When character no longer counts

In April, 1987, then presidential candidate Gary Hart, responding to rumors of marital infidelity, threw down the gauntlet.  He challenged the press to "follow me around".

The Miami Herald took up the gauntlet and soon discovered his relationship with a young woman, Donna Rice.  

Not long afterwards, Gary Hart quit the presidential race . . . only to reverse course several months later with the declaration, "Let the people decide; I'm back in the race!"

During those days, I heard people asking the question, "Does character really matter when you're running for public office?"

I asked myself, "Why is this even a question?  Of course character counts!"

Apparently, many Americans did not feel the same way, because in 1992, even amid rumors of past infidelity, Bill Clinton was elected to the Presidency, and then re-elected in 1996.  

In 1998, the Monica Lewinsky scandal blew up.  

At that time, certain evangelical Christian leaders -- including Franklin Graham and James Dobson -- stood up and declared, "Yes, character counts in a President!"

Some of those same leaders, in 2016, reversed course and supported Donald Trump for president, despite his known affairs with at least two women and his disgusting remarks about women that were leaked to the media.  

Did character count then?

Apparently not.  

This is what happens when you are so fearful of one particular candidate that you end up supporting the other, despite the character flaws that you condemned so forcefully when the candidate was not the one you supported.

There are Presidents who have done things for this country and have been adulterers and have committed other sins during their time in office.  Thomas Jefferson is now well-known for his dalliances (some would say, rape of) with Sally Hemings. John F. Kennedy left of trail of infidelity behind him.  And FDR's relationship with Lucy Mercer Rutherford is also well-documented.  

As many things as they did for this country, for me, their legacy is forever tainted by the way they treated their wives.  Or, as in Jefferson's case, the women around them (I say that because Jefferson's wife had died by the time he was in the White House.)  

Should a person who has committed adultery -- or, for that matter, any other sin -- be permanently barred from running for public office?

I don't know.  I can only tell you what I think:  If someone has committed adultery, if they have repented, if they have gotten help, if they have remained faithful to their spouse since the days of that adultery, then no, I don't think that should permanently bar them from public office. People do sin. People do repent of sin. God does forgive sin. 

What I resent is the cries of, "Yes, character counts!" from respected Christians only to have those same Christians turn around and say, "Yeah, the guy has rotten character, but look at King Cyrus! God used him!" Or, "King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and God used him!" Or, "He wasn't elected to be our pastor!" 

Number one, the prophesy about King Cyrus was fulfilled when he allowed the Israelites to go home after 70 years of exile. That prophecy was not intended to be extrapolated onto a future President of the United States.

Number two, although God did use David after he sinned, there are two things to keep in mind:  a) David repented (see Psalm 51) and b) David paid a very steep price for his sins. The son he conceived with Bathsheba died. His daughter Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amnon, and David did nothing about it. David's son Absalom attempted to seize the throne. Absalom raped ten of David's concubines, and then was ultimately killed by David's own general, Joab.

No President is perfect.  We all sin.  Presidents sin. 

But what we saw on Wednesday afternoon unfold on our TV screens is the ultimate result of what happens when we decide that character no longer counts in a President. 

We end up getting a President who is unwilling to concede an election until absolutely forced to, who continues to propagate a false narrative about a stolen election, and who whips a crowd up into such a frenzy that they feel free to storm the US Capitol, with Congress inside, and break into the House and Senate chambers in order to take selfies and trash the place. 

We decided way back in 1987 that character no longer mattered in a President. 

We are now reaping the consequences of that decision.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day of Infamy, Redux

Yesterday, January 6, 2021, a date which will live in infamy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by an out-of-control mob.

Like the attack on Pearl Harbor, we should have seen this coming, and many people did see something like this coming.

When a group of people who President Trump famously told to "stand back and stand by" announce that they will be in the nation's capital on the day the Electoral College was ratified, for the specific purpose of protesting the results of that Electoral College, and when the President of the United States himself welcomes them, tells people the time and date of a "stop the steal" rally, and then exhorts them informing them that "you will never take back our country with weakness", you should know that things have the potential to not end well.

Indeed, it ended badly.

The crowd, bearing Trump banners, Trump flags, Trump hats, probably Trump T-shirts, and most disgustingly, American flags and the Christian flag which hangs in many churches, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, right to the building where, in their mind, the greatest threat to the United States of America sat:  the 535 members of the United States Congress and the Vice-President of the United States.

Once there, they forced their way past a police barrier and swarmed the steps of the Capitol Building.

I was watching CSPAN on my computer, thinking that I just had a ringside seat to political theatre and ready to spend several hours mentally rolling my eyes at the hot air and stupidity of certain Congresspeople (I'm looking at you, Ted Cruz!) 

Then I started hearing reports of protestors surrounding the Capitol, so I decided to pack up the computer and move to the TV. 

I left the room briefly.

When I came back, I saw people marching into the Capitol.  This is the Capitol building which has been off-limits to the general public since COVID hit. 

And that's when I said, "Oh, my God."

The world now knows the evolving and the devolving of the situation over the next several hours.

They now know that protestors rammed the barricaded door of the House chambers.

They now know that protestors got into the House chambers and the Senate chambers. One protestor got his picture taken in the seat that the Vice President uses to preside over the Senate when it was in session.

One protestor got into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, plopped himself down in her chair, got his picture taken, and then swiped a piece of mail from her desk, leaving her a quarter to pay for it.  (Does he not know that the price of a stamp has not been a quarter for years?) 

A group of protestors were pictured scaling a wall to get onto the Capitol grounds.  If you are a Baby Boomer or an older Gen Xer, you may remember film footage of Iranian terrorists hoisting themselves over the walls of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran in 1979.  I remember that footage, and the photo of the people climbing the wall brought back memories of that awful time.

Another group "borrowed" a scaffold to lower the American flag and replace it with a Trump flag.

Still other protestors broke windows of the US Capitol to get inside.  When I heard that piece of news, that, for me, was the point where that protest stopped being "peaceful" and started being "violent".

We also now know that there were people who acted at great risk to keep the members of Congress safe. They ordered everyone to get down, gave them gas masks, and had them lie on the floor while outside, people pounded on the barricaded doors.  

People in the building were ordered to stay away from windows and make no noise. Just like an entire generation of school children have had to do for the last 20 years to protect themselves from mass shooters.

One pipe bomb was found at the local offices of the Democratic National Committee.  Another was found at the local offices of the Republican National Committee.  Apparently, some protesters were non-partisan in their desire for destruction.  And if pipe bombs were not enough, the police also had to remove a cooler full of Molotov cocktails.  (I assume these were not on ice and were probably not intended to be served "shaken, not stirred".)

And where, during all of this turmoil, was our President? 

Sitting in the Oval Office, watching the unraveling of the law and order he so proudly championed during his campaign for Presidency and making no move to stop it.

Until he made a video telling everyone, we love you, you're special, the election was still stolen, but you need to go home.

Five people are now dead as the result of this madness.  One woman, Ashli Babbitt, 35, described as a pro-Trump California native and Air Force veteran, was shot by Capitol Police.  The other three -- one a woman from Kennesaw (metro Atlanta) -- died from "medical emergencies" on the scene.  The death of number five, a US Capitol Police officer, was announced as I was writing this.  

Over 50 police officers were hurt. I do not know how many protestors were hurt.  

In the camera shots of the front of the Capitol, if you watch long enough, you'll notice that there are protestors being escorted out.  When I saw that, I asked myself, "Okay, why are the cops not using their batons to break up this group?"

I wasn't the only one that picked up on that. A good number of people -- including President-elect Joe Biden -- commented that if these protesters had been mostly black, instead of mostly white, the police response would have been a lot different. I have friends who are convinced that the police would have started shooting into the crowd.  And, given the experiences of African-Americans with the police, I can't disagree with those who feel that way.

At the moment, we have growing calls for either impeachment or the invoking of the 25th Amendment, which calls for the removal of the President if he is deemed unfit to perform his duties.  We also have a list of staff members who've resigned, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is also the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell. 

In the immediate aftermath of the Capitol riot, the now-traumatized Representatives and Senators, along with staff, went back to work.  For all of my criticism of Washington, DC politics, these men and women are to be commended for going back in and finishing the job they were Constitutionally mandated to do, which is, follow the Constitution and certify the results of the Presidential election.  

And, despite the stubbornness -- or stupidity -- of those who still protested the Electoral College results, Joe Biden was confirmed as the winner of the Presidential election, January 7, 2021, at close to 4 a.m.  

Donald J. Trump will be President for 13 more days, barring unforeseen events. 

I pray we last long enough to get to the inauguration.

I do not want another day of infamy.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Breaking the Third Commandment

Last night the President of the United States broke the Third Commandment.

He walked over to a church, after protesters in front of it had been tear-gassed, held up a Bible, and had his picture taken, after threatening to send out “thousands and thousands of troops” to stop the violence currently taking over America if the governors did not do it themselves.

If you look up a list of the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, the Third Commandment reads, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” (King James Version).  The New International Version reads, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”

Last night, in using the Bible and a church for a photo op, the President of the United States took two symbols of Christian America and misused them for his own purposes.  

There are people who have called him “brave” and said “well done”.  

No.  This is not well done.  

Trump used St. John’s Episcopal Church as a backdrop for his photo op.  The Right Reve. Mariann Buddy, who is the bishop of Washington, D.C.’s Episcopal Diocese, said she was “not given even a courtesy call that they would be clearing with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop, holding a Bible, one that declares that God is love and when everything he has said and done is to enslave violence.”

Earlier, Trump told governors on a conference call that they had to “dominate”, and take back the streets, and called them “weak”.

We have a man who died at the hands of police a week ago.  We have another man who died at the hands of two white men three months ago, and it took two months for video of that murder to emerge.    We have a woman who died at the hands of police who “went to the wrong house.” (Oops.). In case you have forgotten, their names are George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.  

I know of two African-Americans — people I am personally acquainted with — who are afraid to go jogging in their neighborhoods, who are afraid to wear masks when they go out.  Another African-American whom I know personally has said, I don’t want to die.  I just want to go home to my wife.

And our President has the chutzpah to go to a church and hold up a Bible, after demanding that governors “take back the streets” and threatening to send out “thousands and thousands of troops”.  

President Trump, do you want a second Civil War?

Do you?

We Christians get very touchy at the use of certain language.  We should.  I find certain words offensive and I don’t like my ears and my brain being assaulted with them.  

But something is terribly wrong when Christians are quick to scream about a particular word which takes the name of the Lord in vain, quick to demand prayer back in schools and the Ten Commandments posted on the walls, quick to demand that abortion be outlawed . . . and yet see nothing wrong when a President of the United States misuses the name of the Lord by using a church and a Bible to make himself look strong, tough, and Presidential.

We, indeed, have lost our compass.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Tina's TEOTWAWKI Journal, Days 49-52

In 1987, during the heat of a Presidential campaign, then-candidate Gary Hart threw down the gauntlet in response to rumors of his womanizing.  He challenged the press to follow him, saying "they'll be very bored."

The Miami Herald called his bluff, picked up the gauntlet, and discovered that he was carrying on a relationship with a young woman, Donna Rice (now Donna Rice Hughes). 

As a result, Gary Hart dropped out of the race for president . . . until December, 1987, when he announced, "Let the people decide, I'm back in the race!" 

His second attempt was as unsuccessful as the first.  Michael Dukakis was the eventual Democratic nominee in 1988, and he lost to George H.W. Bush.

During this period, I remember hearing talk about, "does character count?"  I thought, "Why are we even having this conversation?  Of course, character counts!" 

Apparently, the majority of the American people did not agree with me, because in 1992, Bill Clinton, himself the subject of allegations and suspicions of womanizing, was elected president, not once, but twice.  We know the rest of the story, involving a young woman named Monica Lewinsky, a deposition where a sitting president committed perjury, and a press conference where Bill Clinton looked the public dead in the eye and lied.  (Yes, Clinton should have been impeached because he was a sitting president who committed perjury.  He lied under oath.) 

And again, the question came up:  Does character matter?

And again, the answer:  Apparently not, because in 2016, the American people elected a man who's been openly unfaithful to two wives, bragged about how if you're famous, women will let you grab them by a particular area of the anatomy, been accused of sexual assault by a number of women, and, since his election, has used Twitter as a place to blast people he doesn't like or agree with.

Now, in 2020, our choices for United States President have come down to two men, both accused of sexual assault.  In the past weeks, a former staff assistant for Joe Biden, Tara Reade, has come forward accusing Biden of sexual assault back in 1993.  According to what I have heard, her story has evolved from "uncomfortable touching" to outright assault, and people who have commented on her allegations have said things from "she never described the assault to me" to "oh, yes, she told me exactly what happened." 

Last week, my son showed me a news clip and said, "It's about Joe Biden".  When the clip was finished, I asked him if he understood what they were talking about.  When he said no, I said that Biden was being accused of treating a woman in a way she shouldn't be treated.  I then said -- and yes, I used the exact word -- that I didn't know if he had raped her or kissed her when she didn't want to be kissed, but if he was guilty of any of that, I wouldn't feel comfortable voting for him for president.

The minute the words left my mouth, I realized the position I had just put myself in.  You see, I've seriously thought of voting for Biden just to get Trump out of office.  (Yes, I believe Trump is that bad.  I think he's incompetent as a leader and he has done little, if anything, to discourage people from stirring up xenophobia and from leading armed protests about "stay-at-home" orders in certain states.  Last week, after reading a headline, "Will a new great depression dictate Trump's fate?"  my frustrated response was, "I hope it does!"  When a friend asked me if I hoped for things to get worse, I said, no, I didn't; I just wanted him out of office.) 

But, if I wouldn't feel comfortable having Biden in the White House, and I won't vote for Trump, what do I do?

As Jimmy Stewart said in It's A Wonderful Life when he discovered that Donna Reed was hiding naked in the hydrangea bushes, "This is a very interesting situation!"

Libertarian Justin Amash entered the presidential race last week.  He could, if he knows how to work his campaign right, draw away enough votes from one candidate to get the other elected; or possibly split the vote enough to throw the election into the House of Representatives. 

No, I am not looking for a perfect presidential candidate.  No, we are not electing a pastor.  Yes, other presidents -- see JFK and FDR -- have also been guilty of adultery while providing leadership to our country. 

But is it too much to ask for a leader who has character and morality and self-control?

Is it too much to ask for a candidate that has character?

While we're pondering that question, let's sing our theme song:

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine!

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation. 

Pig-pen for president!

I have decided who I am going to vote for in 2020.

Pig-Pen.

Yes, THAT Pig-Pen, the dirt-loving character from Peanuts.

Frankly, I can't find a candidate that is worth voting for and who will help bring this country together.

I wrote this morning on my Facebook page that in the last year, I have seen posts from Christians that have made me think that if they met each other in the hallway, they would come to blows.  I saw it last year during the Kavanaugh hearings, and this morning, I saw it again between two Christians talking about certain new immigration policies.

Trump isn't the Messiah.  Get over it.
Trump isn't the Antichrist.  Get over it.
Trump is not the fulfillment of any sort of Biblical prophecy.  Please, for the love of all things holy, DO NOT quote me that verse about Cyrus.  While it's true that God can use whoever he wants whenever he wants, trying to fit Donald Trump into the verse that prophesies about Cyrus the king is like trying to put a square peg into a round hole.  (And while these rocket scientists COULD "put a square peg into a round hole", us trying to do it with Biblical prophecy is a misuse of Scripture.  Period.)

And those of you that tell me that Trump is a baby Christian? 

I've been hearing that for three years now.  I see no fruit of the Spirit.  I see no increasing faith, goodness, brotherly kindness, etc. 

"But the economy's good!"

How many people said that when Bill Clinton was president as an excuse to overlook his behavior? 

"But at least he tells it like it is!"

Uh, there are ways he can tell it like it is without coming off as a total buffoon. 

"But at least we have a conservative SCOTUS!"

But at what price? 

We are at a level of anger I have not seen in my lifetime.  I'm waiting for someone to bring a cane onto the floor of the Senate. 

If this is the price that we have had to pay for a conservative SCOTUS, that price is too high.
The Democrats want free stuff for everyone and they want the rich to pay for it.
The Republicans . . . well, I'm not sure what they want, outside of a good economy. 

Neither party is doing their job.  So my vote is going to Pig-Pen to clean up government!

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Plot twists, primal screams, and Dewey Defeats Truman

For months, I have been waiting for the last, final plot twist in this unbelievable election season.

I thought the final plot twist was the "locker room" conversation between Donald Trump and Billy Bush where Trump said vile, disgusting things about how he could (and may have) treated women.

Then I thought the final plot twist was the FBI reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

But never, never, never, in my thoughts about this election did I think that I was going to write the words I am about to write:

President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Apparently that was the plot twist that I should have been waiting for.

I stayed off of Facebook on Election Day.  Perhaps I should also have stayed off of it today.

Already, people are venting their anger, fear, and frustration.  From the way some people are posting, we're either going to be living in the country of Panem (from The Hunger Games) or the Republic of Gilead (from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.)

I don't blame people for being concerned.  And I will not say that people shouldn't be angry or feel angry.  I didn't like it when people told me that "God is in control" when an election didn't turn out the way I wanted it, so I am not going to say to anyone now.

Last night, a political pundit on CNN describe the election results as a "primal scream" of the American electorate.  There may be more truth than he realizes.  People are angry, frustrated, and fed up.  People are tired of what they perceive to be an unresponsive government and a government that does not seem to listen to the electorate.

So, when an "outsider" came along who expertly tapped into the anger and frustration that many people feel -- and expertly exploited that same anger -- people turned to him.

Right now, I don't really have the energy to empathize.  I have empathy fatigue.  I'm sure that some rest and a resetting of the brain after this long, tumultuous election season will take away that empathy fatigue.  

But I think I can predict that, when Donald Trump actually does get into the White House, and he is unable/unwilling to do what he promised he would do, the same people who were so enthusiastic about putting him in the White House are going to be the same people that will feel betrayed, and they will be the same people who will start screaming about getting him OUT of the White House in four years.

In the meantime, I'm going to sit back and listen to the so-called experts try and dissect the events of this generation's version of Dewey Defeats Truman.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Tina to GOP: Bye, Felicia

Although my dad registered as a Democrat when we moved to Florida -- for reasons he never explained to me -- I grew up with Republican Party principals.  I remember riding in the car one time with my father when Ronald Reagan came on the air, and my father said, "Silence."

He also took me one time with him when he voted.  And we watched every evening news program that was on:  ABC at 6, NBC at 6:30, CBS at 7.  So I grew up with a knowledge of current events and the idea that it was very important to vote.

When I went away to college, I went to Florida State, and in Leon County, you could register to vote if you were within six months of your 18th birthday.  So I registered, and when asked for a party affiliation, I put down Republican.

The first time I voted for President, in 1984, I voted for Ronald Reagan.

I was young and ignorant in 1988, and I voted for Dukakis.

But ever since then, I voted Republican for president.

I've always believed in a rather limited government.  I'm a moral, fiscal, and social conservative, and I don't believe that the government should be giving "handouts".  (I also understand that there's a difference between a handup and a handout.  There is a place for short-term help and for help for those who cannot work.)  I worry about the increasing power of the federal government.  Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

But the GOP has been sliding away from conservative principles for the last several years, and increasingly, I have grown very angry with their leadership.  They say they have principles, and yet they abandon them for the sake of "getting along".  You can say what you will about Sarah Palin, but in 2008, she did galvanize the conservative base of the Republican Party--a base that is now being ignored.

Over the past year, the Republican Party has rallied behind a man who, in my opinion, is not qualified for the Presidency.  He has had success and failure in business, but knows nothing about foreign policy or how to work with Congress or foreign governments.  If he HAS worked with foreign governments, it's in his capacity as a businessman and not as a world leader.

He has shot his mouth off about Muslims, immigration, Megyn Kelly, and other subjects, and he has refused to apologize.

He does not believe he needs to be forgiven by God.

People support him because "he says what everyone else wants to say but either can't or won't."

He wants to make America great again but has no specifics on how he will do it.

And one by one, the leaders of the Republican Party and conservative media have all fallen in line behind a Pied Piper playing his flute and leading the children, one by one, off to the side of a mountain, where the door will close behind them.

Last night, upon learning that Donald Trump had officially and formally secured the Republican nomination for President, I'd had enough.

My 35-year relationship with the Republican Party is at an end.

Conservative blogger Erick Erickson posted an article this morning that sums up much of what I also am feeling.  He says that he cannot be a water carrier for Trump.

Neither can I.

So, here's my farewell to the Republican Party:

Bye, Felicia.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Manic Monday: 1828 revisited!

The candidate had had it!

His opponent had committed the unpardonable sin:  insulting the man's wife.

Ted Cruz?

Donald Trump?

Nope.

Andrew Jackson.

The presidential election of 2016 has sunk to lows not seen since the election of 1828, when Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel was subject to repeated attacks on her character.

It wasn't the first time, unfortunately, that Rachel had been attacked.  She and Andrew were married--so they claimed--in 1791, after they received word of Rachel's divorce from her previous husband. However, records show that Rachel's first husband didn't even file for divorce until 1792, and the divorce was granted in 1793 on grounds of her desertion.  Rachel's side of the story was that he'd kicked her out of the house, and she never realized that her divorce hadn't been legally granted until 1794.

To make their union legal, Rachel and Andrew married or remarried in 1794. Over the course of their relationship, Andrew came to Rachel's defense many times--including fighting a duel in 1806, where Andrew's opponent wounded him before Andrew shot and killed him.

When Jackson ran for president against John Quincy Adams in 1828, Adams' campaign asked the question: "Ought a convicted adulteress and her paramour husband to be placed in the highest offices of this free and Christian land?"

Apparently, the voters thought so, because they elected Andrew Jackson to the presidency.

Rachel did not live to occupy the White House. She died of a heart attack before the inauguration. Andrew always maintained that Rachel died of a broken heart.

 This past week, Donald Trump took yet another handful of mud and slung it onto the character of Heidi Cruz, Ted Cruz' wife. Trump tweeted a less-than-flattering picture of Heidi next to a more-than-flattering picture of his own wife, threatening to "spill the beans" on Heidi.

Cruz fired back with the order to "leave Heidi the hell alone".

Not to be outdone, the National Enquirer then published a report accusing Cruz of sexual dalliances with no fewer than five--count 'em, five--women. At last report, Cruz has flatly denied it, and there's some question as to whether or not Donald Trump planted that story. The publisher of the Enquirer is a friend of Trump's.

Apparently, as far as running for President is concerned, the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Someone needs to distribute soap, shampoo, and towels to every American so they can wash the mud that's been slung so far in this election.

And then every American over the age of one needs to be issued a Hazmat outfit, because it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Are we ripe for another Arthur Bremer?

He took a gun to a campaign rally, and when the time was right, he pointed it at his intended victim and fired.  As a result, the victim, presidential candidate George Wallace, spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

The date was May 15, 1972; the place was Laurel, Maryland; and the shooter's name was Arthur Bremer.  Bremer was 21 years old when he shot George Wallace.  He spent over 35 years in prison before being paroled in 2007.

Bremer began a diary in 1972 in which he wrote about his plans to assassinate either Richard Nixon or George Wallace.  Why?  He wanted "to do SOMETHING BOLD AND DRAMATIC, FORCEFUL & DYNAMIC, A STATEMENT of my manhood for the world to see."  Later, he would write, "I'm as important as the start of WWI.  I just need the little opening and a second of time."

In other words, he wanted to be important, not unlike Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold nearly 30 years later, or not unlike John Hinkley, the man who shot President Reagan.

I was eight years old in May of 1972, and I remember when this happened.  Since then, I've seen many times the video clip of George Wallace being shot, falling to the ground, with blood staining his shirt; his wife Cornelia throwing herself on him.

After last's night disturbance in Chicago which resulted in the cancellation of a Donald Trump campaign rally, I think we are ripe for another Arthur Bremer.

Who remembers 1972?  We were still in Vietnam, although we were beginning the process of leaving.  One month after George Wallace's shooting, five men would re-tape a door at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. and begin the downfall of a President.

Just four years earlier, 1968, Chicago's Democratic convention had been convulsed in violence that spilled out into the streets, with demonstrators chanting, "The whole world is watching!"  (The next year, Robert Lamm of the rock group Chicago would borrow that audio clip and use it on their debut album.)

Sound familiar?

I've previously referred to the Republican race as a food fight worthy of "Animal House".  These days, I watch the Republican debates for the entertainment value and the chance to throw virtual rotten food at the TV set.

But last night, in Chicago, things ceased being funny.

If, indeed, the whole world was watching in 1968 when demonstrators marched in the streets of Chicago, that's even more true now in 2016.  In 1968, there was no CNN, and Fox referred to the name of a movie-making company, not a news channel.  And people used the word "net" to refer to catching fish or butterflies, not as shorthand for "Internet".

Last night, in Chicago, I saw conditions that were ripe for the making of another Arthur Bremer.

When you have a dissatisfied electorate that has been battered by fears of terrorist attack and nearly eight years of economic malaise and uncertainty, combined with clashes between police and civilians, with the addition of mass shootings that are so common that people are numb to them . . . you have the makings of a situation that appeals to an Arthur Bremer.

Bremer was obviously mentally ill when he shot George Wallace.  But he also wanted to do something "bold and dynamic", and somewhere in that deranged mind of his, he decided that the way to do it was to shoot a presidential candidate.

In this age of YouTube and selfies and 24-hour news coverage which is fueled by violence and which magnifies every injustice, both real and perceived, what's to stop someone from pointing a gun at a presidential candidate for those very same reasons--to do something "bold and dynamic"?  Or, to think that THEY are the only ones that can put a stop to Donald Trump's increasingly shrill appeals to an angry electorate?  Or, to put a stop to the campaigns of Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Marco Rubio, or John Kasich for similar reasons?

Donald Trump is right about one thing:  people are angry.

Just as I was writing this, I saw a news blurb quoting President Obama as saying that the GOP provided the conditions for Donald Trump's success.  Opinions are going to vary as to who is ultimately responsible for the angry American electorate.  I will say, that although Donald Trump isn't personally responsible for this current wave of anger in the country, he's not doing very much to keep it in check.  In fact, he's doing everything he can to fuel the fire!

I fear that this angry American electorate is just the right soil to grow up another Arthur Bremer, who one day will point a gun at a candidate and fire.  I pray to God that that does not happen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Manic Monday: Dear Sarah . . .

Dear Sarah,

Last week you endorsed Donald Trump for President, and the conservative community is up in arms. Some agree with you and they're glad you're on board.  Others think you have betrayed your conservative principles.

This is a free country, and you certainly have the right to endorse whoever you wish.

But as a wife, mother, and fellow Christian, may I make a suggestion to you?

Go home.

Go home and be with your husband, who's done single parent duty plenty of times, and who I'm sure misses you and needs you.

Get Track the help he needs, especially if he truly is suffering from PTSD.  At the very least, get him to a good counselor.  If he's committing acts of domestic violence, he desperately needs help.

Show Bristol that being the single mother of two parents isn't all it's cracked up to be.  While I know you love your grandchildren, and you love Bristol, she needs to understand that her actions are going to have consequences that will be passed down to those children.

Help Willow and Piper with the challenges they have being young women in today's world.

Most of all, be with little Trig as he faces the challenges he will have as a child with Down's Syndrome.  I have a child with special needs also.  We both love our special children dearly, and we know that they can be hard to handle at times.

Go home, Sarah.

Donald Trump does not need you.

Your family does.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Manic Monday (a day late, again, due to illness): Going into hiding

On Saturday, October 10th, I may go into hiding for the day.

Or out of town.

Donald Trump is coming to Atlanta, and he will be speaking at a location that, according to Google Maps, is seven minutes from where I live.  The traffic in the area will be nightmarish. 

Do I plan to go?  No, I do not. 

Why?  Because I don't plan to vote for Trump.  The more I see him in the news, and the more I hear about him, the more I am turned off by him.  He may know "the art of the deal", and he may have business expertise, but that doesn't necessarily qualify you to run the United States of America.  He seems to think that all he has to do is run his mouth and people will fall in line.  That isn't going to work when you are facing down Vladimir Putin or the Ayatollah Khameni of Iran.  He may make a good advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, but not President. 

I feel the same way about Ben Carson.  I admire the man, and he'd make a good Surgeon General, but I don't think his medical expertise necessarily makes him qualified to be President.

Right now, I'm not sure who I am going to back for President. I know who I won't back, but not yet who I will back.

For now, though, Donald Trump is not on my short list.  And that's why, on Saturday, I will be nowhere near where he is speaking.  Even if I have to go into hiding.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.