The benefit to being out of your flippin' mind is that you can see things from a different perspective. "Out of the box" has nothing on out of your mind.
Of course, the down side is that nobody listens to you. After all, you're out of your flippin' mind.
Signs on doors at Target: Welcome -- Do not enter.
Sign on rural north Georgia highway (or it was way back in 1979): Two Mile Church, four miles.
TV ad: "If you or someone you love has died ..."
Brains sometimes work not in the usual way.
For example, this one has a vivid imagination. The problem with is it that it only imagines what and when it wants. Any attempt to brainstorm doesn't come up with as much as a drizzle.
Stream of consciousness often is simply reacting to what's going on around me. Sometimes what comes out is inane, irritating or even stupid.
In some cases, though, even this mind comes up with something worthwhile.
Present material isn't necessarily on of those worthwhile things.
Does writing a blog matter when nobody's reading it?
That's the problem with cyberspace. It's big. Really big. Easy to get lost in it.
Well, if nothing else, it's a whole lot cheaper than therapy. Which usually consists of nothing more than getting you to talk. No solutions offered.
So yeah, writing to nobody beats paying somebody listen to you.
We all know a lot of lawyers are full of crap.That degree doesn't make them any less full of it -- it can make them even more full of it, since lawyers are taught to win, win, win.
Right or wrong isn't the point. Just win, baby.
So why do we keep electing them to public office? Just how stupid are we?
The three-week boycott of sports talk radio and ESPN "SportsCenter" is under way.
Will they ever stop clubbing us over the head with Super Bowl stuff that nobody really wants to know about? Do you really think we care what the backup linebacker eats for dinner, or what the punter does for a hobby?
Just shut up and play the game already.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Right stuff
So Rush Limbaugh's come to the defense of Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" campaign.
What a shock. After all, Limbaugh has made a fortune with over-the-top and below-the-belt vitriol. If the Arizona shootings make such blather unpopular it could hurt his ratings -- and wallet.
The fact that many on the right are denying that inflammatory politicking had anything to do with the murders is just one more symptom of a sad truth in today's America -- nobody accepts responsibility for their actions any more.
Everybody -- left and right -- wants rights, but nobody wants responsibility.
But give the lone voice of conservatism on MSNBC some credit. Joe Scarborough, lambasted by many Republicans for pointing out what he sees wrong on the right side, says that the poisonous atmosphere of modern American politics is a major problem. That Republicans need to find some civility.
Nastiness isn't just a conservative problem. Anger, hatred and stupidity know no political bounds. It's just that the right's dose of the unholy trinity is a lot louder these days.
Speaking of Limbaugh, a local talk radio station posts billboards proclaiming Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and company as "the voices of reason."
Brings to mind the words of Elvis Costello: "Radio is sound salvation, radio is cleaning up the nation. They say you better listen to the voice of reason, but they don't give you any choice because they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told, you better listen to the radio."
Want to know why left-wing talk doesn't have much of an audience? Because politically correct wimps don't make for good talk radio, and nobody in their right (no pun intended) mind would listen to a bunch of Marxist/socialist crap.
Other than MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and the Internet's Huffington Post, who can you name as liberal attack dogs? Certainly no "voices of reason" out there.
Of course, many on the right will say that the mainstream media are liberal.
To some extent they are correct -- how many Republicans are willing to waste a perfectly good college degree on a career in media that doesn't pay worth crap unless you're in the top five percent of the field?
It's the Republicans who own the companies and the Democrats who work (cheap) for them.
Does that mean that the conservative bosses find liberal products a better sell? Or that they care less about the product than the profit margin?
What about moderates? Nobody listens to moderates. To conservatives they're liberals; to liberals they're conservatives.
There is little acceptance or interest in politics today for the middle of the road -- despite the fact that a large percentage of Americans think of themselves as moderates.
Why? Because you can't be moderate and spill out loads of hate politics, which is all most politicians know these days.
Being fair-minded doesn't lend itself to soundbites and slogans.
What a shock. After all, Limbaugh has made a fortune with over-the-top and below-the-belt vitriol. If the Arizona shootings make such blather unpopular it could hurt his ratings -- and wallet.
The fact that many on the right are denying that inflammatory politicking had anything to do with the murders is just one more symptom of a sad truth in today's America -- nobody accepts responsibility for their actions any more.
Everybody -- left and right -- wants rights, but nobody wants responsibility.
But give the lone voice of conservatism on MSNBC some credit. Joe Scarborough, lambasted by many Republicans for pointing out what he sees wrong on the right side, says that the poisonous atmosphere of modern American politics is a major problem. That Republicans need to find some civility.
Nastiness isn't just a conservative problem. Anger, hatred and stupidity know no political bounds. It's just that the right's dose of the unholy trinity is a lot louder these days.
Speaking of Limbaugh, a local talk radio station posts billboards proclaiming Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and company as "the voices of reason."
Brings to mind the words of Elvis Costello: "Radio is sound salvation, radio is cleaning up the nation. They say you better listen to the voice of reason, but they don't give you any choice because they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told, you better listen to the radio."
Want to know why left-wing talk doesn't have much of an audience? Because politically correct wimps don't make for good talk radio, and nobody in their right (no pun intended) mind would listen to a bunch of Marxist/socialist crap.
Other than MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and the Internet's Huffington Post, who can you name as liberal attack dogs? Certainly no "voices of reason" out there.
Of course, many on the right will say that the mainstream media are liberal.
To some extent they are correct -- how many Republicans are willing to waste a perfectly good college degree on a career in media that doesn't pay worth crap unless you're in the top five percent of the field?
It's the Republicans who own the companies and the Democrats who work (cheap) for them.
Does that mean that the conservative bosses find liberal products a better sell? Or that they care less about the product than the profit margin?
What about moderates? Nobody listens to moderates. To conservatives they're liberals; to liberals they're conservatives.
There is little acceptance or interest in politics today for the middle of the road -- despite the fact that a large percentage of Americans think of themselves as moderates.
Why? Because you can't be moderate and spill out loads of hate politics, which is all most politicians know these days.
Being fair-minded doesn't lend itself to soundbites and slogans.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
We had it coming
She was nine years old, born into tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001. To her family she was a hope for a better future.
She died Saturday in a hail of gunfire, along with five others including a federal judge. The primary target, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.
It is sad to say that something like this happening isn't a surprise.
We have become a nation filled with hate. Filled with anger.
There's nothing wrong in having differences in opinion, religion, nationality. Upon such things we would like to believe our nation was founded -- except for that slavery thing.
But increasingly the differences are hardening into "my way or else."
Had Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination in 2008, I fully expected at least one attempt on her life.
The open hatred conservatives had for the former First Lady went far beyond reason.
As it turned out, Barack Obama was the Democrats' choice and became our president. And the new target of conservative hatred.
While there aren't any instances of attempts on his life that we know of, it would be of little surprise to find out that any number of plots have been brewed up. Maybe they never hatched, or maybe they were stopped before becoming public.
The Republican Party, and conservatives in general, are in some part to blame. Fired by those who use inflammatory language in search of ratings and personal gain -- Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck; politicians who stoke frustration and anger to gain support (Sarah Palin ring a bell?); a recession bordering on depression; all have increased national anger.
Is the left innocent? No. But then one or two smart-alecks on MSNBC (Keith Olbermann) don't balance out 24 hours of Fox News Channel, Limbaugh and the horde of right-wing radio talking heads.
And besides, to quote an old song from the Sixties, "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong."
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hate, regardless of where it comes from, breeds more hate.
Labeling politicians as targets and drawing crosshairs on their images may be simple political rhetoric to some. To others, it's pouring gasoline on fires of anger and hatred. On minds twisted even before the gasoline is added.
One of those fires burst forth Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
There will be more. How many more depends on how soon we remember that God-fearing includes compassion and humility.
She died Saturday in a hail of gunfire, along with five others including a federal judge. The primary target, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.
It is sad to say that something like this happening isn't a surprise.
We have become a nation filled with hate. Filled with anger.
There's nothing wrong in having differences in opinion, religion, nationality. Upon such things we would like to believe our nation was founded -- except for that slavery thing.
But increasingly the differences are hardening into "my way or else."
Had Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination in 2008, I fully expected at least one attempt on her life.
The open hatred conservatives had for the former First Lady went far beyond reason.
As it turned out, Barack Obama was the Democrats' choice and became our president. And the new target of conservative hatred.
While there aren't any instances of attempts on his life that we know of, it would be of little surprise to find out that any number of plots have been brewed up. Maybe they never hatched, or maybe they were stopped before becoming public.
The Republican Party, and conservatives in general, are in some part to blame. Fired by those who use inflammatory language in search of ratings and personal gain -- Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck; politicians who stoke frustration and anger to gain support (Sarah Palin ring a bell?); a recession bordering on depression; all have increased national anger.
Is the left innocent? No. But then one or two smart-alecks on MSNBC (Keith Olbermann) don't balance out 24 hours of Fox News Channel, Limbaugh and the horde of right-wing radio talking heads.
And besides, to quote an old song from the Sixties, "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong."
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hate, regardless of where it comes from, breeds more hate.
Labeling politicians as targets and drawing crosshairs on their images may be simple political rhetoric to some. To others, it's pouring gasoline on fires of anger and hatred. On minds twisted even before the gasoline is added.
One of those fires burst forth Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
There will be more. How many more depends on how soon we remember that God-fearing includes compassion and humility.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
No, can't say I have
Most ridiculous bumper sticker out there at the moment: A photograph of President George W. Bush with the line "miss me yet?"
Doesn't anybody on their side of the political line remember that W is the reason Barack Obama is now the President?
Back Obama or hate him, he's in the White House because of the mess Bush left us.
Anybody remember that he left the economy in a shambles? That we've been (depending on where you live) in either a recession of a depression since 2008 because of Dubya?
Bush lied about why he invaded Iraq, then proclaimed "mission accomplished" as more and more good American service men and women died.
To make things worse, his invasion made Iraq a bastion of militant Islam.
Saddam Hussein, that two-bit tyrant, was at least no friend of fundamentalist Islam. For starters, he had distilleries in Iraq -- blasphemy to radical Muslims.
In fact, before going completely rogue, Bin Laden offered to take Saddam out for the Saudis. The Saudis, however, figured that armed Muslim fundamentalists running around Iraq would be worse than leaving Saddam in power. Bin Laden then left Saudi Arabia and set up camp in Afghanistan.
Oh yeah, Afghanistan. W's war in Iraq took badly needed men and equipment away from our troops fighting the Taliban and Bin Laden's terrorists. So they're still there, years later, but now with their slimy fingers in Iraq and Pakistan as well as Afghanistan.
Miss George W. Bush? Not hardly.
Lord knows New Orleans doesn't miss him.
His foot-in-mouth disease did provide a wealth of unintentionally funny lines. But that's hardly the stuff of presidential legacies -- until now.
Doesn't anybody on their side of the political line remember that W is the reason Barack Obama is now the President?
Back Obama or hate him, he's in the White House because of the mess Bush left us.
Anybody remember that he left the economy in a shambles? That we've been (depending on where you live) in either a recession of a depression since 2008 because of Dubya?
Bush lied about why he invaded Iraq, then proclaimed "mission accomplished" as more and more good American service men and women died.
To make things worse, his invasion made Iraq a bastion of militant Islam.
Saddam Hussein, that two-bit tyrant, was at least no friend of fundamentalist Islam. For starters, he had distilleries in Iraq -- blasphemy to radical Muslims.
In fact, before going completely rogue, Bin Laden offered to take Saddam out for the Saudis. The Saudis, however, figured that armed Muslim fundamentalists running around Iraq would be worse than leaving Saddam in power. Bin Laden then left Saudi Arabia and set up camp in Afghanistan.
Oh yeah, Afghanistan. W's war in Iraq took badly needed men and equipment away from our troops fighting the Taliban and Bin Laden's terrorists. So they're still there, years later, but now with their slimy fingers in Iraq and Pakistan as well as Afghanistan.
Miss George W. Bush? Not hardly.
Lord knows New Orleans doesn't miss him.
His foot-in-mouth disease did provide a wealth of unintentionally funny lines. But that's hardly the stuff of presidential legacies -- until now.
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