A Shopping "Savings" Problem

There are times in life where I feel like I'm winning. 

• That moment when I'm filling my gas tank for $.80/gallon thanks to the reward points at the grocery store. 
• Those days when  Giant is selling four Pepsi 6-packs for $10 AND I have a coupon. 
• The one time every two years I can get my haircut for free at Supercuts!
• The 2 or 3 times/year I can buy something completely frivolous (like an indoor basketball hoop that hangs over a door) and feel like it's "free" because I have all these reward points. 

I LOVE feeling like I'm beating the system. I say to myself: "Sure they HAVE the reward points, and coupons and buy-one get one frees but they didn't factor ME into the equation!" I like to think they'd be out of business if every shopper was such an adept accumulator of loss leaders and reward points!

They're laughing at me of course. Walgreens. Giant, Weis Markets, and every company that puts out coupons. I'm the idiot they make the most off of. 

Crap I don't need:

If you're ever going through something in your life, and the solution to it involves obtaining an ungodly amount of shower gel, or any kind of body wash, body spray or shaving products, don't hesitate to call me. I'll hook you up. It's what friends do!

I have a "thing" for rewards points. My drugstore of choice is Walgreens - but all the main chains do it in some form. On Sundays - when the new sales start - I stroll into Walgreens like a kid in the candy store...Looking for those blue tags that promote how many points you'll get if you but a certain product. 

Those blue tags are almost ALWAYS on shower gel products - and more often than not, Axe products are sporting the blue tags as well. 5,000 points when I spend $15 on participating Axe products..."HEY WOW!!!" I say to myself..."So that's like getting the products for $10! AND I have a coupon - it will be insane not to participate in this deal!?" And I laugh at the stupidity of Walgreens and Axe management - "how can they stay in business when they are practically giving this stuff away."

So my linen closet has no less than a dozen Axe-related products. Shower gel, body spray, deodorant, hair gel (?). For good measure there are four bottles of Dove body wash, 3 Old-Spice body sprays, God knows how many Gillette gel deodorants and enough razors to last me the rest of my life (and I don't screw around when it comes to razors, if there aren't at least four blades I don't consider it worthy of touching my face!) 

In my pantry there is an odd assortment of products I don't think anybody is ever going to eat unless we are forced to live in our basement for over a month. I got drawn into some sort of promotion where I could mix and match any seven products on the list and save $.30 on gas!!! I figured "there's really no such thing as too much canned ravioli and WOW the savings on gas!"

For the record - I drive less than 9,000 miles/year. 

The highlight, the grand enchilada of my existence is when I have accumulated 300 coupons, diligently gone through all of the Sunday ads and announce to myself (because strangely, nobody else in my life gets excited about this stuff!) that I'm going to do a "coupon sweep!" What I do there is go through the store and buy ONLY things that are buy one get one free OR that I have a coupon for. The buy one get one deals are almost always the same...If you need some Arm and Hammer laundry detergent, a boatload of philly chip-steaks, or if you are having some sort of special war where frozen meatballs are being used as ammunition - feel free to reach out. I have all of those things in droves. 

My stupidity isn't fully entrenched in these cases. At least I'm SORT of getting a deal. 

Coupons are where I lose it. 

Here's the ugly truth that I don't like to admit as I proudly look at my receipt after a coupon sweep... The store brands are cheaper - even with coupons. So yeah - I get that momentary rush when the coupon scans and I get $.40 cents off because I bought two huge-ass jars of Hellmans Mayo which would be enough to run a deli for a week...Meanwhile - I could have stocked the same deli for a month if I bought the store brand...And I don't care who you are: NOBODY's palate can distinguish mayo!

I guess I have a problem. A savings "addiction" maybe? 

Is it just me?!

We Celebrate Small Victories

It's Time For Me to Parent

For the most part, being the father of Jocelyn Marie and Joseph Aaron has been a pretty easy gig.

Aside from a 1st grade incident where she lashed a girl on the hand  with a jump rope as some sort of initiation into an exclusive club, I've never gotten anything but praise from any adult that has dealt with her.  She's self-motivated, good-hearted, and hard-working. She's always made me look like a better father than I am.

Jojo isn't nearly as self-motivated, but he's always been good to the core. He'd give you his last piece of candy. He's a double-edged sword, the fact that he doesn't give a crap about anything - he regularly forgets what day it is - is part of his charm. It's also maddening at times.

But he's a regular boy - and he's decent, loyal and loving. I see it most vividly in sports when the games are well in hand and he does everything he can to set up the lesser players for THEIR moment. I see it in how generously he gives. I see it in how he treats animals. And behavior wise, he's done a couple of "normal boy" things - but nothing I'm too worried about.

I was a HELL of a lot worse at his age.

"You have good kids" I'm told routinely, as well as the corollary "you're a great Dad." The truth is I haven't done much, they make me look a lot better than I am.

My kids need me now - more than ever, and I'm not sure what to do.

My daughter is having trouble sleeping. She has a sadder affect than I've ever seen her have. I rarely see true joy out of her anymore. We've talked about it. It seemed like we pin-pointed it to her having trouble the week of band festivals - where she auditions to go to the next level. That was the theory. While I certainly wanted to address that - you can't stop sleeping every time something big is coming up - she made state band this past weekend. She smiled for about 20 minutes. But it stopped. She's not morose, there's just something wrong. She said she's having trouble sleeping again.

She says she can't stop thinking. I'm trying to give her some tools and we're getting her someone to talk to. She insists she's not being bullied - a concern I've had ever since she came out. There are a couple of friends that have dropped off the scene but others have come on - and they seem like character kids as well. I know her girlfriends Mom is VERY much against the relationship and does everything she can to thwart it. She understands that nobody is going to be upset if she doesn't make district, regional, or state band. I would chalk it up to "normal" teenage behaviour, but there's nothing "normal" about either side of her family tree. She knows that - and that makes her worry too.

She doesn't want to be like her Mom - and the closest thing she had to a Mom has moved away. That's my fault. That's for later.

At least Jojo knows how to talk to women!
He just can't read. 

Jojo's reading has been an issue for years - but it has reached critical mass. After making honor roll first marking period his reading grade dropped to a C in the second and at mid-term it's a solid F. We read together every night now - something frankly I haven't done nearly as consistently as I should - and lord does he struggle. I keep believing if we keep working hard at it there will be a breakthrough - that he'll somehow get it. He's never read at grade level - but he's never been that far behind. But quite honestly I think he's on par with a lot of 3rd and 4th graders. I look at places like Sylvan - but I've gotten mixed reviews and that's a lot of money on a maybe. I look for websites and exercises - but they are mostly geared at younger kids..Everyone I ask whose an expert says the same thing - "read with him." So I got a couple of books I hoped he'd be interested in and we read together. I read a paragraph, he reads a paragraph. He reads word to word - he misses a lot of concepts. It blows my mind he hasn't fallen well behind in math yet.

This isn't my finest hour either. Mary was a part of my life, a part of me, for over 4 years and I still expect her to come through the door sometimes. I won't get into what cause Mary to leave as there's no one reason - but rest assured there's a lot I wish I had done differently. She was my best friend. I miss her. The finality of it didn't hit me for a few weeks but it's hitting me hard now.

I want another cat and name
it Smithers. But then I'll
want an Apu. Where does it end?

 I am incredibly sad about my Dad - I feel like the worlds worst son. And like it often happens with me - I'm upset about just about everything...I'm mad at my lack of career growth, my weight, my failure as a Father...the house I live in. I also hate my stupid cat Flanders - but he makes my kids happy. Particularly my daughter. Money concerns are constant.

Years ago I used to contemplate suicide in these down times - but at least I've evolved to the point where I don't consider that option. I don't have that luxury. I also know one thing: I've fought this battle before, and I've won.

But it's not about me now. It's about my kids - who need me for the first time in their life.

The Ugly Side of the Republican Party

OK, I didn't see this coming. Not many people did. Certainly not the GOP "establishment."

The problem that the GOP was able to carefully avoid for years is that Donald Trump's hate represents a significant portion of their base. For a good many Republicans, big government isn't a problem.  The poorest states invariably vote red - they NEED big government more than they care to admit. And these Republicans aren't too concerned about the Capital Gains tax. They don't understand the Affordable Care Act. And their right to bear arms has not been challenged.

Donald Trump has no real ideology. He's proud, almost brazen about this. He was not a naive 20-something when he was basically a Democrat. He doesn't answer any questions in the debates he dominates. He's not the self-made man American's love. I may disagree with Mitt Romney and John McCain on ideological levels - but I never doubted their character.

There is a segment of America that simply never wanted to accept Obama because of the color of his skin. It's not playing the race card - it's an undeniable truth. Donald Trump and his "birther" crap spoke to this segment.

On election night in 2012, when it became obvious that President Obama was going to win a second term, I gleefully headed to Fox News. Yes - I got a perverse pleasure of watching them come up with excuses for America re-electing such an awful Commander-in-Chief.

I wasn't disappointed.

Karl Rove couldn't accept what Fox News' own pollsters had concluded: that the incumbent had won Ohio, thus giving him the election. His meltdown on live TV was classic stuff.

But the best, and the worst, was yet to come.  Bill O'Reilly, the undeniable face of Fox News whose show has been the most popular cable news show for longer than I care to think about, offered his very telling perspective on why Obama had basically cruised to victory. It was almost like the member of a secret society leaking their most sacred of secrets. It was the most telling segment in recent history about the current "party of Lincoln."



Yes folks. Obama won because he appealed to the people that want government handouts. "They want stuff." He goes further and explains who these cretins are: minorities. 20 years ago, when we had "traditional" (white) America we wouldn't have to deal with a black president. Now we do - too many minorities.

Some of it he said - some of it was more than implied.

Not every Republican is of this school of thought. For some it actually IS about taxes, big government, school choice, hell even abortion. But for a significant portion, enough that Donald Trump seems to be on a collision course with the nomination, are rallying around him for no other reason than he seems to have a significant disdain for minorities.

Here are the four main characteristics of Trump supporters: They are largely uneducated, they think they don't have a political voice, they have a problem with "outsiders" (foreigners), and they live in parts of the country where racial resentment is the most rampant.

I hesitate to generalize about a party that makes up such a large segment of the population. I have black friends who are solidly Republican. I don't agree with everything on the Democratic party platform.

Remember, there are very few states where Trump has carried more than 50% of the vote. He has largely benefited from a weak overall field, and up until now a large field where one candidate could win with a relatively small percentage of votes. But Trump supporters are single issue voters: Fear is their ideology. Fear that blacks and foreigners will take over. It has never been about policy - many Trump supporters benefit from the "welfare state" they claim to despise.

Underestimating Trump's appeal led to a mess in the GOP, but it could lead to a bigger mess in America. This country has historically accepted black men in leadership positions prior to women (black women get the ultimate shaft has been given to black women but that's another story).

Hillary should defeat Donald - but the vitriol is coming. Don't think for a second that many of the GOP supporters who are trying to distance themselves from Trump won't rally behind him come the convention.

60 to 40 is as wide a margin as we'll ever see in a general election. Given that the "news channels" do nothing but give people the talking points they want to here rather than present the whole story, I would imagine a landslide in this day and age would be 56-44. It won't be a landslide under the best of circumstances. If Hillary continues to run a second-rate campaign - she certainly hasn't learned much from her husband - it could be VERY close. If a significant third-party candidate emerges she could certainly lose.

To say that would be an embarrassment would be a serious understatement.

And should the day come that Trump wins the nomination - Fox News will embrace him. It will be comical - but the irony will be lost on those that worship at the altar or Roger Ailes.

Republicans: Start owning it. You've survived for a long time on a parasitic segment in your party that hates minorities. Now the idiots are about to take over the asylum. At least admit that's the problem.

Trump is selling nothing but hate. And right now, that's good enough to be the frontrunner.

So How Was Your Thanksgiving?

My Mom told me that 45 minutes would probably be all my Dad, or the rest of us, could handle. I never would have imagined I'd want to leave after 30 seconds. 

My Dad had a heart attack in 2007 and things have been deteriorating ever since. It's to the point I don't even tell people my Dad is doing badly - because it's getting old. I mean - those of you who were concerned about how my Dad was doing in 2011 are probably wondering how much longer I'm going to work this. 

I haven't had the misfortune of watching many people deteriorate in my life. Call my lucky - but it also makes me naive. Every time I am convinced my Dad couldn't get any worse he manages to deteriorate even further. 

I thought it was bad when he couldn't do anything without a walker. I thought it was bad when he did a complete faceplant at the viewing of a friend of his a couple of years ago - making no effort to break the fall. I thought he had to be dying soon when he inexplicably got in a car and started driving around the neighborhood - slamming into two other cars and into a curb before police got control of the matter. When he drove his scooter into the wall at the assisted living facility it was bad. Seeing my Dad wearing Depends made me sad. But I'm only scratching the surface of all of the things that have gone wrong over the past few years. 

I saw him less than two months ago. It wasn't pleasant. He went in and out of coherency. At different points in the day he looked at my daughter and asked her point blank "how long have you been looking like a boy?" He got tired quickly that day - we were celebrating my Mother's Birthday. But at least he had moments of lucidity. 

There were no such moments on Thanksgiving. 

He's been removed from the assisted living facility and he's now in a place designed for Alzheimers patients - but NOT designed for patients that need the kind of care he does. 

The first thing I noticed was his spine - he was hunched over like a C. It wasn't like that 7 weeks ago - I would have noticed. He's 72, he looked past 90. He couldn't sit himself up. 

I didn't have to worry about him insulting my kids (albeit with no malice) - because I'm not sure he recognized them. He sat in a chair and yelled. "WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME" and we'd try and rearrange him and he'd say it was better and we'd sit down and he'd yell it again "I NEED HELP! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" and my Mom would tell him we're doing all we can and he'd yell at her like a baby "NO YOU'RE NOT, IF YOU WERE I WOULDN'T FEEL SO BAD." She told him we'd be leaving soon and he could sleep..."YOU'VE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR AN HOUR NOW - CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME?" There was no rationalizing - there was no conversation. He didn't understand that Jocelyn made National Honor Society or that Jojo made Honor roll. He didn't understand the music Jocelyn was working on for her philharmonic group - even though my Dad had been playing that type of music most of his life. 

He had scars and bumps all over his face - I assume from falling out of bed but I didn't ask. His color looked awful. 

It ended mercifully after 39 minutes. We took him back to his room - past an area where it smelled putrid because another resident had made a mess on the floor. This is NOT a low-rent facility mind you - there's just no way anyone could keep up. His room was nice - and it is a single room. But he's beyond appreciating anything. This is a man with zero quality of life. I wouldn't wish what he's going through on anybody. 

I'll never take my kids to see him again - they don't deserve to have such awful memories of their grandfather - and he doesn't seem to recognize them anymore. 

We left and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant. I was too shocked to process what I had just seen. I heard my Mom say that today was tame compared to other days - that she hears him screaming from outside the facility sometimes. That he's horrible with the staff and to her. I heard it - but it didn't stick. 

It didn't stick on Black Friday either. 

But today I finally broke down. I was making pasta and meatballs...I thought it would be nice to put my mind on something. Then I just started crying. 

I cried because my Mom is dealing with this pretty much alone - I feel like I should be doing so much more - but I don't know where to start. 

I feel bad because my relationship with my parents is so damn stiff. We don't hug - we never have. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I hug my Father or my Mom?

I'm sad because this can go on for a long time. His vital signs - their fine - his mind is gone...His body is completely failing him - but he's not facing imminent death. We could replay a similar scene in a year..in two years. And I cried because I just want to believe that there's a God that's going to spare him any more suffering - but there's nothing but silence at the other end of the prayer line. We have mercy on animals whose body is failing them - but we let people wither away for years. My Dad is leaving with no dignity. 

I cried because my Dad has never been a very happy man.

 He's hated himself - and he never learned to cope well with stress. He would fly off the handle so easily - but rarely was the anger directed at anyone in particular. He had a pure heart. He gave quietly and regularly to charities. He did a million thankless behind-the-scenes job for the church and never asked for nor would he accept praise. He wasn't a perfect Father - but who is? And this much is certain: I NEVER wanted for anything. 

He could speak to almost anything my Dad. He had a PHD in Astronomy but for the most part he hated mentioning it, he certainly never asked anyone to refer to him as "Dr." - because he felt like his career was a colossal failure. He paid his bills on time. He worked at jobs he hated because he had a family - just like a lot of people do. He was brilliant - smarter than I could ever dream of being. But his brilliance only made  him miserable - he always felt he should be more. He never felt comfortable around most people. He had few friends. He wasn't very good with kids - it's not that he didn't like them, he just wasn't comfortable talking at a lower level. He had trouble concentrating - so loud kids got him angry. He spazzed out at a few of my friends - but he always apologized. Still - I largely kept my friends away from home. It was easier than explaining that my Dad wasn't angry at anyone but himself. 

I wanted to talk to him for years. To tell him that I thought he did OK. That I never saw him take short cuts, that I never saw him do anything dishonest, that I admired his willingness to fly in the shadows. He put my Mom through seminary so she could have a second career. He put me through college without loans. He helped me more as an adult than I care to admit. I did OK when they passed out Fathers. I did damn well. He deserved to hear that. 

But I never said it - and for the life of me I can't explain why. And I cry hardest for my missed opportunity to do the right thing. 

On Monday a lot of people are going to ask how my Thanksgiving was, and I'm going to smile and say "it was nice." Because that's what you do. 

Why am I blogging this? Because when I looked at Facebook on Thanksgiving it hurt. The truth is I feel like I'm failing most of the time I look at Facebook but I've worked through most of my inadequacies. But this Thanksgiving - I just wanted to be living the life that so many people were portraying - I never know how "Real" the posts on Facebook are. 

I know I'm not alone when I say I had a pretty shitty Thanksgiving. I know that 75% of the world would trade life situations with me in a heartbeat. I know people have parents who are in situations similar to my Dad - or God forbid have sick children. 

And if you're Thanksgiving sucked - I'll say it once again. You aren't alone. 

I hope it helps in some way to hear that. 

Going Slumming or Doing Right by My Son?

Dear friends, old and new, 

I want to pick your brain on something. With that said I won’t be mad if you don’t reply. There are only so many hours in a day – and man I do know how they fly!!!

I’m also not so ignorant as to expect you to speak for anybody but yourself. You aren’t representing a race, a class, a gender, a Mom,  you’re representing all of those things and none of those things – mainly you’re representing you – a person I respect.

 As you probably know, my son plays travel soccer.  He’s good. Darn good.  Definitely among the top 5% or even 2% I’ve seen – and I’ve seen a lot. He’s got the stuff you can’t teach – he can fly.

The travel soccer world is white – lily white. It’s like the Suburban parents couldn’t stand seeing their kids getting beat out by minority children in sports like football and basketball so they decided to make high-level soccer as out of reach for the poor and lower-middle class as possible. There’s a simple reason why the US Men’s national team will never be among the world’s best – a significant amount of kids just don’t have access to the sport. (I won’t get into why the women’s team CAN be elite – but for now just keep it at the women’s landscape is a lot different and tailor made for the US. There’s no equivalent of NCAA soccer for women for other countries).

I coach my son’s team. I still don’t know how it came to be – except they needed someone.  I’m not a great coach – I’m always blown away at how little I know – but I am getting better. Still – I don’t feel qualified to be coaching the more talented kids on the team – including my son. They deserve someone with more knowledge.

We do OK. We win more than we lose. I’d say if there are three classes of teams in terms of ability we are in the upper-second tier. I don’t know if I have the know-how to get them to the highest tier. To sum it up – we get by on being a very athletic team and we have a couple of very good players. Skill wise – we lag – and that’s partly on me. I’m not trying to shirk responsibility but most of the kids learned bad fundamentals and are pretty stubborn about relearning how to do it the right way.

The kids on my team are good kids. I like them and care about them – they’re going to go on to be great men long after their soccer days are over.  I also like their parents. I’ve made a lot of good friends through this.

And yet ...

There’s a club in Allentown. For those of you who don’t know Allentown is the poorest city in our area – and one of the poorest in the state. A lot of kids in their club have cleats donated from other programs.  Up until this season they wore plain cotton t-shirts instead of the expensive jerseys of other teams (I believe a business bought their kids some jerseys).  A lot of the parents don’t speak English – and when one of their kids foul another player you hear a lot of grumbling about how” dirty” they play in Allentown – it’s crap – the “dirtiest” teams I’ve seen are the slow white teams who push because they can’t keep up.

They have all races represented.  Their coach is a strong black man who I’ve always seen carry himself with class. The type of man I was told to make sure I had around when I adopted Jojo.

A big part of me wants my son to play there.

It would mean a lot more commuting to practice – but that’s because where I practice now is so incredibly close.  It would mean removing my son from a team he knows well. It would mean Mary and I getting away from some great people. It might even mean some people feeling betrayed because I left them.

Not surprisingly, my son’s best friends in school are bi-racial. It’s almost like an immediate bond forms. I’m not sure who he considers his “best” friend now or if he even has a ranking system – but not  long ago his best friend was another bi-racial boy named Dashawn.  Dashawn is everything Jojo isn’t. He’s not an  athlete, he has a horrible time making friends because he tries so hard, he gets in trouble in school, not many people have much good to say about him. But Jojo has his back – he’s not going to end the friendship – it’s like they have a bond that is unbreakable.

I’ve never gotten the impression Jojo’s ever been excluded by white kids – his teammates all embrace him and the parents have always been good to him.  But he can play. I don’t think for a second that racism would take over if he couldn’t play – but sometimes I wonder if Jojo feels that way.  It’s an odd thing I really can’t describe – it’s like he doesn’t fully trust them. A part of him seems to wonder “what would you guys think of me if I couldn’t score?” He knows Dashawn doesn’t care – he knows his other minority friends don’t care.

While there are three other minorities on the team (two are Indian), there’s an economic gap between him and the rest of the team.  We do OK – we certainly aren’t anywhere near the poverty line – but nobody else on the team lives on “our” side of town.  I can’t afford team pictures all the time, we don’t have a $200 team bag.

I asked Jojo how he’d feel about playing for another team – and he didn’t hesitate to say that he was fine with it. Mary opined that Jojo would be up for whatever I suggested – and maybe she’s right. But I don’t think it’s that simple. He’s played with some of these kids since he was 5 years old. I gave him every opportunity – almost begged him – to say he’d be really sad to leave this team and his friends. I got no such indication. It’s almost like he wants to play somewhere else.

Jojo is a lot of things but “deep” isn’t one of them. He doesn’t know what day it is some of the time. It’s not that he’s stupid, he just doesn’t give a shit. He gets up in the morning and rolls with whatever the day brings him.

 But lately I’m starting to realize by things he says and does that he’s taking in a lot more than he lets on. I have to wonder if he’s starting to feel that as nice as his teammates are to him, that he really isn’t one of them. I don't know how he sees the world - I don' t know what it's like to be a minority. 

There are four middle schools in our district. Two are in the nicer box house areas, the one that Jojo goes to is in the middle class area but also takes kids from one of the areas biggest projects, and one is almost exclusively poor. Our team breakdown of schools: 75% go to the “better” Middle schools, 14% go to VERY expensive private schools, and Jojo and one other go to the lower/Middle-class school. The other kid’s house is on the market.  None go to the poor school.  Bethlehem only has one travel team – it’s hard to believe the talent is so skewed to one side of town. There is one elite academy team in the area and several Bethlehem kids are on it. Trust me when I say they aren’t raiding kids from Bethlehem’s South side either.

I don’t get it but I can’t escape it.  I want my kid to go to a poorer team – to a team where all the kids live in neighborhoods most people try to avoid. I want my kid to play on a team where they love just having a uniform and being part of something. . I want my son to play for someone who isn’t me – I want my son to have a black head coach.  I don’t know how to explain that to parents – many of which took a big chance on me when they had their kids sign on to play with us.  I consider many of these people friends – I like their kids. It doesn’t make sense to want to leave.  But it doesn’t make sense that Jojo is seemingly indifferent to leaving. He’s familiar with the Allentown team – we’ve played them a couple of times. They are about equal to us in terms of talent – they’ll be better than us with Jojo.

Is this about him or about me? Am I trying to carry on my little vendetta against what I think is a horrible system of US soccer? While Mary and I aren’t rolling in dough – we aren’t poor. We can afford cleats and the multiple tournament fees and camps that playing at this level requires. I don’t want this to be some kitchy thing I do to prove a point – another one of my bipolar benders I will regret in 3 months.

So I need validation – or I need a reality check.  Is it bigoted because I am tired of my son being on a team made up almost exclusively of rich white kids? Is it bigoted to choose one team because of the race of the coaching staff?

For some reason this decision is weighing on me – more than it should. Feel free to comment or PM me.   

Election 2016 Preview: It Will Be as Bad as You Think

Thank you Donald Trump for delaying the inevitable nightmare this election season is going to become.

Oh he’s an ass. But at least he’s different.

Trump isn’t a Republican, he’s donated heavily to Democrats in the past and he certainly hasn’t put any thought into a comprehensive ideology. He is racist – the asinine demand for President Obama’s Birth certificate told me all I want to know. His rants against Mexicans (and women for that matter) resonate heavily with a small part of the GOP. Most Republican’s aren’t racist – but  when you’ve got 30 people on the ticket it doesn’t take much to make you a “frontrunner.” The Donald is an entertainer with a shitload of money. Should this bender of his not end in a parade in 17 months  he’s going to parlay this into something only he could dream up (Congressional apprentice anybody?)

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is doing his part to try and liven up the snoozefest that is the Democratic race. What’s not to like about a guy who has no problem describing himself as a Democratic Socialist and who is one of the leading white voices on income inequality issues despite coming from a state that is essentially a living Gap commercial?

 He has a social media engagement strategy that any marketer would be proud of – his message resonates with Millennials, and minorities – not something you’d expect from a guy who could certainly be living a beautiful life on Lake Champlain. Bernie cares about poor people – and us true progressives love the man.

But he’s too far left. This country isn’t ready for a guy who has no problem describing himself as a Democratic socialist.

No my left-leaning friends – we are stuck with Hillary.

She’s not in her husband’s league as a politician and though she has a firmly Democratic pedigree she doesn’t appear genuine enough to have the kind of credibility with the “everyman” that Bernie has. The unwritten motto of her campaign is “it’s MY turn damn it!” A La Bob Dole, another cure for Somnambulism.

The main appeal of Hillary – besides the secret desire we all have that her husband will assemble a staff of supermodels to assist him in performing his first man duties – is that the mere mention of her REALLY pisses off Republicans.

We all have that friend who posts the memes from Fox News daily on Facebook and you bite your tongue in response because you know darn well they want to start a fight. (I do understand the irony of most of you having come to this link from Facebook). To many Republicans – identifying yourself as a Democrat makes you a commie pinko who sits around and collaborates with his friends for new and inventive ways to get money from Government. We don’t work. We don’t contribute anything, and we basically hate America.

And we’re stupid…don’t forget stupid…

And..who is this Bill?

So we’re getting a grand chance to piss off our “friends” and in the end we’re going to take it. Republican’s emboldened by their wins in mid-terms need to remember that it’s not only the gray-hairs that vote in the big one. She has a very realistic chance – despite her continuing blunders – to go back to the White House and leave many American’s stewing. History hasn’t been kind to black people – but black men made it to elected office and the voting booth before white women. It may be Hillary’s “time.”

The GOP isn’t going to stand idly by and let us have all the fun. Once amateur hour is over we’re going to have the ultimate dream matchup as Jeb Bush will get the nominee and Republican’s will be able to remind us that his dumber brother managed to get TWO terms.

And make no mistake – Jeb is the “better” Bush. He’s far more articulate and has a much greater grasp of the issues than President W. One major thing he has is that he won’t completely take the Latino vote off the table for the GOP. He’s a formidable candidate. He’s much more like his Father than his brother – and that’s a good thing. George Sr. is a brilliant man who got caught paying the bill his processor left.

Decent candidates? Maybe. One has to wonder why this job has to be so focused on two families – but the fact that Hillary and Jeb are on a collision course speaks volumes about where we’re at in this country: Both parties are set to nominate the person who the other side hates the most. There will be no dialogue on issues that actually matter. There will be no progress in uniting this horribly divided country. 

Mitt Romney was right: 47% of the people aren’t going to vote for a Republican – but the other side is there are a similar number who won’t vote for a democrat. 3 to 5% of the people have the true power in  this country – the marginalized and never addressed independents.

No I won’t vote Republican – I’ll explain someday.

But for now – I just want to get this blog going again!!

Soccer tournament this weekend – should be good for some material!