Did the Hunt Find a Witch? and Dramas in Twilight

     A few moments of gloaming evoked a sort of pensive tranquility. In looking at these frames I thought of impressionism as the quality of light and color seemed in motion, changing rapidly.
      Speaking of which, do you think we are entering the twilight of the trump regime?  Thoughts on colluding and conspiracy follow this visual therapy.  

 the light of the foreground trailing off into the distance-with the hot spot of a moon rise

the lace and feather like quality of forest against a painted sky 

very soft shadows decorate a mission, white and calm

the moon and the tapering shapes have an almost Flemish oil feel

the battle of portraits

   Reading artist/writer Stephen Hayes recent Chubby Chatterbox blog post about the fate of a portrait of Winston Churchill reminded me of an amusing juxtaposition in the halls of the State Capitol in Sacramento.

 

   

     The Reagan portrait, like those of the other Governors is traditional and stately. Governor Jerry Brown's is modern and creative but apparently controversial at the time it was hung in 1984. 

     Brown, who served his first two terms from 1975-1983 reportedly said the painting looked "unfinished" and that it reflected his "unfinished work" as Governor.

     Artist Don Bachardy said Brown was a tough subject, uneasy at being painted, not content to sit as the artist worked. 
     Unkind things were written and said of Bachardy's work in the early '80's. Frankly I think it has become a classic in it's own right. Modern, perhaps even a little pop, out of the mainstream which very much bespeaks the remarkable political career and service of Jerry Brown.  

     Does a repeat Governor get a second portrait opportunity? Brown looks different than he did in the 1980's, don't we all?

the conviction of colluding "junior"

    Shall we dispatch with the judicial process now that televisions comics and pundits have convicted Donald Trump Jr. of collusion and conspiracy. Man have they ever! Almost expect to seem him marched to the guillotine as the old man celebrates the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille, the beginning of what became the "reign of terror " that included cutting off the heads of the likes of the "one percenters." The trump clan more than likely would have felt the "the national razor." But we get ahead of ourselves.

     Has the so called fake news and "witch hunt" found a witch? The news is no longer fake.  From the beginning I was not sure there would be provable "collusion" with the Russian attack. The Don Jr. e-mails may change that . There in fact may be a "there" there in the probe of the Russian meddling in our election. 

     We trust the Mueller team will plumb how deep and how extensive was the Russian attack. 

     Juniors acknowledgment and "love" of the information being supplied by Russian sources, likely Russian agents, raised an historic question--

what did the president know and when did he know it?

    Doesn't it strain credibility to think that when his son and his son in law, plus others, knew about the Russian attack and met with (colluded?) foreign nationals to screw with the American election, he-king trump of the tower, didn't know about it? One of the meetings happened in his gold and glass tribute to poor taste. 

      We remember the function in this is to let investigators, prosecutors and the judicial system "prove" or not, and render a decision. What you and I think, and what the TV says doesn't really matter, except to us. However when the word treason is being used, it seems appropriate. 

a republican response would be nice, 
about now!

      Republican Joe Scarborough said it well. It is disgusting how republicans are selling out the party's core values. He asks what many Americans have-why haven't party leaders spoken out against trump's racist remarks, boorish behavior, his turning the white house into an extension of his family business? I wonder why they haven't demanded a cogent and consistent foreign policy? Why haven't they filled critical positions in the government? Scarborough asks "what are they willing to do, how far are they willing to go" in backing trump for their own means?

the big question

      Why would the party, known for its strong national security, defense support and hawkish policies, not be "ballistic," at least "operational," in response to the Russian attack? Imagine what President Eisenhower, Reagan, HW Bush and even W would say and do?

      At best Republicans have been tepid in their response! 

Now the president's son and his trusted ace advisor/son-in- law are caught with their hands in living Matryoshka dolls, why isn't there a loud condemnation? Or at least an admonishment that to cooperate with a foreign national to undermine our government is treason?

      Instead Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are trying to revive a dead skunk so they can give the trumps and the other richest of the rich a tax break while breaking our already fragile health care network and jeopardizing the well being of millions of not so rich citizens. 

      For the sake of the party and its self respect, and for the sake of the future, those Republicans with a sense of honor and patriotism need to drive a wedge between the trump regime and the party. Time to say enough is enough. If not then the Republican party will be owned by trump. He is probably already gold gilding the elephant and replacing GOP and Republican with another trump sign.  
      If we are lucky we'll see some of the trumps wearing orange jump suits and doing a perp walk. 

       See you down the trail.

       

EXPECTING ORDER

   The linear orderliness of this lovely scene does more than remind me of those summers when I baled hay, though a moment of regression might be helpful.
    We were not paid much and the work was hot and hard, but lunches were amazing. Someone, usually the farmer who had hired us or his wife would bring full picnic baskets and pitchers of lemonade or iced tea to the shade of a tree where we paused. At one farm the basket might be full of fried chicken, heaping on a platter and pies. Or the basket might be full of sandwiches and cookies or pie. We were young, lean, always hungry and able to sweat out a morning, stop and eat like horses and then go back to grabbing the bales with a hay hook as they came off the baler and stacking them on wagons as we bumped our way over a field.
     Order and foundational values were important to us. We'd stack the bales high and they needed to stay in place as we jostled along. They also needed to come off the wagon in order so we could load them onto a conveyor lifting them to a hot, dusty and miserable hayloft where we off loaded and again stacked them neatly where they would summer and winter until the farmer busted them down for livestock.
     The work was honest and we were happy for the pay, no matter what it was. We worked all day, counted on each other and again needed to be orderly in everything we did.  I think about that as I anguish over American politics and government.

        There seems to be no order at work in this era. The Democrats are leaderless and in disarray. The Republicans are shattered, led by the least popular and most unfit president in history. We are in crisis.

        Though they control the House, Senate and White House the fractured, shattered, souless GOP seems intent on suicide. As universally hooted as the House health care plan was, Senate Republicans are retching a version that will also do harm and damage to millions while rewarding the wealthy with a tax cut. And of course they've done it in secret, a place where you sell your soul. It is as though they are giving the Democrats tickets to GOP beheadings, but it is the Democrats after-all. 

        A Democrat party that has its act together could sweep to power in 2018. They don't need to do much, the Trump follies and the sinister dramas of Ryan and McConnell have done and will do immense damage, if people are paying attention. And of course the Democrats need a generational adjustment and a bit of skill. So, given the all the odds there is no safe bet.

     What I am missing most is an explanation from anyone about what we are doing to protect the 2018 election and beyond from further Russian meddling. 

     When and how are we going to get answers from someone in Washington as to

•   What did the Russian's do?
•   How extensive was the attack?
•   Did they affect vote counts or registration?
•   How did they do it?
•   How deep have they gone?
•   What are we doing in a defensive way?
•   Can someone guarantee it won't happen again?

     The absurdest follies of Washington is distracting, sadly, from the worst attack on America since 9/11, but damned if anyone seems concerned. That is more than worrisome. It is deadly frightening. Thinking Americans, young and old, waver between depression and despondency.

      One does not need to tilt left or right to know our system is in a spasm. We have become dysfunctional and it's annoying because we are used to order and for things to make sense-that has been our history-it is what has set us apart. 

      Now we are learning why "the old folks" used to long for the good old days. I've heard people say even Tricky Dick Nixon sounds good by comparison-now that's frightening!

      See you down the trail

      

       

GOING OFF SCRIPT

     A telling meme in circulation depicts the Twilight Zone's Rod Serling standing in front of Donald Trump in the oval office.
     The US is about to pass into uncharted territory. It is like a launch without calibrations. More doubts, questions, legal challenges, character faults, inconsistencies, lies and division hang over this transition of power than any in modern history.
      Old time wags used to speak of the "ship of state." A Matrix hovercraft like the Nebuchadnezzar or Blue Dreamer is a more apt analogy, given the pace of cyber warfare, omni present surveillance, social media battles and the complexity of real diplomatic intrigues. This old democratic republic has never seen the likes of the incoming gang nor a more divided electorate. A surrealistic carnival is about to open in the land of post-truth. In another borrow from the Matrix, which pill will most people take-the blue or the red?
      As for me, I'd prefer to sail off in a wooden shoe on a river of crystal light with the "never afraid three," Wynken, Blynken and Nod. A grand daughter may indeed be my antidote.

strange juxtapositions

    Do you ever feel like a tennis shoe at a tuxedo and gown ball, or bib overalls on a rack of swim suits, or like you got on the wrong bus? I've just returned from that place.

      Look at these happy and engaged people.

    The more complicated or the more pieces-like 1000 !-the happier and the more engaged they become. Bill, Marcos, Bob and Lana love, really really love to spend hour after hour pouring over sadistically jig sawed pieces, straining eyes to master another Wentworth or some other exotic puzzle.

    I'm cut from other stuff. I'll wander in from time to time and even spend a while searching for a fit. It is a short while I spend and rarely do I connect a match. Many attempts perhaps, dashed in frustration and aborning a silent loathing.

    Morning, noon and night these people actually seem to enjoy the labor. I read, maybe nap, take a walk as on and on they work. Bob and I snuck in some football watching. 

    The finished puzzles are something to behold and our fine and patient puzzlers do seem to take a moment of pride. But I think it is more about the journey than the destination. When it comes to puzzles of this sort, I guess I'm a destination guy.

     How about you?  A puzzle worker? The journey or the destination?

      
     Although I am very interested in the Washington puzzle.

Will Republicans find unity or will the extreme wing chew on their own? Will some semblance of a Republican party dance with the Donald or will they regard him as rude, crude and crazy? Will the Donald understand the Presidency requires real work and exists beyond the Twitter stream?  Will the Democrats find their way? Will the two parties find a way to cooperate? Will the Republicans kill the Affordable Care Act BEFORE they have a workable alternative?  How long before the conflict of interest whistle blows? When will we hear the first rumblings of impeachment? How long before those angry and desperate Trump supporters realize he's created a government full of Billionaires who care less about their needs? How long before the sexual assault charges resurface? And on and on.  Actually I think I'd rather join the fishermen three in their wooden shoe on the ruffled waves of dew.

     
     See you down the trail.

A CONVENTION TRUTH AND GUESS WHO IS BACK IN A BOX?

no box is too small

    Our boy Hemingway proving that some sentient beings can find more to amuse them than political conventions. Seeing the orange character in a box has poetic symmetry this week.

a conventional truth

    If you are of a certain age and curious or interested you may remember when national political conventions held drama, something more intricate than the infomercials and coronations they've fallen too. This year there is bit of a carnie flavor, especially when the party of Lincoln becomes the party of Trump in Cleveland this week.

    Cleveland hosted Republicans in 1924 when Calvin Coolidge was nominated and again in 1936 when Alf Landon won the nomination. The Trump carnival will be a far cry from those GOP confabs.

    I began covering nominating conventions when there were still battles over credentials and platform issues. It all changed. At my last convention assignment I was parked in one of those sky boxes with only limited access to the delegates. Our edit and work space was a couple of blocks away in a building that had been turned into a "media center" and we came and went behind security lines. It all seemed prefabricated, sanitized, managed and scripted. There was very little real "news."

convention confession

    Since the statute of limitations has run and while I'm not likely to need credentials anytime soon I can share an "off the record" experience. It was the mid 70's and an issue in the Democratic party had Bella Abzug and Ron Dellums trying to work out a compromise. The Black Caucus and the National Womens Political Caucus had enough sway to force the party on a particular issue, if they could agree. 

     There was much interest in a private meeting between the two camps but the media was barred from the hotel parlor where they were to meet. As I milled around waiting for the principals to arrive I found a delegate badge and credential on the floor. There was no id picture, so I quietly put it over my press ID hanging around my neck and I walked into the room like I belonged. It was a crowded space so I floated back to a wall but close to where Abzug and Dellums were going to confer. They arrived, each said a couple of things. A couple of their assistants asked follow up questions. On the spot they drafted a brief statement.

     While the business was underway I took off the delegate credential. In about 20 minutes the huddle was done and a statement agreed to. I walked to where Dellums and Abzug were now standing and handed the delegate credential to Abzug. She looked at it, looked at the media credential around my neck and just smiled.

     I dashed to a phone in the press room, called in the story to our news desk. Lou Palmer, the afternoon editor was only mildly interested and asked why he hadn't seen it on the AP wire yet. I told him the details. He got interested, asked a couple of questions. Later he told me after he broadcast the news he got a call from the state's AP Bureau Chief who said they were waiting for their convention staff to file, where did we get the information?  Palmer told him we had it from reliable sources.

    Let's see what stories emerge from this week in Cleveland.

   See you down the trail.

THE TRUMP KISS UP-THE WHITE OSCAR KISS OFF

A NEVER DISAPPOINTING SPECTACLE

"The greatest meeting of land and water in the world"

        Francis McComas  20th century water colorist

  More from majestic Big Sur below.

WHITE MEN BEHAVING WEIRDLY

   New Jersey Governor Christie's endorsement of Trump speaks not only to Christie's skill at playing kiss up, it also signals how the Republican Party is likely to circle around the improbable candidate.

    Speculation abounds; what does Christie seek? Vice President? Attorney General? Who from the Republican establishment will follow next? When? A strong showing on Super Tuesday raises the likelihood of more ring kissing.

     It is also likely Cruz and Rubio and/or affiliated PACs will begin to dump on Trump with everything they can find that would damage him and his reputation. That flack might weaken but not kill his improbable charge but would remain "out there" for the fall general election. So traditional Republicans, the mainstream variety, continue to find themselves in a trick box

WHITE FACE AT THE OSCARS

   If I had directed the Oscar telecast emcee Chris Rock would have shown up in white face. My friend Jim suggested Rock walk an elephant on stage, park it there through the entire evening and say nothing about it. What Rock said and how he did it made points but the issue is not going way.

   It is clear to frequent readers I oppose discrimination of any sort. However there is a lot more to the current fever in Oscarland than race, sexism, ageism and fairness.

    At the core is our complicity in making the award show  a strong cultural pillar. Professional craft and guild awards have been turned into a near spiritual horizon event. Shame on us. Sure I love film too but after all is said and they done they are merely entertainments produced by an industry. The film industry is about one thing, money. It's business first and last. That the Oscars have become such a cultural icon complete with weeks of breathless lead up coverage about who will win and who will wear what and etc. is just more business. No diseases are cured, no wars are ended, no children are educated, no poor are fed.

    If we are inclined to make a big deal about awards then our media blitz machine could be dialed to the Nobel Awards. That's real serious and even earth changing stuff. Or we could focus on the Pulitzers, not "based on a true story" as in Hollywood parlance, but recognition for excellence in telling real for sure true stories.

    I know, we are a celebrity worshiping culture and we love our buzz and gossip and speculation-but really, they are only awards given to mostly to the rich and famous.

    I see a lot of film and as I posted previously I saw performances by African American actors I thought  deserving of nomination, but I am not an Academy member. That's the point. These professional awards, given by a private academy, are not supposed to be about equality, freedom, civil rights, or any thing of value or social justice. It's a private club giving awards chosen by their members. 

    The Academy is mostly white and male. The film industry is like most business in the world, mostly run by men. Film makers are in the business to earn profit. That good films, independent films, meaningful films ever get made is amazing. Giving thought to equality, fairness or even balance is not something studio bosses or investors even think about. 

    There are no government dollars involved so in truth the only influence advocates for greater diversity have is public opinion and deciding not to spend to see films. I agree there is a social justice morality here, but the Academy is a private club giving out awards in a voting process that is suspect to begin with. Studios budget to campaign for the Oscar. There is also the "politics" of the studios.

     A documentary I produced, wrote and directed won a national Emmy. I'm proud of that and while a panel of professional journalists and broadcasters were the judges, in the last analysis even that Emmy is simply a professional award given by a private organization. 

     Maybe we could just put these things into a proper perspective and pull them down from the Olympian heights from where we as a culture have placed them. Perspective might be helpful.

     I'd bet you the industry would continue to make films-and billions of dollars-if the Oscars were expunged from our memory and from the public conscience.

     In all of the trappings of this years telecast there were two realities of note. Spotlight being selected as film of the year is further affirmation of investigative reporting in general, the Boston Globe's investigation in particular and hope for all victims of Priest sexual abuse. Lady Gaga's performance of Til it Happens to You, surrounded by dozens of victims of sexual attack, was poignant, important and of more significance than most of the awards. And it was "true life" courage as well.

MAJESTIC BIG SUR

    See you down the trail.

NOT SURE

   The protracted Presidential election process is like a window into American character. What are we seeing?

    From this view I see the case that big money is so powerful it has created an industry, electioneering and it is at odds with good government. Getting elected in America has almost no connection with governing in America. They are different orbits, different universes. What it takes to get elected has almost no connection with what it takes to govern. In fact so much effort is spent on raising funds it should raise flags the system is at least out of kilter if not broken.  

      A member of the US House of Representatives will spend as much if not more time raising money for re-election than she or he spends on doing the people's work.  Members of the Senate are also trapped, but with 6 year terms, they can attend to governing and legislating. Maybe it's time to change house terms to 4 years, if we can't reform campaign spending. 

    This election window also exposes the damnable situation in which the Republican party finds itself. The evangelical, right wing and loony fringes control the nominating process and have driven the party to being out of touch with the majority of working Americans. Real Republicans are forced to play to the right and still they find themselves trailing vanity candidate Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson who is so unqualified to be a President he belongs in the Sarah Palin zoo.

    It also exposes the travesty of making New Hampshire and Iowa important. Those two states have long eclipsed their real  value and role. It is not the fault of New Hampshire and Iowa. The fault is with the media and the parties.

    Campaign reporting has digressed to numbers and carnival. It is more about the process, the horse race and personality than substance. Journalism has been dumped for entertainment, hype and gotcha. True, there is a refining process in being exposed to 24 hour coverage and examination but it has gotten so silly as to be almost pointless. Why should performance in Iowa and New Hampshire dictate a candidates true viability everywhere else?  It is because the system is so top heavy with money and contribution momentum and because the media has top loaded those two states and their own process in the hype circus that life is imitating bad art.

     The best chance at a cure is old advice.  Limit campaign spending.  Shorten the campaign cycle. Make it impossible for candidates to transport their war chest to any personal use. Get rid of PACs. For their part the media needs  a serious season of self evaluation and analysis. News managers need to realize the point of the campaign is not to build ratings, sell advertising, aggrandize careers, but to examine true and relevant issues and the women and men who are asking to be hired by the public.

TRUTH IS? NEWS AND REALITY ARE?

 EPHEMERAL

     It's hard work trying to surface truth, facts and reality. It's tougher when spin, malice and political motivation are part of the landscape. The years I spent as an investigative reporter were brutal. There was never a way to turn it off.
     Now a couple of new films reprise two of the most celebrated and controversial investigations of recent. I plan to see both, but I'm familiar with the reality behind the cinema.
     Spotlight, which details the ordeal of the Boston Globe in breaking the Priest sexual abuse and cover up and Truth, the troubled CBS News investigation of George W. Bush's special treatment as a slacker and no show in his air national guard duty, will give viewers a glimpse into the imperfect world of ferreting truth, or at least getting enough information to make the truth self evident.
     When media seems as devoted to Face book, Twitter and popular culture as it is to hard news, significant stories or investigations, it may be helpful these films open the door on what real journalism involves.
     Dan Rather wrote this weekend he's not happy that a low point in his career is the subject of a film, played by no less than Robert Redford. Though the report was flawed by fraudulent documents, the Truth remained the same. It took a toll on Rather. The members of the Boston Globe team also endured emotional trauma, for simply trying to tell the truth.
     Truth and honest facts can be dangerous. We live in an age when billions are spent to avert our gaze from the truth. Those who seek the facts and try to root out truth, remain my heroes.

MORE TRUTH

     Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican Presidential Candidate is in the pantheon of American Conservatives. There was a time when it was inconceivable you could get more far right than Goldwater. Those who knew or covered Goldwater may have questioned his policies, but everyone respected him for saying it like it was.
     The following graphic is making its way around Twitter.

    Well, on the other hand there have been countless Christians, even church leaders, who have been open minded and facile. Reinhold Niebuhr, Andrew Young, William Hudnut, John Danforth, Benjamin Hooks, Robert Drinan, (President) James Garfield, John Bull, John Witherspoon, Dean Johnson, Walter Mueller were all Christrian pastors or leaders and were capable of compromise and negotiation. Goldwater was right about the Christian Evangelical right.  It is worrisome to traditional, moderate, centrist or even "old fashioned conservative" Republicans. Does the word zealot fit?

LIBERTY AND JUSTICE

  There is a variation in the personality of this character amidst all of the Scarecrows on display this month all over Cambria.
    This may scare in a different way.

      Lana created a take on the Statue of Liberty and if you were able to look closely you would see it is made from pages of a Bible. For the record, it was an old Bible, from childhood and the binding was ruined. Here it is recycled as a statement that some Christian quarters are more open minded and loving than those Mr. Goldwater worried about.

      In the eye of the beholder, eh?

 PREENING

 Hemingway being fastidious.

Count the toes.  

Six on each paw

    See you down the trail  

A NEW WAY TO THINK

PERSPECTIVE

    My brother John was apparently an effective psychotherapist. Even psychiatrists, with the capacity to order medical intervention, hired him to work with extraordinarily troubled patients.

    I was fascinated by an experimental technique he employed where in he had schizophrenic patients draw maps of their brains, including neural circuits. He would,  step by step, navigate them through a thought or reaction beginning with the sensory cues. The therapy was to "reroute the traffic," to find a new way of thinking, responding and reacting.

    As the 2016 Presidential circus launches don't we all need  a similar "intervention" as regards the mix of information and its delivery and how we feel or reason? Coverage is obsessively about the horse race and is more silly, shallow and of dubious focus and proportionality than during Obama-Romney. Much of it is ideologically or politically skewed and overly generous with pundits and hot air. It is long on entertainment and presentation value and short on thoughtful, non pack, intellectually independent journalism and inquiry.

   Electoral politics also populates the prismatic effulgence of the Internet. Almost no view is left unstated. And we've all got one, at least, so there is a law of diminishing returns at work. 
     It is a renegade American Idol. We'll see the parade of GOP hopefuls in a traveling fight and we'll wait for Hillary to stumble or crumble. Independents and Democrats either like her or they don't. Those who are Republicans must come to accord with one of their multiple choice field. But can there be many undecided or non-committed between D's and R's. Is there enough to compose a "significant difference" in the interim? 
    Before the media and campaign gillies roll, minds are set, but the carnival will go on for a reason certain. Money. Politics, especially presidential politics, is an industry and commerce is good. Billions are churned and much of it gets spread around the media that has no interest in shortening the season, silly or otherwise. They're in it for ad dollars. 

    Plan on plenty of silly, inane, irrelevant, hyperbolic, partisan, mean and self important. Analytical numbers, polls, probabilities and indexes, will be creatively displayed. At the game's end, numbers win.  
     Sadly much of this will play without benefit of Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report. David Letterman is riding off into the sunset too. Yikes! We're being left without our media "neural circuit" traffic cops. What is our protection? 

     Cheers to the inventor of the off switch!

WESTERN DIVERSIONS

    See you down the trail.

NO WET PAWS & WHY BOEHNER IS A BONE HEAD

NO WET PAWS, PLEASE

Neither Hemingway nor Joy like wet paws.

But Hemingway is especially reluctant. Our recent light rains gave him plenty of reason to stay on the chair.

EMERGING SPRING

BOEHNER IS A BONE HEAD

    Some of our founders must be spinning over the jack ass moves of John Boehner.

     The constitution gives exclusive powers to the President to receive ambassadors and public ministers of foreign governments. Boehner violated that historic and important principal by inviting Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to address congress. His vindictive winner take all style of opposition politics might earn him applause from the far right and anti Obama forces, but it is dead wrong. It could be a disastrous precedent in an increasingly dangerous and complex world.

    The US Congress is an independent body of course, but historically partisan politics end at the shore. In foreign policy and diplomacy, the US has and must speak with a single voice. The reasons are obvious and borne out by history.  

   The US cannot deal with other nations with more than a single voice and intent. That is not to say we cannot have robust internal debate, but in bilateral relationships, only the Chief Executive has the power to engage foreign officials and especially heads of state. 

    Boehner is an inept Speaker and now he becomes an historic blunderer.  Even if you are a conservative, Republican, or not a fan of Barack Obama, you must still respect the institution and history of the Presidency and its exclusive role in bilateral relationships. Boehner is a fool and a mean spirited one at that.  His move on Netanyahu, meant to embarrass the President and to boost Netanyahu in his own political race, is wrong and indicative of how low the Republican party is stooping. As a matter of fact I suspect Ev Dirksen, John Foster Dulles, Teddy Roosevelt, William McKinley, Henry Clay, Robert Lafollete, Robert Taft and many other Republicans are spinning as well.

    Boehner should spend the remainder of this term of congress with a bright yellow A emblazoned on his forehead.

    See you down the trail.   

THE TORTURE OF NORQUIST & A CHRISTMAS GIFT

WHO HAS THE NERVE?

     A few Republican lawmakers are doing what should have been done years ago, telling the self righteous and dangerous Grover Norquist to go pound sand.

      Dangerous?  How else would you describe an ego freak who collects "pledges" from federal lawmakers to abide by his view of government or else face a challenge by a Norquist lackey, funded with millions of dollars. Norquist really believes that a pledge to him is more sacred than any oath of office, or the unfettered performance of the duties of the office to which his "pledgees" were elected. He likes to strut, bantam rooster like, before a weekly gathering of political operatives, mostly conservative and mostly Republican, who are there to kiss his keister.

PRIDE BEFORE THE FALL

      Really, where does Grover Norquist get off thinking that he alone can control Republican tax policy and votes?

Who appointed him to this extraordinary power?  By the way, Norquist is a bit of a fraud.

      He's been an associate of Jack Abramoff, the convicted power broker who found plenty of ways to use and divert federal tax funds.  He's also an associate of the phony Ralph Reed, who has ripped off and manipulated Christian rightists with his own brand of sleaze.  Why Norquist has not been tossed over simply because his association with those scum probably goes back to those pledges that he collects and his threats to unseat anyone who challenges his view.

      Norquist calls himself a boring Methodist. He is of a particular ilk of Methodist though, one who is married to a Palestinian Muslim who worked for the Islamic Free Market Institute. The Islamic Free Market Institute was founded by Norquist.  That's cozy isn't it?  The Institute also took money from two organizations that were linked to SAAR-the organization with ties to international terrorism.  Norquist should feel right at home since he employs a kind of political terror on the Republican party.  And Norquist's wife worked with USAID.  USAID of course pumps US tax dollars into foreign venues and initiatives. Boring Methodist hardly seems an apt description for such a master of double talk, phoniness, duplicity, sleaze, self aggrandizement and zealousness.  

       If the late director Alan Pakula were doing the film, Norquist would be brought down by his own self importance and fraud.  If the Wachowski's were directing Norquist would be vaporized by a drone  as he preened before the Wednesday gathering of sycophants.  But since this is real life it is men like Senator John McCain, Speaker John Boehner, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Tom Coburn and Senator Bob Corker who may be the founding architects of the movement to depose the self exalted would be dictator.

       Senator Tom Coburn called Norquist's pledge "a tortured vision of tax purity."  The inclusion of torture and Norquist in the same sentence seems to bring this screed full circle. What goes around, comes around. 

      

SOMETHING NEW

     Proprietors of the historic Cambria Pines Lodge have 

added to their already well visited Christmas lights display.

This year they have added a Christmas Bazaar. 

     See you down the trail.