Just when you think there couldn't be a more ridiculous selection for presidential candidate than Rafael Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, hints that he may run. At least the other clowns in the car have delusional fans who admire them for whatever bizarre reason. But Lindsey, from what I can glean, has no fans other than John McCain, and his prissiness is hardly going to win the hearts of those redneck voters who are highly suspicious of a single man his age who is also named Lindsey. Well, I don't think we'll be seeing Lindsey's bonnet in the ring as he is very unlikely to be able to raise the kind of money needed for such a fool's errand.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee suggested Friday that young Americans not join the military until President Obama leaves office because he has, "an open hostility to the Christian faith". Another Huckabee lie, of course, since Obama is a Christian, but, being a president he believes in the separation of church and state. Huckabee who would love to head up the American Taliban and rid America of any nude statues, apparently dreams of a military where Christian-only morning prayer would come right after reveille, and having a "girly" magazine would be cause for military prison or discharge. Of course he would never allow gays to serve their country in the first place. Also did it occur to this fat fuck that if—god forbid—a Republican were elected all those young people who waited to join might be just in time to be slaughtered in Iran. Huckabee is a sanctimonious, repressed, bigoted, racist, homophobic, prissy pain in the ass. And to me, creeps like him are also traitors as is anyone who is out to lie about and vilify our president. I am not religious, but spent enough of my youth at Ruggles Street Baptist Church and am familiar enough with the New Testament to know that Jesus would feel about Huckabee as he did for about all liars, stone throwers, haters, and hypocrites. 
It is becoming increasingly impossible to reach companies. You cannot find them listed on the internet. If you do there is no address, no phone. My complaint today is with Shark Vacuums. I am now using my third Shark Navigator Cordless Vacuum, and like the other two it works fine-twice! Then, despite the most careful maintenance and filter cleaning, it is unable to pick up a dust bunny or piece of paper. This nice looking machine is useless, and so were the other two. I cannot believe that I am the unlucky consumer who has been stuck with the rare dud. So since I cannot reach Shark for an explanation, I will encourage any of my readers to avoid a Shark product unless you also have a good Bissell carpet sweeper, a dustpan and broom.
I watch fewer and fewer stories on the Internet. Not because I'm not interested. Naturally I want to know that the junkyard dog found a good home. And, yes, I'm curious what makes the makeovers of two middle-aged women so special. But not if it means I have to watch a 30- or 60-second commercial. I will reluctantly put up with one of those, "You can stop this commercial in 5 seconds" deals, but nothing longer. I seem to be the only person who is outraged by the unnecessary amount of advertising that we are deluged with. Bad enough the commercials you expect. But you can be reading an on-screen article when all over a sudden an audio commercial is pouring out of your computer. I have to leave the volume down on my computer to avoid these intrusions. So, if if means giving up a lot of articles, so be it. Did I really need to know how successful they separated Siamese twins?
Now that Roku has allowed me to have Acorn and streaming Netflix. I see no reason to ever watch American television. I think U.S, series pale next to those of England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Among the excellent—commercial-free—shows I have seen already are: A Place to Call Home, The Blue Rose, Accused, Murder in Suburbia, McCallum, Line of Duty, Anzio Girls, and Murder Team—all better than the glossy, jumpy camera, model-pretty cast, commercial-riddled American series. Sadly the foreign sitcoms are not much better than ours despite their far more talented actors. Like ours, too many episodes are based on sexual conquest (yawn). Ah, but the dramas. Excellent. Of course we have quality programming from PBS (mostly British) and the products of HBO (which are mostly about drugs, murder and sex). So while I have many friends who rave about that dark, dismal throney thing, I only keep HBO for Bill Maher.
Many members of the Republican state legislator of Tennessee, never having heard of the separation of church and state, or not having enough schooling to read the Constitution, have advanced a bill to make the Bible the official state book.Since the House of Representatives is Republican-controlled this kind of insanity is hard to avoid. Naturally these zealots are not concerned that this offends all non-Christian religions, not to mention atheists, and even true Christians who avoid this kind of evangelical madness. In fairness the Attorney General said it would be unconstitutional, and Republican Governor Bill Haslam has called it disrespectful. But when you have a majority of 55 rigid, unChristian, narrow-minded, fundamentalist bigots who haven't a clue what reasonable thinking involves, then absurdities like this happen. States like Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Indiana will all be so much better off in the future when all these mostly elderly crackers have died off.
The nicest thing about Scientology is when you find out a friend, relative, or acquaintance has been hooked into this absurd cult, you don't have to deal with the awkward and painful process of dropping them. Because once they've joined this "religion" they're not allowed to associate with non-cultists. Talk about convenient!
Chris Christie, during a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on the prospect of running against Hillary Clinton said, "If I run, I will beat her." First of all I doubt he could even get the nomination, and if he did run there is no way he would beat Hillary Clinton. Why in the world would the American people want this arrogant, overweight, sweaty, jowly egotist in the White House? Is he a liar? I think so judging from the fact that he said he had lap-band surgery. If so, I sure as hell don't see any major weight loss. Then he's had all kinds of excuses for Bridgegate, none very believable. So he either authorized that petty revenge, or he is such a bad administrator he really had no idea of what was going on. Either way, he loses. Forgetting all that, he's cranky, short-tempered, rude and incredibly conceited considering his most recent line, "If I run, I will beat her." This from a man who I am sure is incapable of actually running.
It seems to me that Ancestry.com is a bullshit company. I signed up and gave them my name and my parents name. When I told them I didn't know my grandparents' names they said they couldn't go any further. Great. That isn't what was suggested on their endless commercials in which they boast they are experts at researching your family tree. Apparently that's only if you know who your ancestors were and when and where they were born. And if you do, I don't see why you need Ancestry.com.
I have heard so many women say, "If I caught my husband cheating, I'd divorce him." I have also known of women who, finding out their husbands cheated did divorce them...usually full of vengeful fury. Frankly if I were straight and married and my wife made such a statement, I would leave her immediately. Why would I want to stay in a relationship whose only foundation is the vow of fidelity, that if broken negates anything else that went into a marriage. How sick to suggest that every happy memory and moment of closeness can be destroyed by a single dalliance. How controlling to tell your husband that he is forbidden to ever have a sexual encounter with another women, and if he does, the penalty is a harridan who is angry, bitter, vindictive, and revengeful, not forgiving, not understanding. Why the hell would any man want a wife who can so easily turn on him? That would mean that he does not have a loving spouse, only a spouse who is loving if she can control his basic nature and have him surrender to her most stringent, and non-negotiable, demand. Everything else, apparently, has no real meaning. This is also true for the unforgiving husband. I had a female friend years ago who was in her 40s and lonely. I asked her if she ever had a relationship. She said yes. He was attractive, successful, kind, fun to be with. They were happy. But one day she found out he cheated on her. So she dumped him. Now she's alone with her self-righteous anger instead of in a home with a family, married to this nice guy who just may have had one or two meaningless dalliances every year. And so what?
An award-winning art director friend with a career even longer than mine wrote to tell me the kinds of commercials that annoy him. I agree with all his pet peeves. A person holding giant signs with messages and dropping each one as he delivers his pitch. Actors delivering lines while dressed as giant objects: fruit, animals, plants, the sun. Commercials that exaggerate the competitions' rudeness or incompetence (e.g. TD). An actor speaking to someone off-camera that turns out to be themselves in a mirror, or, worse, an object like a coffee pot or cleaning solution. Then there are commercials that stand alone in the hall of shame, notably the previous Swiffer campaign that romantically paired inanimate objects before they wisely chose the wonderful old couple who were "living in a fool's paradise."
It seems like stupidity is rampant everywhere today. My latest exposure was at Sears. I had gone to buy, at long last, fire extinguishers for the house. It turns out that Sears had only one left, and none in stock. I asked them if they could order more. They agreed. However, they felt I should pay in advance for the number of fire extinguishers they would order. Why, I asked, wouldn't you need them in stock anyway. Yes, the agreed, but that was an item they wouldn't order without a customer's request. So apparently they were out of a valuable safety commodity: fire extinguishers. But they would not order more until a customer requested one or more and paid in advance. Is there something I'm not getting here?
Anne Frank wrote. "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." I think she was right. And if she could be that optimistic during the horrific reign of the Nazis, we should be able to take heart against American bigotry. I think that these narrow-minded evangelicals, homophobes, and racists are a shrinking and shriveling minority. The only reason so many Republicans give them any credibility is because they think the same way and cannot see the greater good of the American people. In recent years America has greatly embraced gay marriage; they have turned out en masse to protest racial bigotry; leading corporations have publicly expressed outrage at unfair laws. Barack Obama is our president, elected twice. Bigoted celebrities like Ted Nugent are the very rare and ridiculed exception. Fox News, though popular with conservatives, is not a respected network but a media joke. Even today a cop was arrested and charged with murder rather than being given a pass on killing an innocent man. While the Republicans are denying climate change, thousand of people world-wide are working on solutions. Sadly the lazy media has no interest in promoting good news so we are more often inundated with dismal stories that makes us pessimistic and paranoid. But I'm sure if they did report all the good things that happen every day we would think, like Anne, that people are really good at heart.
What America does not need now nor ever again are warmongering idiots like Tom Cotton who haven't a clue what they're talking about and have no judgement and no heart. This traitorous asshole moron has said that eliminating Iran's nuclear facilities with U.S. missile strikes would take a matter of days. This from a Arkansas rube who hasn't a clue what he's talking about. I'm sure he would have thought that the war on Iraq would only take a day or two and we would be greeted as victors and showered with flowers. None of these Republicans seem to appreciate that Iran is a civilized country that is ruled by autocrats by populated by good-hearted, intelligent people. But no, sadists like Cotton want us to bomb this country and kill its innocent citizens. They're not real people to jerks like him. There are many utterly dangerous men in Congress. Tom Cotton has already shown that he is one of the most dangerous, because he's one of the least intelligent.
What if Al Gore had been elected because Americans saw right away what an asshole Bush was. There would not have been a war with Iraq. Thousands of young Americans would still be alive and with their families. Thousands of others would not be blind, deaf, or crippled. Gore would have addressed climate change and made our environment safer. He would have handled Katrina better. His Secretary of State might have anticipated 9-11. He would have made us more popular in the world, not the laughingstocks that Bush made us. Without the war in Iraq, sects like Isis would never have gotten a start. Our economy would not have suffered as it did under Bush. The Tea Party wackos would never have gotten a foothold in government. Iran would still be run by a dictator, but it would be stable and all those innocent men, women and children who died horrible deaths would be alive. And why are we in this state? Because all the misguided and foolishly partisan Republicans (most of whom haven't a clue that they're really Democrats) voted for George Bush and not the best person for the job. Let's just hope they never do anything that disastrous again.
If you're wondering just how much these Republicans really care about the future of the United States keep in mind that John McCain is seeking his 6th term in the Senate. Never mind that he is nearly 80 years old and unable to provide a sharp focus when needed. Never mind that he made one of the biggest blunders in political history when he chose the vapid Sarah Palin as a running mate. Forget the fact that he is often forgetful, petulant, overly hawkish, and excessively belligerent. He doesn't really care what's good for Arizona, just what suits him. His ego demands that he win another term as Senator and to hell with what's best for Arizona or the country. Of course he's been coasting on that prisoner-of-war legend for most of his career. I guess he thinks that's enough of an entitlement. Maybe for most people, it is.
As a copywriter for 40 years, I feel qualified to judge the merits of a slogan. And I think that Rand Paul in announcing his run for the presidency tomorrow has come up with one of the stupidest slogans I have ever heard: "Defeat the Washington Machine. Unleash the American Dream." What the hell does that mean? First of all nobody wants to defeat the Washington machine, even if it were a machine. Using this really dippy analogy, one might want to improve it, modernize it, retrofit it, but defeat it-no! Then we have part II of this absurd slogan. Doesn't one unleash something that is wild and dangerous. Is the American dream something savage that has been suppressed for years? Is it even safe to unleash it? And what does that mean? Is Rand Paul suggesting that he's the superman that could bring down this venerable, yet combative machine? that he's the gamekeeper who can unleash the snarling, vicious and unruly dream and keep it from biting or running away. I suspect that after he gets enough guffaws over this truly comical, illogical, and ill-conceived slogan, he'll come up with something new. At least one hopes so. Plus, even worse, it doesn't rhyme.
In a 2009 voter registration application former Florida Governor Jeb Bush mistakingly identified himself as Hispanic. His spokeswoman Kristy Campbell reports that, "...his family certainly got a good laugh out of it." If he were ever president (God forbid) and made an equally inexplicable blunder on an article of legislation or treaty, I wonder if the American people would get a good laugh out of it.
I think I'm alone in this: But I detest hotel reservations services. When I book a hotel room I want to talk to someone at the hotel, someone on site who is familiar with the hotel's amenities and surroundings, not some stranger in Pocatello, Idaho, who one can only reach after jumping through various hoops and pushing buttons. The very fact that the hotel is eager for me to have to deal with these annoying services suggests they have no real interest in their potential guests. I realize that today it is almost impossible to speak with someone at the front desk of a hotel. More often than not you are connected with some overly cheerful boiler room clerk who instantly turns sour when you suggest that $400.00 a night is a high price to sleep in a bed and watch tv.Traveling used to be exciting, romantic, adventurous, and affordable. Today it is cold, clinical, computerized, obscenely overpriced and, I suspect, destined for a downfall as more and more travelers feel as put upon as I do.
At a certain point the stupidity of so many Christians in Indiana becomes more comical than annoying. Take the case of Memories Pizza in Walkerton. Their warped attitude is that they that will sell a pizza to a gay on location, but will not provide pizzas for a gay wedding. This despite the fact that nobody ever asked them or probably ever will. Well this apparently led to threats, which led to them closing shop,which led to a fundraiser set up by Dana Loesch the always tight-lipped and pissed off host of the Blaze network. "Nobody should ever have to suffer or suffer alone for their faith, for standing up for Christian principles" Loesch spewed on her broadcast, without actually quoting the biblical passage regarding the principle of pizzas and gays. An even dumber (if possible) remark was uttered by pizzeria co-owner Kevin O'Conner who said, "That lifestyle is something they chose. I choose to be heterosexual." Obviously a short-order cook with pepperoni for brains who chose to be moronic. Anyway O'Conners have already received $40,000 in donations so I guess promoting hate beats pushing pizzas.
Recently, while planning a trip to Washington, D.C., I was astounding at how costly most hotels were. (And, yes, I consider $350.00 a night costly.) So I decided to use my Citicard Reward Points, which I have never used. I was told that I had 55,000 points worth $528.00. So I asked them how much it would cost to stay at the hotel that was asking $350.00. The rep (who said he was in Columbus but he sounded far more exotic) said he could get me a room with a king-sized bed and my cost, in addition to the 55,000 points, would be $200.00. Amazed I asked how much the room was. He said $728.00. For one night! I figured he was confused and called again today. Same story, and every other hotel the new rep quoted sas $600.00 plus. Some reward. I asked if there were a cash value. Yes, says he, and connects me to someone else. This person says the cash value is much less than the $528.00. It's $250.00. Perhaps I would like a gift card instead, He named many retailers. I chose one. What's that worth? I ask. $528.00. Now that makes sense. So as far as I can see the hotel rewards are kind of a scam since I only had a choice of overpriced properties. Maybe other people now how to play this game. I don't.
