Socialism

I just noticed when it was I last visited Blogger.  Great Googly Moogly, it's been a few weeks!  Sure, I went off to Puerto Rico for a week, but that was at the beginning of November.  Since my return, I haven't done much of anything to interact with you, my faithful readers.  The two of you. This absence is completely unacceptable, even though a basketball team has more people than I have followers.  No excuse.  Still, I would have preferred writing something with no redeeming social value instead of this (of course, some of you may think the following has no redeeming social value, either). 

Socialism according to Merriam-Webster, which has been around since the Adams Administration (The John  Quincy Adams administration.  He was a sucky president who was succeeded by Andrew Jackson, a wild racist.  I'm thinking sucky was preferable):

 

                1.  Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.

Wrong Collective

Closer, but...yikes.

                2.  A system of society or group living in which there is no private property.

                 There's more, but I think you get the gist of it.

                 The fear that the United States is inexorably slipping into socialism is widespread, especially among Conservatives (of which I am one).  There are those Democrats (not all), little more than Leftists, who are thrilled at the prospect.  They see nothing wrong with the redistribution of wealth to ensure a more equitable society.  What's more, the federal government needs to be the stick which forces fundamental change in a brave new world.

                What may surprise some of you out there, I think Socialism is an outstanding idea.

                In theory.

                After all, all for one and one for all is a wonderful concept.  Like a [non] dysfunctional family, we really would tend to our fellow man under the noble idea of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

"Hey, that's kinda catchy.  Mind if I use it?"
NOTE:  for those who went to New Jersey public schools, this is Karl Marx,
lesser known Marx brother and Father of Communism

                Theoretically, who could argue with that?

                The only problem with Socialism (despite the empty-headed ninnies claiming real Socialism has never been tried) is that it, by necessity, must involve human beings.  And, sadly, a substantial number of these humans are worthless slack-asses.  They certainly do have needs (well, according to them), but their only abilities are suckling at the teat of Big Brother.  They're content to watch "poor saps" schlep off to work while they lay around on their spotty behinds and applaud Whoopi and Joy squealing from the trough.

"Did he just call us pigs?"
"Speak for yourself, Mophead."

                To them, it's patently ridiculous to put on pants and head off to some job (a three-letter four-letter word).  The checks will keep coming, thank you very much.  Earning a living is for suckers.  I've got Call of Duty to play, yo.

                The only problem with that is...eventually, the working stiffs will look at Mickey Man-Bun and wonder why they should go to work anymore.  If he can get paid for laying about, well why not me?

                Eventually, everyone's in the cart and nobody is pulling.

                If you doubt any of this, how many folks were all too willing to receive government largesse for remaining at home?  Yes, yes, I know.  COVID.  Still, there's a whole lotta "Hiring" signs out there, don'tcha know.  What's more, how many hoboes do you see on the median, their hands out?  I dunno, seems like a good way to make a buck to me.  If you know, don't want to submit an application.

                I'm genuinely sorry to all you believers in mankind out there.  I sincerely wish everyone had an equal desire to help their fellow man or woman.  That they would look upon a stranger with the same beneficence as a beloved child.  But, it ain't so.

                It's basic human nature for some to be schmucks.  Unfortunately, this has been the way of the world since the dawn of history and will continue to be so until an asteroid takes us out.  Unless someone dusts off their recipe for Soylent Green.

"IT'S PEOPLE!!!!!"

                 Yes, utopia should be the ideal toward which we strive.  I would never argue that it shouldn't be.  It's just that I know it will never be so.

                Capitalism is far from a perfect system.  However, it is the best one we have.  Competition for goods and services drive the engine of our society.  Sure, there's corruption.  Sure, there's going to be people who take advantage of others.

                The same could be said for those wedded to the idea of an America with no personal property and a government controlling every bit of our lives.

                If empty-headed boobs like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get their way, does anyone honestly think she will empty her savings account to help the downtrodden?  Will Chuck Schumer open his house to an illegal immigrant family?  Will Bernie Sanders donate one of his homes to the homeless?

                Of course not.  And neither should they. 

                It's just that I don't want to subsidize someone on their couch while the "beautiful people" still get to live in their luxury dachas and jet off to France for global warming conferences.  I'd like to enjoy the fruits of my labor, if it's not too much to ask.

                In short....
                Liberals envision a world where all are brothers and sisters working to their mutual betterment.  I honestly wish they were right.

                Conservatives see the world for what it has been, what is now, and what it always will be.

                You may call me, and others like me, cynical.  However, I much prefer the term "realistic."

 

Next time:  A little nonsense.  How 'bout it?

               

 

Hey, Who Turned the Frikkin' Heat Off?

NOTE:  Originally published in 2019, to a couple of you, this may look familiar.  To a couple more of you, this will be new stuff and builds upon a history series I was developing on my Nit Nats blog.  To my old followers, I've added a couple new things so don't automatically give it a pass.  Unless you want.  Shoot, I'll never know.  

The Ice Age

What?  No pictures of mammoths or saber-tooth cats?  BOOOOO!!!!!

    After the comet, or extraterrestrial Republicans (hey, it could've happened.  You weren't there) put a smack down on most of the life on the planet, very little was left except for Betty White and Twinkies.  Of course, some reptiles remained, such as alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and lawyers.  Insects, too, survived and flourished to disrupt picnics and become Jeff Goldblum.

"Quite honestly, the dinosaurs had to go, to be frank with you.  If they didn't, they never would have decomposed and provided us with oil for our automobiles, the most excellent of which were made during my administration.  They sure didn't decompose into windmills, solar panels, or lithium batteries, like Brandon would have you believe, that I can tell you.  What's more, Sleepy Joe can crap his pants every day and it wouldn't come close to the quality of a T-Rex grade can of gas.  Plus, do you really want something the likes of a brontosaurus trampling all over your golf courses?"  

    But, the beginning of the Cenozoic Era (misspelled above.  Hey, don't blame me.  I just copy the crap), starting with the Paleocene Epoch (which is Latin-or Greek-for "Old Cene."  Or not) saw the rise of Skywalker mammals.  Initially small furry critters which T-Rexs used as appetizers before ripping the throats out of brontosauruses...or is that brontosauri?...

"I don't know animals."

or...whatever (the girly arm set wasn't picky what they ate), they soon evolved into sometimes massive creatures. 

Some animals became extinct, of course. 
Like this Eobasileus. 
Which is just as well. 
Because it looks goofy AF.

The Earth saw the emergence of woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, woolly bullies, cave bears, care bears, buffaloes, buffalo bills, mastodons, Rosie O'Donnell, bison, saber tooth cats, vampiric squirrels, giant sloths, Michael Moore (but I repeat myself) and, most importantly for our story, the ape-like creatures who became modern humans.

Alternative View of the Paleocene Epoch

Brought To You By the 700 Club

"Ya know, I'm in the mood for camel."
"Nahhh, not feelin' it.  How 'bout that idiot turkey instead?"
"Well, okay.  Can we also have some pelican, at least?"
"Deal.  By the by, we don't have to put our clothes on, do we?"

   Our ancestors (some of whom still live in New Jersey) first appeared on history's grand stage 5 or 6 million years ago (give or take a million).  Scientists discovered evidence of their existence in the fossilized footprints of mammoths.

Noted Fossils

    Apparently, these Australopithicenes (Latin-or Greek-for "Southern Cenes."  Or not) never won a foot race with these huge elephant looking monsters.

"Betcher ass, yo."

    

    Recognizing this disadvantage, early humans soon resorted to the tactic of driving their prey off cliffs.

"Whoa!  Did not see this coming!!"

    Eventually, early primates developed into what's known as

Probably not an accurate depiction of Handyman.
Courtesy:  CNN

Homo Habilis, which is Latin-or Greek-for Handyman.  These proto-humans began using sticks to pull bugs from logs, rocks to build big piles of rocks, and dirt to make mud pies.

    The Handymen gave way to Homo Erectus,  which is Latin-or Greek-for "man who walks upright, or erect."  

    Okay, get it out of your system.  I'll wait.

"Homo...Erectus..."
"Hehehehehehehehe...."

    Frankly, we never covered this much in school, because the teacher could never stop the other boys and me from laughing.

"Ooh, I love those sweaty cavemens!"
"Yes, they could hit me over the head with a club and drag me back to their caves."
"Yabba dabba doo, honey!"

"Yes, I'd like to sue for copyright infringement, please."

    Fossils of Homo Erectus (good Lord, I'm even giggling writing this) have been found in Africa and Asia, most notably "Peking Man," which was unearthed in China.  Discovery of this fossil went remarkably quick, at ten minutes.

NOTE:  Not Chinese

  Finally, man developed into Homo Sapiens, which is Latin-or Greek-for "Thinking Man."  We still laughed when learning about this (after all, it still had that "homo" bit).

    Homo Sapiens were significantly more advanced than those who had come before (think real hard about that the next time you're in West Virginia).  These "thinkers" would go on to develop agriculture, cities, electric power, sex dolls, the telephone, laundromats, Starbucks, television, pet rocks, jet propulsion, the Flowbee, space travel, poop emojis, and nuclear weapons.

    Okay, maybe "thinking" is a bit of a stretch.

    Unfortunately, they were ill-equipped to deal with the most

"PFFT!  Puny humans are too stupid
to know they should put on a coat."
"Not for nothin', Lou, but they're not the ones
being run off cliffs."

significant climate change this side of Al Gore, the Ice Age.  

    As has happened several times (and will again) throughout history, the planet underwent a drastic cooling process about two and a half million years ago (give or take 500,000 years).  

    Ice sheets covered much of Northern Europe, Scandinavia (okay, I see the redundancy...shut up), Canada, and the Northern parts of the United States (NOTE:  maybe even the Southern Hemisphere, too.  I don't feel like looking it up, though.  Screw it).  This ice remained for many thousands (or probably millions...I'm getting tired and don't feel like looking that up, either) only to make a brief reappearance in The Day After Tomorrow.

"WE'VE REACHED A CRITICAL DESALINIZATION POINT! 
Or some other such stupid shit."

    Much of humanity decided to remain in Africa or in time shares in the tropics.  Who could blame them, though?  Who'd want to deal with that frigid wasteland?  On the other hand, people live in Maine so...

"Holy eff, it cold! 
Should have gone to Dominican Republic."

    Those who remained in the north adapted by learning to harness fire, move indoors to caves (once they told the bears their leases were up.  Stupid bears) and decided that a mammoth's fur (minus the mammoth) made for a pretty toasty sweatshirt.

    With the decreased temperatures came decreased sea levels.  The

Good thing nobody built a wall.

drop was such that a land bridge developed in the area of the Bering Strait.  This enabled wandering bands of Cro-Magnons (who all looked like Jeffrey Hunter and Raquel Welch, if Hollywood is to be believed) to chase those yummy herds of camels and sloths (who were a snap to catch) from Asia into North America.

    Once the tide came back in, though, they were stuck.  Which was just as well because they were sick of Chinese food.  Fifteen minutes after eating it, they were starving.  

    Besides, nobody had invented boats yet.

    So, these early people remained to become Inuit, Apache, Mayan, Inca, Olmec, Aztec, Elizabeth Warren, Navajo, and Mohawks.

    And countless others.  But, who wants to read all that mess?

 

They also developed art,
an example of which is this Venus of Willemdorf. 
Used by Cro-Magnon boys in the bathroom
at the back of the cave.

Next time:  BC/AD. BCE/ACE, AC/DC

  It wasn't long, though, before the roving bands of hunter-gatherers throughout the world figured it would be a good idea to stop (their feet were sore, after all), build warm buildings, plant the beans those nice prehistoric gypsies sold them, take off the smelly mammoth hoodies, and throw some points on those rocks they found so they could kill the neighbors on the other side of the ravine.

 

Stuff AND Nonsense

 

Note To Anyone Who Cares (hell, there has to be at least a couple of you):  I'll be jetting to San Juan, Puerto Rico (as opposed to San Juan, Alaska) for the next week so I won't be able to post a regular...uh...post this week.  Instead I'll submit a quick bite of stuff AND nonsense, instead.  I hope this will suffice for the two of you.

 

                Addendum to my October 25th post, "Ignorance and Hatred.":    I worked the polls this past week.  While it was the longest day I've worked since I retired from my job as an Environmental Services Associate, it was a truly rewarding fifteen hours.  Luckily, I was paid for my efforts, although I certainly would have done so for free.  I considered it a civic duty, one which I'd recommend. 

                Obviously, I can't speak for districts throughout the country, but my precinct in Virginia Beach was run smoothly and professionally with no chicanery or monkeyshines.  There were a couple incidents which I observed which made me think of my post of a couple weeks ago, though.

  

This.  Plus doughnuts.

              

"Doughnuts?"

    As a middle-aged couple approached the polling place, a representative from the Republican Party handed the woman a flyer (I'm sure you've all seen the practice).  Upon seeing this, the husband growled (in a loud voice sure to be heard by the hander-outer and her small daughter), "C'MON! WE DON'T NEED NONE OF THAT REPUBLICAN BULLSHIT!!"

                Just so you know, obnoxious lunacy isn't confined to one party.  For every "Trumpster," there's just as many "libtards," for example.  The number of hateful elephant zealots pretty much equal jackass zealots.

                Since voting was held in a school, all voters were asked to wear masks.  Even though I think face diapers are idiotic, I still enforced the requirement.  I swore an oath, don'tcha know.

                  Anyway, a maskless individual approached the check-in table.  When I saw the tee shirt he was wearing, "My Governor Is An Idiot" (Sidebar, your honor?  Personally, I think Northam is, too, but that's besides the point), I pretty much knew which demographic I was dealing with.

Yep, this was it. 
Surprisingly, he wasn't wearing white shoes.  Because, you know, white. 

                When I politely reminded him that masks were required in schools, he barked (just as loud and belligerent as "Republican Bullshit Guy"), "SO, ARE YOU TELLING ME I CAN'T EXERCISE MY GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO VOTE!!??"

                I continued in a polite manner (being polite was difficult, although I did have an "Inward Face Palm" moment) that I would gladly take his vote outside.  After a couple minutes of his outraged blather, he (I'm sure) reluctantly headed outside.

                Just then, my chief told me that the mask requirement for schools was rescinded just for that day.  So, I was able to tell "Red Neck Tee Shirt Man" that he could come back inside.

                Another Sidebar:  If masks are so effective, wouldn't it be consistent to continue the requirement?   What, did the Chinese Flu take the  day off to watch "The View"?

"Well, of course, because Joy Behar really gets us."

                Kinda made me look like a jackass, but I was glad that I would no longer have to enforce a mandate which I find ineffective and silly.

                My point, one which I made a couple weeks ago, is that many have become so polarized that they think rude, hateful behavior is the norm.  The (I'm sure) Democrat voter didn't have to blare out his distaste for all the world to hear.  He just thought  it was a swell idea to thump his chest  and curse in front of a child.  Keep those thoughts to yourself, Champ.  Or at least do so in a rational manner.  Without the potty mouth, of course.

This?  Yeah, never a good look.

                Likewise, don't automatically come into a situation spoiling for a fight.  To me, it seemed "Outraged Voter" had his little speech all prepared.  I got the impression that he would have jumped at any perceived infringement on his rights.  As with the other knucklehead, no need to broadcast your opinion to the room.

                Incidentally, there is no way I would wear a tee shirt like he had on in public.  I also wouldn't wear a "MAGA Hat."  Or, slap a "Biden/Harris" bumper sticker on my car.  Really not into that sort of provocation.

                 In fact, the only, sort-of, political thing I own and wear is a tee shirt which says, "Seinfeld/Costanza 2020."

"A campaign about nothing!"

                To quote Rodney King, "Why can't we all just get along?"

                By the way, the lady handing out Democrat literature could not have been a nicer, more cheerful woman.

                To my Republican friends, they're out there.

                To my Democrat friends, you know that.

                To Joe Biden, I hear Walmart is having a sale on Depends.

                I'm sorry, I can't help it.  Comedy is comedy.

"Still, wouldn't hurt to check it out."

   ********

                Okay, before my trip south a little bit of nonsense:

                 

                How in the world can a deaf gynecologist do his job?

                He reads lips.

 

Next time:  I'll continue with my History of the World series.  Start studying now.  You'll need to know when I'm selling you a line of crap.

Hint:  That's often.

 

 

 

A Halloween Tale

  Introduction:  The following story is a true one.  Happening more than ten years ago, those in my family have retold it over and over.  I've changed it somewhat (author's prerogative, don'tcha know?) and have updated it slightly, but the basic bits remain the same.  Most of you have already read it, so if you want to give it a pass, I won't tell anyone (mostly because I'll never know).  But, if you haven't read it, why not do so now?  There's a fun-size Snickers in it for you*.

 

"'Updated it slightly'?  Eff, I know what that means!
  COME ON MAN!"

*no, there isn't

A Halloween Tale

    The young wife pulled her sweater tight.  Starting to get cold, she thought.

    Looking down at the half empty candy jar, she was relieved she’d bought just enough goodies for the hordes of trick-or-treaters which continued to rampage through her neighborhood. 

    With only an hour to go, she breathed a sigh of relief, confident she wouldn’t have to break into last year’s stash of petrified candy corn.  Or worse, ketchup packets (somehow, she just knew the kids wouldn’t buy her story that ketchup was “nature’s candy.”).

    So, her house was safe from the ravages wrought by pint-sized wrecking crews denied their sugar fixes.

    With a break in the action, she picked up a “Fun-Size” Snickers bar-no, make that TWO fun-size Snickers bars (more fun that way) and plopped in a chair set by her open door.

    No sooner had she sat down then she saw four miniature super heroes-Batman, Spiderman, and the unfortunately-named Captain Continence and his sidekick, Mr. President-come trooping down her driveway.

"I knew it! 
Drop a load in your britches in the Vatican
just once and they never leave you alone!"

    Hiding the empty candy wrappers, she stood to greet her visitors, who looked harmless enough (although, you never could be too sure-especially with that Biden one).

    Greeted by a chorus of cheery “Trick or Treats,” she smiled and extended the candy jar to the tiny defenders of truth, justice, the American way, and proper hygiene.

    Their needs sated, the little heroes scampered towards her neighbor.  Thankful her house continued to be spared, she noticed a lone figure standing at the end of her driveway.

    Fairly large, she figured that he-or she-was one of those kids from the junior high who refused to let go of their youth.  Usually, they just grabbed a pillowcase off their bed and headed door-to-door, their menace masked only by a surly, “I’m an egg-thrower” when asked what their costume was.

    This kid was dressed up, though, although it gave her the willies.  He was dressed in blue jeans and a red flannel shirt, all innocuous enough.  But what creeped her out was that hockey mask and-was that a knife in his right hand?  He looked like that...Freddy?  Michael?  No, he looked like Jason!  Yeeks!

    “Hi, young man, do you want some candy?”  She timidly held out her candy jar to the motionless figure.

    No answer.

    Hmm, she thought, not too crazy about this.  I’d rather he’d just toss toilet paper in my trees and be done with it.

    She closed her door, desperately trying to figure out what to do.

    At that moment, her husband’s car pulled into the driveway.

    “Oh, great,” he thought as he parked, “one of those trick-or-treaters.  Hmmm, kinda big, though.”

    He got out of his car and cheerfully called out to the kid, “Hey, howzit goin’?”

    Still nothing.

    “That’s weird,” he thought.

    Quickly turning his back, he stepped through his side-door and saw his wife, who looked a little freaked-out.  “Hey, you see that nut out there?  What’s going on?”

    She shrugged her shoulders and replied, “You got me.  He’s just been standing there.  Uh...did you see if he had a knife or something?”

    His eyes went wide and he stepped to the closed door.  Peering through the curtains, he said, “Yeah, sure looks like one.  I don’t like this.  I’m turning off the porch light.”

    Casting the porch in darkness, the two gathered at their curtains and peered at the still motionless form bathed in the light of the streetlamp.

    “Maybe he’ll get the idea we’re done for the night,” she hoped.

    “Yeah, I-hey! He’s starting to walk this way!”

    His wife shrieked and dropped to the kitchen floor.  “Oh, my God!  What’re we going to do!?”

    He joined her and squealed, “I don’t know.  I’d better call the cops!”

    Now, they heard shuffling footsteps as their visitor scraped along the loose rocks of their driveway.

    Starting to lose it, she begged, “No, don’t leave me!”  She put her hands to her ears.

    The husband scrambled over to the kitchen island.  Maybe, he’ll find a knife or....ladle!!??  That won’t do!  He kept rifling through the drawer.  Cheese grater...potato peeler... garlic press...ah, here was a knife!

    As he turned toward his wife, he heard the footsteps suddenly stop.

    And, the doorbell ring.

    The two of them inched their way to the window and, on their knees, peeked through the bottom of the curtain.

    They saw the hockey mask bouncing up and down in laughter.

    Standing bolt upright, the husband flung open the door, and shouted, “You idiot!  You gave us both heart attacks!”

     The Moral of the Story:  It’s a good thing my brother has a sense of humor.  Otherwise, someone might have gotten shot that night.

                        

       

Ignorance and Hatred

 Attention:  Some of you (yes, I'm talking to you, Gerry) may recognize this from my Nit Nats website.  Please feel free to read it again, but no hard feelings if you want to give it a pass.  Still, I may insert some fresh material here, so you never know.  Since I'm effin' lazy Dancing With the Stars is on, I won't have a lot of time to craft anything new.  After all, to my followers on Blogger, this is new.  Don't feel bad, though.  I still have some History of the World posts to...uh...post.  Meaning, they will be new to you while old hat to the Blogger folks.  Hey, it's my small way of bringing all that I write to everyone while at the same time saving my brain from actually having to write.  Win-win, if you ask me.

But be forewarned, the following is serious stuff.

Thank you.

On with the show.

 

"Jackass."
"Bags of lard."

                A good friend from Pennsylvania told me about a question a mutual friend asked, "What is the symbol of the Democratic Party, the elephant or the donkey?"

               He told me he said, "Well, naturally, it's the jackass."

                Then, our ignorant friend further asked, "Is George Stephanopolous a Republican or a Democrat?"

                NOTE:  This same person once asked whether we thought Hitler would have been a Republican.

                When told that the "non-partisan" journalist was an advisor to the Clintons and, therefore, a Democrat, the bonehead (I'm sorry.  He's a friend, but he's a boneheaded friend) huffed that must be a lie.

                Another friend from high school told me that her son completely blocked her after finding out she voted for Donald Trump.

                Ignorance and hatred.

                Ignorance I can deal with him.   Ignorance can be helped through education, although since my friend from the Keystone State is in his 60s, that kind of willful refusal to look at all sides is impervious to logic and common sense.

                There are those among us who will vote Democrat no matter who is running.  If Attila the Hun had a "D" after his name, it wouldn't matter.  If he (or she) was raised in a Democrat household, then he (or she) will vote Democrat.

Attila-434
"Victory, booty, and a Roman head in every pot!"

                This has been going on for quite some time.  There were people who idolized FDR, for example.  I guess I can see the logic in this.  After all, it was a Republican president, Hoover, who played a huge part in cocking things up, setting the wheels in motion for the Great Depression.

                We can argue about whether Roosevelt made things worse.  Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.  I personally think he did and that it was the Second World War that ended the Depression, but that is my opinion.

                However, when things looked grim as the world went to shit starting in the 30s, it was to Roosevelt a great many turned.  I can understand that.  I don't think I would have, but I understand.

                That said, few people doubted that the president was rooting for the team from the United States.  Whether you supported him or not, he put America first.

                So it was with Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, the incompetent Carter, and even the Boner-in-Chief, Clinton.  However, with the accession of Obama and now Biden, I'm not so sure.  My point is, they're Democrats and, if they're Democrats, and you're a committed Democrat, you're going to support the Democrats at all times.   In other words, if your father voted Democrat and his father voted Democrat, yadda, yadda, you get it. 

                "I may not know anything about the issues, but don't confuse me with logic and common sense.  I don't need to do any research or make up my own mind.  That's what I have CNN, MSNBC, and the New York Times for."

"I like the Democrat.  The TV told me so."

                This makes me sad, but some people may be persuaded to use their own minds.  Some folks will do their research (for instance, even though I'm a Conservative, I haven't always voted Republican). I'm convinced that reasonable people exist (if you're reading this, you're one of those).  Don't get me wrong.  My friend is a good man.  Naive, perhaps, but a good man.  However, his psychological cement has been set.

                So no one thinks I think "my team" is blameless, there are also more than a few "My father voted Republican and his father voted Republican, so I'll always vote Republican" stubborn knuckleheads out there. too.  Ignorance isn't exclusive to one party.

                I so wish voters would judge candidates on their own merits and not from the letter which follows their name.

                That all said, I was most distressed by the tale of my high school friend and her son.  That you would cut anyone, especially your own mother, from your life because of differing political views is beyond belief.  What kind of hatred must you harbor in your heart that you would do that?

                As much as we enjoy sometimes teasing our ignorant friend, he is still our friend.  He's entitled to be wrong, but there is no way on this planet that I would cut him from my life.  Likewise, a man I've known for 56 years would make Alan Alda look like George Patton (we even debated the relative strengths/weaknesses of George McGovern against Richard Nixon when we were at summer camp!).  Yet, I love him like a brother and cherish him as my best friend.

    SECOND NOTE:  Probably goes without saying that my best friend had a field day with Tricky Dick's resignation.

                I would never cut him from my life.  Also, there are those in my family who "swing Liberal."  Their politics do not define our the love we feel for each other.  Our political differences should never be the cause of a permanent rift.  After all, how unbelievably ridiculous would that be?

                It is impossible that this is the only familial relationship thus destroyed.  The news is full of similar anecdotal information.  Doubtless that there are Conservative mouth-breathers out there who have also severed connections with their Liberal family or friends.  Luckily, I also believe (hope) that those instances are in the minority.

                What I'm trying to say is, I believe we can co-exist with the ignorant among us.  Sadly, I don't believe that we can co-exist with those who think obliterating a bond with family and friends or deprogramming those with whom they disagree are appropriate responses.

    Those folks should be banished to a deserted island.  Or New Jersey.

                Despite Joe Biden's soaring rhetoric in his inauguration speech (personally, I thought it insincere), as long as there exist among us hateful people who see nothing wrong with excising half the nation-including your mother-from your life, we will never achieve "unity."

                Put that in your pipe and sniff it, Joe