LIsten up, journalists...

Reading the news this morning I see that Ellen Degenerate (sic, intentionally...) has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Congratulations Ellen. When you have your own daytime talk show and you have glamorous Hollywood types on to talk about 'stuff' you are indeed changing the world. Underprivileged kids are being fed hot meals, kids with cancer are being cured, etc, etc. Kinda like Obama winning the Nobel prize at the beginning of his first term. For what? If you're a TV watcher then you know how fond Hollywood is of giving themselves awards. When they're not filming something they're giving themselves awards. What's the difference if Obama gives one of them an award.  This award is supposed to recognize those people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors". Well, forget about national security, if that were left to Ellen we'd all be in a cage being tortured by towelheads. World peace, why yes, of course! Shooting the shit with Amy Schumer has calmed down entire cities. Indeed, congratulations Ellen.
Once again, our wonderful leader has done something that deserves a bitch-slap. But after eight very long years we've come to expect such.
I digress.What I signed on to talk about is the media in our country. Let me start by pointing out something really important that probably seems innocuous to most people. How often have you been reading something whether it was a magazine article or a breaking news article about an important world event and you notice misspelled words? Now that you stop and think about it, pretty often, huh? Editors, journalists and reporters, some of whom are reputedly major names in the business. To top it off, these guys have proofreaders and editors who are checking their work before it is published. Supposedly. Allegedly. And every couple of weeks they are paid for writing this sloppy, unchecked garbage. I know I'm not the only one who notices this and is bothered by it. I'm just so thankful that the surgeon who did my hip replacement doesn't take his work so lightly and pays attention to the details.
OK, picture this. You have the press room at the White House full of the country's elite journalists and reporters waiting for the president. I walk in and walk down the rows, stand behind each one and administer a good hard bitch slap to the back of the head to each one of them. After the last one has received his admonishment, I walk to the podium and say, "If you want to be a plumber learn how to stop leaks, if you want to be a carpenter learn how to use a saw without cutting yourself, if you want to be soldier, learn how to shoot a gun. If you want to be a journalist, LEARN HOW TO FUCKING SPELL!" Then Obama walks up and I look at him and say, "Whatever."
As far as I'm concerned if you wrote an article, especially one of import and you misspell words in the process your credibility evaporates. You're supposed to be a professional and the expectations of all who read your work are that it is professional grade work. If you are capable of high level, rational reasoning and analysis of complex events, then you should be able to spell.
There are other expectations of your vocation. I want everyone of you sunsabitches that make a living writing news to listen closely. Do not use your station in life as a member of any kind in the media to further your own interests, especially those of a political bent. Just as you were taught in school, journalism is to be unbiased and objective. Report the facts. Back them up. If you want to push your political agenda, fine. You are free to do that. Join a PAC. Become a lobbyist. Join a protest. Paint slogans on railroad trestles. But keep your drivel out of the media. America doesn't only not care, we don't want to hear it. It's irritating. We buy newspapers, online subscriptions, turn on cable news to get (get ready!) NEWS.
Oh yeah, and learn how to spell. Ask your eight your old. They can help you.

On to bigger and better things.

I suppose you could say things are settling down a little. Granted, there have been protests in several major cities, even some violence. But in the context of the times is that really surprising? It will fade away, I think that's pretty much a given. What are the chances the protesters will prevail and congress will say, "You know, you people are right. He's not the right guy for the job. We're giving him the boot and he's outta here. We're going to hold another election and keep on having them until we get a bonafide liberal in there." I mean , it would have to be a liberal, how many conservatives do you think are in those protest crowds? What are the odds of that happening? Well, let's see. Let me grab a calculator here, hmmm, as soon as I turned it on the answer is right there. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.
Once again I say, thank God we have a constitution and someone is paying attention to it.
The good news is all the white noise from the rancor of the campaigns is gone. All is quiet on that front. Now we can all go back to our regularly scheduled lives and get on with life. At this point it is what it is and all the protesting in the world won't change a thing. If you want to prognosticate and predict, knock yourself out. Frankly, I'm tired and I want to move on to bigger and better things. I've been offering my opinion on subjects politic on here for awhile and I know you're probably getting tired of hearing them. Even if you're not I'm growing tired if talking about it.

Following politics I think is like watching TV. There are myriad programs on, many of them during prime time that include lots of drama, suspense, ruthless characters who try to ruin other people's lives, power-hungry dirtbags, scheming and dishonest politicians, and people love to watch them. During a presidential election they can watch the same but this time the characters are playing themselves. It's salacious skullduggery at it's best. And it's for real. Many people prepare to vote, i.e. learn about the candidate's backgrounds, their platforms, intentions and so on the same way they prepare to watch TV. By doing nothing. Then they get in a voting booth, (let me qualify that so you'll know I'm not just blowing smoke. Some of them get in a voting booth. Only 40% of qualified voters actually voted in the election. Sad and quite pathetic, but true) and this is what happens. He said he's going to build a wall, click. She said she was going to make college free. Click. And that's just the ones that actually voted. When you look at it that way, maybe the electoral college system isn't such a bad idea after all...

At the risk of putting my veracity in doubt, let me move on to bigger and better things as I said I would. I started writing a novel back in 2011. Five long years ago. I was so excited about finishing my first one, I went right into the second one. My first novel was a pure action, suspense thriller because that's my favorite genre. I love to read them. To me there's nothing better than a good, well-written thriller. I've read countless thrillers by all the journeymen in the field. It's like any other craft, you learn from the pros. I wrote the first one and right out of the chute I had some success. It didn't make the NY Times bestseller list, but hey, give me time. The second one is a thriller as well, but it takes a little turn. It's what I call a 'historical thriller'. The main characters are all fictitious but it takes place actual locations and involves some actual people and events. Which of course means there is a lot of research that has to be done. If you're going to talk about real people and places you have to be, well, real. And I'll be honest, research isn't one of my favorite things to do. I'm no James Michener. I like to sit down, crank up the imagination and ride. When I'm doing that I feel like I'm in the wheelhouse. But I chose to do this for personal reasons. The story involves some Choctaw Indians who grow up in a very difficult time in history and go on to change the world for the better. I'm having a helluva lot of fun writing it and I'm doing my due diligence, historically. My wife is a Choctaw Indian and the setting is her ancestor's home place. Some of them thankfully survived the Trail of Tears and settled in this area. It was a monumental time in history and I must do it justice.

Hence, the reason it has been five years and counting. Well, there have been a few other reasons. Life happens. And it can be damn distracting at times. But I have refilled my fountain pen and I'm back on the job. And when I'm done, you're going to love the story. Or your money back.

Can you believe this?

I have to admit it. The pundits and pollsters missed it, and so did I. He won. He actually won. I didn't realize it until the next day that Hillary actually won the  popular vote but it doesn't matter. Trump won and is in the drivers seat.

Now, a little sidebar. I just read an article that some professor (I know, when it comes to political mouths, 'professor' is like a used car salesman. It's just an opinion and we all know opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.) Anyway, this guy who predicted a Trump win now says he will be impeached.  Bravo Bitch! You're a genius! You know, when it comes to prognosticating, we can all do it. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don't. Now if Trump actually does get impeached this guy will be labeled a genius. I'm sorry folks, he ain't no genius. Trump has a lot of business interests. Running into a conflict of interest, well, it would be hard  NOT to. Making a brash decision that could put national security at risk, well, based on what we have seen, you have to say yeah, that could happen. Is impeachment a possibility? Duh, does a bear have a hairy ass? Standing right behind him is Mike Pence. A red, white and blue conservative who has no record of upsetting the establishment. If there is a genius in all of this it has to be Mike Pence.
I think it's pretty much a given that Trump could be impeached and Mike Pence could take over.
Then we could be back to sort of, business as usual, sort of, you know? Fucking Democrats. Fucking Republicans. You know, the stuff we're used to. I would put the odds of that happening at 50% or better, really.

I truly believe in my heart that Americans like strong, decisive, consistent leadership. Someone with a clear mind that can make decisions and make sense. Is that Trump? As Ronald Reagan would say, "Weeelll," maybe, maybe not. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt and a chance to prove himself. You never know, he might just surprise us. We'll see.

This election was an anomaly. A 'one off' kind of situation. At least let's hope so. I certainly hope we don't face something like this again. At least not during my lifetime. I like it when the nomination process produces some smart people that don't go around pissing off credible groups of people. Except for Muslim terrorists. Fuck them, I like to piss them off every chance I get. If I were Rosie O'Donnell and I were famous, I could do it more often! But this time, it was different. It didn't produce anyone smart and certainly anyone who didn't routinely piss off somebody. If Trump gets impeached and Pence take over, who is going to say "Aww shit?"  No one. Let's face it, no one.

Now, if that happens, please, don't email me and call me a genius. It could just as easily turn out that Trump could line 'em up and knock 'em down. He could get it all right. You bet it could. And I hope that's the way it happens. We shall see.

I'm still happy we don't have to go through four years of Hillary. And I am enormously happy we are done with Barry. Good riddance. I think he sucked. Best of luck to us all...

Well,here we are. Election Day 2016.

It's finally election day. And in this case, finally really means finally. No more sophomoric bickering, name-calling, insulting slurs, and in Hillary's case, lying. OK, I take that back, Hillary will never stop lying. It's just who and what she is. But for at least four years there will be no more. No matter who wins, at least that  part is over.
Is there any point in talking about if Clinton wins, then this and if Trump wins, then that. I don't think so. Like Hillary once said when being questioned about  what happened in Benghazi, "What difference does it make?" Only this time we are talking about who wins an election. In that case we were talking about four American lives, who happened to be serving their country. And who  had  asked repeatedly for help. The depravity of a top diplomat that could publicly make  such a statement just boggles my mind. The true substance of her character was revealed that day for every living American to see. And if you still want to vote for her, then good luck sleeping at night.
As for Donald Trump? Probably about the poorest choice for a President that could possibly be found. I want to believe that Trump is an intelligent, crafty man. I really do. But you certainly can't tell that by what comes out of his pie-hole. All this bullshit about he's a brilliant businessman, spare me. Trump is no more brilliant than my dog. (Sorry, buddy, that wasn't meant as an insult.) Making money is not a  sign of brilliance.
But the fact remains, one of them is going to sit down in the Oval Office and assume the duties of the nation's chief  executive. Zero confidence that either will do a decent job. Isn't it consoling to know that they wont be educating your children for the next four years? Or managing your retirement? Or setting your standard of living? No, they won't. You will. In spite of who becomes president, we the people will continue to be in charge of and responsible for what goes on in our homes and communities. Which in essence means we the people are responsible for what America is, at the grassroots level.

I hope your candidate wins.