I mean, really! Let's start with the fact that we have a guy in the White House who, although his complaints about his treatment by some journalists often ring true, just as frequently behaves in such a way as to make The Queen of Hearts seem like a paragon of consistently held views, civility and even tempered comportment. I keep hoping Mr. Trump will make good on his promise to be "Sooo Presidential". We need less, not more, hyperbole. We get enough of that from the likes of Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff. I was on board with the President's calling out of the many Democrats who sat on their hands even during the, theoretically, non-partisan (like praising the Capitol Building) parts of the State of the Union address. But then, during a subsequent speech, he picked up on and then repeated the shouted "treason" remark from some guy in the audience. That's just stupid.
Speaking of stupid, here are some other examples:
On college campuses, "free speech" has come to mean, you are free to express your views only if "WE" agree with them. So, in today's environment, we have a talk to be given at Columbia by Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor, well known liberal thinker and defender of The Constitution being protested by radical students and faculty members in the name of "free speech". Go figure.
It was recently announced that in 2019 the Cleveland Indians will remove the "Chief Wahoo" logo from their uniforms. This move was lauded in "The Week" as being a blow for "Basic decency". Let's be honest here, sports fans. I don't care what the Indians do, but, at least, call it for what it is---one more case of bowing to political correctness.
On a less politically charged topic, I recently came across a story about a San Francisco cul-de-sac called Presidio Terrace. The neighborhood is apparently full of mansions, but the homeowners association was $14 in arrears on a property tax bill. Because of this, the city supervisors ordered that the sidewalk, street, common areas and about 100 parking spaces in the neighborhood be auctioned off! That was, in due course, accomplished and the price paid was $90,000. But, the homeowners knew nothing either of the sale or original tax bill and protested. Come to find out that the reason they were in the dark was that the SF tax guys had sent the $14 Bill to the wrong address! The good news is that the homeowners' case was upheld and the city board of supervisors voted to cancel the $90.000 sale. The bad news is that the vote was 7-4, meaning. of course, that FOUR OF THE CITY'S SUPERVISORS THOUGHT THAT SELLING THE STREETS OUT FROM UNDER THE HOMEOWNERS WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!! THAT should worry you. But then, again, it is San Francisco after all.
Then there is the story I read in the business section of a USA Today last month. It seems the Congressional Black Caucus has brought pressure on Facebook to disable its "multicultural affinity" advertising function which allows advertisers to target specific groups of potential customers. The CBC sees the function as discriminatory. The interesting thing about this story is its relationship to another entry which was on the following page of the same business section. In an article entitled "12 easy ways your small business can make money", Number 7 reads: "Pay for targeted ads on Facebook. They are easy to set up, and you can target your market very narrowly". I guess we'd better not show that article to the Congressional Black Caucus lest they demand a meeting with the USA Today editors to complain about the recommendation being racist. By the way, since we're on the subject does it occur to anyone that the very existence of something called "The Congressional Black Caucus" is, in itself, discriminatory?
In Texas news, a recent issue of "The Week" covered a story about a Dallas middle school which put out a call for a few dozen local men to serve as mentors at a "Breakfast with Dads" event for their 11-13 year old students who, otherwise, would have had to attend alone, and 600 men showed up to help! All good news. But what I wanted to mention is that the same story was covered last week by David Muir in his ever popular "ABC's World News Tonight". In his human interest segment called "Person(s) of the Week" David described the event as as one where these selfless men paired up with students, giving instruction and advice on "...every day tasks like tying a necktie and playing the trumpet." Really David ? Playing the trumpet is an "every day task"? How about you stick to stories about puppies finding their way home after being caught in a typhoon. That seems to be more your speed.
P.S. Note to readers.
I know (and several of you have mentioned) that I have not been up on the net since Thanksgiving, but I plan to be posting regularly again starting with the above. After all, men are still being accused of (and often committing) sexual abuse, the "Russia Probe" has still not born the fruit the Democrats would like to see, the President still tweets and engages in malapropisms, you can still see the whites of Nancy Pelosi's eyes whenever she speaks and Maxine Waters still wants an impeachment.
SO, THERE'S PLENTY TO WRITE ABOUT---and I have no excuse for not making note of it.