preliminary vaccine might be ready for testing within the next several weeks, it would take at least a year-and-a-half before it could be deemed safe enough to administer to millions healthy adults.  Trump kept trying to get them to say they could shorten that length of time, but the doctors and drug companies would not promise what they could not deliver.

Yesterday it was also revealed that GOP senators are concerned with finding ways to insure that the pharmaceutical companies are well paid for their efforts in creating and distributing a Coronavirus vaccine.  In the end it's always about profits.

And there are also a lot of stories bubbling up regarding a lack of testing kits.  Symptomatic people are apparently having to wait long periods of time before being tested, and some of those who do manage to get tested are receiving outrageously high bills to cover the cost of what many see as a public safety measure.    Some are even starting to suggest that the government (our government!) is intentionally holding back on testing in an effort to keep the number of confirmed cases low.

And meanwhile people with unconfirmed cases of Coronavirus go on spreading the disease.

And somewhere Mike Pence wipes his nose with his hand - and then pays the paperboy - or drops his pocket change in the collection plate..

And the bug goes on . . . and the bug goes on.