Calling All Heroes.

After the dust had settled post presidential election I looked out at the vast political landscape and guess what I saw ?  Yes I saw a orange buffoon with a chinchilla on his head who says the most ignorant and idiotic things, but that's not what I wanna talk about here.  I looked out and I saw............  Nothing.

I saw bupkis because the Democratic party is in the middle of a identity crisis.  In the last election we ran a anti campaign.  Anti Trump, anti alt.right, anti nationalist flavored fascism, anti this, anti that...... Anti.  Running a anti campaign only works when you also stand for something, giving a compare and contrast message that unifies and galvanizes.  Well we didn't and we all saw how that turned out.  We need to find our identity, a profile of what we stand for and who we are.
So now I look across this landscape searching for a hero, the next Democratic party, and hopefully progressive champion.  Don't get me wrong, there are a few worthy contenders such as Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, Keith Ellison, but no one has stepped into the vacuum and planted the flag.  Someone is going to have to step into the breach, or are we content to let Trump and the GOP dictate the national narrative for the next 4 years. The GOP has their poster boy.  Who do we turn our lonely eyes to ?

Even though the face is fuzzy, I can see clear as a beacon what she or he stands for though.  Democratic Party leadership write this down, Sir Richard will quiz you on it later.  This champion stands firmly for the working men and women of this country.  They are more than eager to sit down in town halls all across this great land from the rural heartlands in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Georgia, anywhere in the 50.  This champion cannot wait to tell you how their vision differs from the trickle down corporate cronies and how they are fundamentally different from Don the con and his ilk.

This Champion stands with and for Women, the LGTBQ community, those who feel persecuted, marginalized, and oppressed.  Whether they were born here or are here because they want to be a part of the american experience.  This Champion tears down walls, this Champion not only knows what E Pluribus Unum means, but identifies with what it stands for.  This Champion is everything Trump isn't: deep thinking, articulate, empathetic, knowledgeable, respectful, humble, and wise.  This Champion is NOT just another big money, big pharma, corporate stooge who is tainted by the Washington shuffle of special interests and status quo.  It is time for progressives to become more active in the dialogue and remind those why Bernie could get 20,000 people to show up at a rally, and remind the party leadership that all those people haven't gone anywhere and that they are looking for a champion too.

The time is now folks, we need someone to step forward and lead.  If you see her or him, do me a favor will you ?  Shine a light on them, tell all your friends who they are because maybe this Champion hasn't even thought about it yet. So happy hero hunting.......

Tricky Dick & Don The Con

Since the recent past election, there has been some assertion that there are numerous similarities between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.  So as the History major and History buff that I am, I decided to really dive in and test the veracity of comparing Tricky Dick and Don The Con.

I started with the task of establishing a definable scope for comparison to bring out any glaring surface commonalities and where they differ.  I drew on parameters of personality traits, personal philosophies, world view, idiosyncrasies, and belief systems.  Sound wonky and a tad too micro?  Yup that would be fair to think, but I went there.

On the surface there are more than a few glaring similarities.  Both share an acute neurosis and paranoia, such as a fixation of loyalty, both exhibit the tried and true "everyone is out to get me", a good healthy inferiority complex, and a hyper sense of projective  masculinity, and we can't forget to throw in a shared deep core brand of populism, the usage of the "silent majority". All of the neurosis exhibited similar manifestations such as: being at war with the media and the role of media, a steroid-ed up sense of nationalism, and a "too big to fail, above the law" attitude.  Surprisingly, that's where the road seems to diverge for Dick and the Trumpster.

Nixon was easier to get a handle on, not only because we have a life of totality, but also because Nixon's core beliefs are more rooted, especially on display in the White House.  There has been tons of volumes written about Nixon and there is a wealth of data to draw from.  Trump is more elusive, as a newcomer to the political scene his persona and historical portrait is a work in progress.  After really delving in to those parameters as it applies to that scope, there are some disturbing personal findings.  If you're a Trumper, you're really not going to like what I am going to say next.

The main reason that Trump is so elusive is that his belief systems are incredibly shallow and malleable, like shifting sand.  His core is ego and winning.  You could point to those two factors and apply it to Nixon too, but the difference is that Nixon was at heart putting his country first (or is idealized vision of the country), and Nixon as a veteran of World War two was patriotic in nature.  Trump's loyalty is to Trump, or to put it in a nationalistic sovereign context, "The United State of Trump".  Both use Populism  as a tool as a part of their need to be loved and liked, but unlike Trump, Nixon had a certain courage of his conviction.  Trump believes in nothing that does not end in the word Trump.

Their sense of entitlement also come from different places.  Nixon grew up poor, experiencing a hardscrabble beginning that was a lifelong chip on his shoulder and a motivation to succeed at all costs.  Trump was born in the 1% and has never known what it was like to be poor or to be even able to relate to those who are.  Springsteen would say in his song Better Days, "A rich man in a poor man's shirt".  And that makes you wonder how all those blue collar voters in red states could look to Trump to be their champion.  Well that's a whole different study for a different day.

Lastly, it also comes down to brains.

Love him or hate him, Nixon was a smart and under appreciated cereberally gifted man.  I know I will take heat for saying this but tricky Dick was a deceptively smart guy.  Both excel at cunning and political astuteness.  Love or hate him, Trump is like only a few others in his ability to read a room and to adjust his narrative to craft a selling pitch.  That is the true genius of Trump, the slick salesman who pressure sells you until you figure out that your pockets have been picked and you now have a timeshare in a condo in Boca Raton.

As the story of the Trump presidency and phenomenon is written, there will always be the urge to compare him to others in history, hey it's what historians do.  And while it's a fun project to go down that rabbit hole as you've just witnessed, don't we all feel just a little bit dirtier?

A Moral Document

I've always considered the national budget to be a moral document, it list's the nation's priorities and is a reflection of what we hold as important. The new proposed budget by the Trump administration can be best described as a crisis of conscience.

There is a fundamental shift in this new budget away from social infrastructure to a militarized state that is firmly on a war footing. The proposed increase of 54 billion in the military budget is a clear and distinct saber rattle that signals both our allies and the world at large that we will soon be at war again. You don't increase the military budget by that much without a clear intention of using it.

So while we will find ourselves up to our necks in new shiny military toys, the proposed cuts are going to be felt by those who are most vulnerable in our society, the poor, the elderly, the children, and women. On the chopping block are such vital programs as: Planned Parenthood, The WIC Program, Meals On Wheels, The National Endowment Of The Arts, and Public Broadcasting, just to name a few. I must admit I was incredulous when I perused the proposed budget and learned what cuts were listed, by how much, and what the results of those cuts would be. Heck, I think anyone with a soul and a conscience would feel troubled by that news. And, that brings me to this monologues power word....... Conscience.

We probably will never know who exactly it was that thought up the bright idea to cut a program like Meals on Wheels. A program that is so noble and so altruistic that there is literally no ulterior motive on the part of the big bad government. As you know Meals on Wheels delivers filling nutritional food to the elderly, the shut in's, and the disabled. I am interested to know if whoever thought of that mighty brain fart, had any crisis of conscience as he or she wrote it? How about getting rid of the WIC program?, was there any flutter in their soul as they proposed axing a program that the anachronism literally means "Women, Infants, and Children". WIC supplements healthy food for low income mothers, provides vouchers for baby food and formula for infants and small children. What about Public Broadcasting? Did he or she experience any irony when as they were putting forth that as a viable cut, they were suggesting ending a show like Sesame Street which if they personally didn't watch it, they know someone who did?!

We can go around and around on the need to balance the budget and pay off the national debt. I am certainly not saying that there is no governmental waste and there are ways of running the economy more effectively. I am strongly suggesting that we find other areas to consider when thinking of taxes and departmental cuts. Let's see here, off the top of my head we could..... I don't know........ maybe start with closing the tax loop holes for the top 1% of incomes so that they can finally start paying their fair share of taxes. And while we're on the subject of tax loop holes, why don't we close the loop holes for the big corporations too. Don't feel sad for Wall Street, I think they will be alright. It seems by doing those two things alone would help make up for any increases to the budget, and I'm willing to bet a large portion of the national debt would be taken care of too.

Let's go back to that power word.... Conscience. It's time we seriously examine ours if it means of ending programs that helps ease the burdens and suffering of our most vulnerable citizens. If you want to make america great again, you certainly aren't going to be when you go after the poor, the elderly, and disabled. Conscience...... It seems to be in short supply both in the White House and in the halls of Mar - A - Lago.

An Open Letter To Jimbo

My wife shared a story on Facebook about a young lady who witnessed an overt racial discrimination encounter at a fast food establishment.  A extended family member responded with the usual "Pro Trump" diatribe of nonsense and ignorance.  Below is my response to "Jimbo's" inane ramblings.... Enjoy !!


Just came across this and decided to weigh in a bit, and it may come out as a little anal retentive but since starting a political radio show I like to break things down to it's granular level when responding to someone's written words, that way it's a little more cogent and intellectually responsive.

First, the weird and sweet irony of the first sentences about "shadows and ghosts" and insinuating a non existent premise, considering the previous weekend's wackadoo fantasy of wiretapping brought out by our orange complexioned Commander in Chief shouldn't be lost on anyone one with a I.Q. that is larger than your average duck billed platypus.  What IS hard to believe is that you wrote that down with a straight face, I mean c'mon Jimbo, that was precious.

"There's no way in this day and age that I believe that this happened. It's more of this paranoid racial discrimination stuff that doesn't exist."   What does someone say to a opinion that is expressed that revels in it's own willful ignorance?  Really Jimbo?, have you not seen or read the statistics of hate crimes and racially charged confrontations?  If you would like I can refer you to some reports and studies conducted by Ivy League institutions that bear out the alarming rise in hate crimes and overt acts of racism.  "Furthermore we need to stop re-posting these lies and this ridiculous Forum that doesn't exist.".  When saying that something doesn't exist, that flies in the face of rational common sense and reality, it doesn't help your argument or credibility Jimbo..... I would work on that.

" It's like paying protesters to protest something they have no idea about. People that didn't even vote protesting because they're getting paid.".  Believe it or not, I have read this assertion before, and I got to take you to task on this one Jimbo.  I would love you to show me a credible source that can prove that these protesters that you are talking about are "paid protesters" or "actors" if you will.  Please do not cite Breitbart or any right wing media pundit or talk show host, they try to stick to a "lowest common denominator" model when they engage with their listeners or readers.

" I'm saying flat out that no one came in there and was denied because of their color and then somebody came right behind them and was given an application. That's completely idiotic and ridiculous".  Of course we can not really know for certain the veracity of the claim, as none of us were there to witness or "not witness" what happened, but it does not seem as far fetched as you have tried to assume it is.  Hey, if Cheeto Hitler can claim wiretapping with a straight face, why can't a situation of overt racism be realistic?  Jimbo I could tell you about a encounter between a young Hispanic mother and children being verbally accosted and threatened that I happened to witness first hand at a local grocery store.  Don't pretend it doesn't exist, there are too many people around to disabuse you of that notion.

" The same people who we're democrats at the Trump rallies with Nazi arm bands. All put on by the democrats! You people need to grow up!".  Holy Betty Crocker on acid!!, where do you get this argument from?  Why can't you accept that White Nationalist's and the Alt. Right believe what you believe?  This tired argument needs to buried out back in our National Cemetery of Terminal Ignorance.  Let's all try to remember how mango Mussolini made his entrance onto the political arena.  He was the driving force behind that absurd and totally racist conspiracy theory of "Birtherism", the theory that former President Obama wasn't born in this country and therefore wasn't a legitimate President.  He has consistently proven to if not espouse, than certainly flirt with racially charged language to appeal to his base.  Face it Jimbo, he was endorsed by the KKK and others of that ilk.  You may not like it, but you got to own it.  And then the closer to that.... "You people need to grow up!".  Maybe if we try real hard at adulting, one day we may be able to get to that esteemed "3 a.m. Trump Twitter feed" level.

"The only thing that is happening is the racial divide that Obama created".  I need to know what made you vomit out that piece of mental flotsam?  Obama created the racial divide?  How?, by being an African American? Oh Jimbo,  tell me you don't walk around talking like that.  The 44th President took so much hatred and anger from the right over his 8 years in office.  I know it's easy to hate a guy who brought the country back out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, lowering unemployment and giving the American people healthcare.

Luckily Jimbo, I am here to help in your time of need!  I encourage you to listen to my Progressive Political Radio Show "Turning Left with Jason Allen" that is on Sunday Night's @ 8:30 pm (PT) on www.houseofsound.org ....

Sleeping Giants

On December 8th, 1941 there was a euphoric celebration going on among the staff of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, celebrating the stunning, devastating surprise attack upon the United States Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. While the staff whooped it up, there was one man who sat alone "sunk in an appearant  depression". It was Yamamoto himself.

It seemed that he and almost he alone saw what the eventual outcome would be. There is a famous quote attributed to Yamamoto just after the attack:

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve".

You see, he knew that once this emerging colossus that is America was stirred to action and galvanized in purpose was awoken, Imperial Japan's days were numbered.

As I look at the footage from the several Town Hall meetings that took place this last week, I can't help of being reminded of that ominous quote. It is beyond doubt that the campaign, election, and ascendancy of Trump has brought about a mass political awakening. The raw emotions voiced at these gatherings from coast to coast from moms & dads, from the elderly to a seven year old boy, illustrate to us that we are waking up from a miasma  slumber and looking for answers.

In these bell weather moments there is a reckoning. We have seen it through history, both human and American. You can hear, see, and read it in documents and speeches like: "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary.....", "Four score and seven years ago......", "Hell no we won't go.........". We are starting to see this reckoning in our Town Halls and in our streets. Again, I would like to point out to our Republican and conservative brothers and sisters that math does not lie. You are not the majority and there is no sweeping mandate. Trump's dystopian dream of walls, mass deportations, muzzled media, and authoritarianism will not long endure.

There is much talk about how the left is in disarray and it may be that there are some division at the moment but make no mistake, this shall pass. As F.D.R. rebuilt during the depression, as President Obama brought us back after a great recession, we the people, we the sleeping giants are starting to wake up and our voices will be heard.

What Did You Expect?

After watching Trump's Press Conference I was equally shocked and not surprised.  The little voice that's inside all our noggins said to me:

"What did you expect?"

We've always seen and come to believe that the President should be calm, cool, and collected no matter the situation and no matter who is the President.  We even have a term for it, "acting Presidential".

It's safe to say that we didn't see that when Trump gave his 77 minute part diatribe, part rant session, and part display of wackadoo.  Watching the faces of the White House Press Pool might be best described as them watching a train wreck.  There are still interns here trying to sift through the transcript to find pockets of sanity.  But again:

"What did you expect?"

Any gravitas we were hoping for when Trump took the oath of office should be quietly unceremoniously buried out in the back in our cemetery of national common hopes.  He is who he is right?  He is very much the vulgar, English language slaughtering, ignorant, racist, xenophobic, narcissistic, impulse driven loon we always knew he was, and again he just lived up to who he is at his core.

In a week where chaos reigned with the bombshell of Flynn's departure due to Russian collusion, lies, and possible treason, to Stephen Miller doing his best to win this year's Joseph Goebbels Look alike award, to the press conference meltdown; many believe this is a unraveling of a presidency.  I think it's just another week in our new national circus.  When he continues to be what he has been all along, he fulfills the cliche: It is what it is.

When we witness that sort of public spectacle the press in real time needs to adjust and push back in real time.  When the leader of the free world calls the media fake, spews out 100% verifiable lies, and paints a picture of dystopian fantasy, the Press has to call him on it right then during the back and forth where he either answers the questions or continues to look and play the fool.  He is always going to have his 35% sycophant supporters, those who willfully believe his brand of crazy.  The press needs to push back and not continue to be manipulated into being a part of the carnival.

This is where we are right now, this unfortunately is what we will continue to see until he is either impeached or gets his orange gludius maximus voted out of office.  But we should not be shocked anymore.

After all, what did we expect?

"Apathy" OR "How I Learned To Give A Damn"

ap·a·thy
noun

lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
"widespread apathy among students"

synonyms: indifference, lack of interest, lack of enthusiasm, lack of concern, unconcern, uninterestedness, unresponsiveness, impassivity, dispassion, lethargy, languor, ennui; rareacedia
"widespread apathy among the voters"

Disillusionment can lead you to a dangerous place.  It can cause you to lose faith, it can make you look at the ground instead of looking forward, and it can bring you to the threshold of apathy.  Love and hate are emotions, causing feelings of fury and euphoria.  The silver lining though is at least you are feeling something.  Apathy means you feel nothing, you don't care.
In Politics as in life, apathy can be expressed in a myriad of reasons.  Most reasons sadly are legitimate, voicing disillusionment in everything and everyone.  During this last election season I don't believe I have seen more apathy from people.  Ever.  When 46% of the electorate don't even bother to vote, something is seriously wrong and broken.  We are going to discuss several of the reasons given that many used to describe why they feel disconnected, discarded, and yes apathetic.

I.

"My Vote Doesn't Matter"

I think that I heard this the most and if there was a poll given for the state of apathy, I would be willing to bet that this would top the leader board.  A perfect statement to convey the belief of a total systemic breakdown.  It encapsulates a mega philosophic stance in such a small sentence.  Think about it, "my vote doesn't matter" means that this whole concept of democracy is fundamentally on the fritz.  It means I no longer have a voice, that what I think and feel no longer matters.  It means that I do not have a part to play in the local, statewide, and national conversation and debate.
When we feel that we don't have a voice, we stop talking and we stop advancing ideas that could help change the world.  If I feel that my vote doesn't matter then any ole' demagogue and petty tyrant can run roughshod over our most sacred beliefs, laws, and institutions.  If enough of us think that our vote doesn't matter then those demagogues and tyrants can gain office and control.  But hey, that can't happen here in America Right?.......

As I stated before, 46% of registered voters didn't vote in the last election.  In such a tight race, it literally means that chances are that the election ended in a way that you didn't necessarily expect or want.  This show is being broadcast out of Portland, Oregon and here on the left coast we overwhelmingly voted blue.  "My vote doesn't matter" can take on different contexts.  It can mean systemic nullification but it can also mean "Clinton is going to win in Oregon or this blue state anyways, so why bother... It wouldn't have changed the outcome".

 I would like to give you some food for thought and give you a couple things to think about.  First, if you live in a state where it wouldn't have made a difference in the Electoral College you still could have added to that epic discrepancy in the popular vote.  Instead of just winning the popular vote by almost three million, could you imagine a final tally of four, four and a half, five million votes.  There certainly would not be any talk of a mandate and by the shear audacity of the numbers there would have been a overwhelming case for change to the Electoral College.  If you live in one of the several battleground or competitive states then you have to contend with the fact that you could have effectively changed the result.  In the so called "rust belt" states the race was so incredibly insanely close that what I contend rings true.  I don't mean to point fingers or demean non voters in any way but inaction like action has consequences.

II.

"I Don't like The Candidates Or Politicians, They're Sleazy"

This view takes on a certain poignancy as it pertains to this last campaign season.  In no other election for President has both candidates held such a high unfavorable rating.  It was brutal and it was ugly.  While one was exposed as being a narcissistic, racist, xenophobic, sexist, and sexual deviant who mocked the disabled and lied at least 74% of the time he opened his pie hole;  the other candidate was perceived as corrupt, an insider, cold and unlikable.

With this amount of negativity swirling it's easy to see the veracity of the charge.  With a favorable rating of Congress in single digits I can completely understand and sympathize.  What we need to do however is learn to discern between legitimate beef and smear tactics, propaganda, and disinformation.  We saw a Tsunami of fake news and even cyber espionage designed to help influence an election and it was scarily effective in muddying the waters ans creating such a toxic divisive state that is caused many people to throw up their lunch and hands and simply walk away and turn off.

We need to do our due diligence when it comes to vetting our candidates and I mean our own personal vetting.  Too many of us showed a propensity to get sucked in by these fake news stories that were maliciously and surgically inserted into social media with the design to smear and demean the whole process to the point of mass negativity and mass apathy.  Due diligence also means that we have to delve deeper into who the candidates are and what they stand for and against.  No candidate or politician is perfect, we all know that.  Increasingly we feel that our parties and representatives are a part of a monolithic Orwellian type machine, cold and bureaucratic with no soul and no heart.  We need to step away from the idiom "the lesser of two evils".  I am not saying that sometimes that isn't apt, and it depresses the hell out of me when it's warranted.

As weird as this sounds, we need to humanize them.  A part of this is we need to connect with them no only personally but geographically as well.  We never account for the fact at least that at the local level candidate Joe or Jill actually comes from the neighborhoods that we call home.  Mayors and Governors have the same regional flavor as we do and should exemplify the best of our regional character.

III.

"I Don't Like Politics, It's So Negative"

One major tactic that was used during this last campaign season was to lower voter turn out by making the races so dirty and so ugly that people would lose interest and just stay home.  I am not kidding.  It not only worked, it was insidiously effective and it should worry us.  Big time.  Such practical application directly undermines democracy and everything we hold dear.  When we turn off to the vague notion of "politics" we forget what all that entails, which is basically everything.  We forget that is encompasses schools, education, health care, taxes, and every financial based policy or program.  Without a voice we no longer have a say about the basic societal building blocks that we depend on in our daily lives.

For 20 million people (actually closer to 30 million) this is terrifyingly real as we have found out this week as the the House and Senate have voted to start the process to repeal The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.  Not only will this mean that a significant portion of our country will no longer have health insurance coverage, but it also means that you may lose your coverage due to a pre-existing condition.  Then, you also need to account for the higher prescription prices for your medicine that will spike due to the price caps that were in place that will no longer be there.  This is just a small illustration, and as you know most things are connected to something else.  Oh and I almost forgot, the tax money that was used to help fund the ACA will go back to the top 1% a.k.a. the super rich.  So there's that.

This polarizing negativity is only going to escalate unless we actively do something about it.  I know it's blunt but it's true.  Change never happens from the top down, it only happens from the bottom up and that means we have to start at home.  I am a Progressive, this is a Progressive show, so this means for me it starts in Clackamas County and my State of Oregon.  Wherever you live it means getting involved at the local level, with local issues, and local causes.  If we all change the dynamic in our own states, then by proxy we help with the national dialogue and those we send to Washington to speak for us.

Politics will stop being dirty only when we demand that those who wage this war of unconscionably dark rhetoric are shunned and sent back to the fringes from whence they came.  It has got to start here and it has got to start now.

IV.

"There Is Too Much Going On In My Life, I'm Too Busy"

Everything comes at you now at the speed of life.  It's hard to juggle work, family, friends, and any hobbies or things you are passionate about.  The connectivity that technology brings means that we are deluged by life as never before.  In the spirit of that, may I make a humble suggestion.  I would like to suggest that we all do a better job of prioritizing.  Find out what means the most to us and then get our priorities straight.

Locally through our school Boards, PTA's, local city council's, local non profit organizations and charities, we can help bring about new ideas and solutions and will only help all of us lead better, smoother, meaningful lives.  President Kennedy's iconic call "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Country" still stands just as true today as it did on that cold January morning back in 1960.  This altruistic call to service needs to be embraced again in our and the younger generations.  When we connect with something bigger than ourselves then we only make ourselves and our communities better.  Even though technology has given us faster ways to communication and connect, it's the type of connection that can make all the difference.  We all sit and stare at our smartphone and computer screens but hardly ever to look up and talk to the people around us.  Never have I felt more connected yet more alone.  We no longer know the names of our neighbors or the names of the teachers that our children learn from at school.

I guess it means a change in culture.  What I'm about to say is going to peck off a lot of people, but know this; when I say we I am including myself as well.  It is as much a self indictment as anything.  The reason why the negative, dirty, disgusting, dark, and hateful tactics worked as well as it did is due to the values we hold and how we perceive what we see, hear, and read as it relates to those values and beliefs we hold to up as important.  A hard and simple fact is that we embrace and hold up as virtues what was once labeled as vices.  When we spend our time watching and processing lurid situations and events, we plaster it up all over the internet and on our flat screens.  It turns into fodder on Social Media and turns into entertainment, the 21st century bread and circuses.  We have become desensitized, and we have turned into a Reality TV culture.

Case in point, the Access Hollywood bus footage where our now President-Elect talked about sexually assaulting women and other high crimes and misdemeanors.  Disqualifying in any other election and from any other candidate, aside from mockery and some outrage it had no lasting effect on the outcome of the election.  That alone should bring a profound sense of shame.  We have turned our public officials into Reality TV stars, there to entertain us instead of governing and legislating.

Let's have some quick fun.  Imagine if you will different Presidents and historical figures using the words of our President-Elect.  George Washington stepping off a bus telling Billy Bush that because he's a celebrity he can "grab 'em by the pussy", and sexually assault women without consequence.  Or Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg giving his address with words like: "bigly", "Yuuuuge", and "we need to win this Civil War so we can make America great again" while wearing that stupid red MAGA hat.  If that is too ancient for you let's try something a little more recent.  The great communicator Ronald Reagan himself in West Germany telling the Soviet Union and the world: "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall so we can build it on our southern border and have Mexico pay for it".

If we want to create more time and unclutter our lives a little more then I humbly suggest again we prioritize better and spend less time giving clowns airtime and send them back to the circus.

In Conclusion.

Sometimes it's hard to care, especially when we see what state the world is in and what the near future brings.  I know the tea leaves and stars portend some dire times ahead but this is when we need to engage more, help shape local policy, find and use your voice in protest and encouragement.

History teaches us that in moments of tension and crisis, keeping your head down and staying silent leads to authoritarian tyranny and leads lambs to the dinner table in the form of veal cutlets.  It's time to shed our apathy and give a damn again.