They had to take over twenty total elections to do it, but the Republicans finally have the right election-denying, white racist in place.
Is Louisiana even still considered part of the United States?
The look on the ex-presidents’ face as another fine of ten-thousand dollars was assessed..
Not because he doesn’t have the money, but because he has no plans at all to pay a nickel of it.
Ask his attorneys.
You know how far our country has sunk when there are so many people that still support this con man.
I remember when Jesse “The Body” Ventura was elected as Governor of Minnesota. I had that same feeling when I first heard the name Trump associated with politics.
Cartoonish.
But it’s no joke.
It’s ugly.
It fosters an atmosphere of fear and retribution.
I love watching old sci-fi movies that use their forecasted apocalypse to be occurring….NOW! That’s right.
I was watching the classic Soylent Green where a dystopian society is having to resort to cannibalism to survive. The oceans are dying off. Greenhouse effect keeps the average daily temperature in ALL Time zones.at ninety to one-hundred degrees.
People are dying trying to get food.
Sounds a little too familiar.
The movie’s storyline was set in the year 2022.
I do go along with the Exit from this madness. You drink a delicious elixir then you are massaged with warm scented oils as light classical music dances through your head. Then you are shown an IMAX collection of beauty and perfection as it once existed.
And…
Finis
There are a lot worse ways to go than that, my friend.
I can honestly say I do not fear death.
But I am terrified to the very core of my soul at the thought of living what remaining time I have been given without my wife Karen.
It was a cold, windy December night at O’Hare International airport as I kicked my tennis shoes on the curb to keep the circulation going. My connecting flight to Los Angeles was still an hour and a half from boarding, so I ducked outside into the parking garage to get stoned (big surprise there).
I took one last stone-producing toke as I turned to head back to the warmth of the terminal, and three guys suddenly appeared from behind a car, I thought.
I was eighteen years old; it was the seventies.
Peace. Love. Dove.
I was fearless.
“How’s it goin?,” I remember now as some totally stupid shit to say as I was about to get mugged.
Long story short.
Three armed guys.
One Martin acoustic guitar.
One wallet with my entire existence contained therein (Hello Angela Bennett!) and the assholes even took my Manchester United wool scarf.
I write about my issues with people versus pets in my story Little Things one of the short and short-short stories contained in my first book EMOTIONS: Not your Mama’s ABC’s!
Check it out.
Little Things
I wanted to interview Thomas Coley ever since I first heard of his amazing story. My editor was a little less enthusiastic, but had agreed to let me do it for a piece in the “People in the News” segment which ran weekly in our newspaper. So I grabbed my recorder, a small pocket-sized model with the little three-inch cassettes my mother had given me on the day I got my job here. For her, this was the culmination and payoff for the meager seven years of college I spent to get my journalism degree, and she was bursting with questions when I told her of my impending meeting the next day with Thomas.
“What is the first question you are going to ask?” she bubbled.
I thought for a second and kept reminding myself don’t forget the little things. The big picture stuff will take care of itself.
“Well. I thought I’d start with….”
She didn’t wait for the reply, obviously star struck at her daughter meeting, interviewing, and writing a story on a real honest-to-goodness celebrity.
“He is drop-dead gorgeous! She exclaimed. That is one fine-looking man,” she added.
“Mom, you have to remember”… I tried to inject, but she was having none of it. She was already on the phone with her best friend and bridge partner Marge detailing my assignment including (for the third time) the phrase “drop-dead gorgeous.” I took one last swig of my Venti Latte with an extra shot of expresso and headed out for Marion. Just west of Marion was Carbondale, home of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, and beautiful Crab Orchard Lake. I made a mental note to stop by there for a picnic lunch when I finished my interview.
Five hours later, I arrived in Marion, stopping at a Mom and Pop burger joint to grab a snack which included a delicious vanilla shake to help quell the nervous stomach I had developed. I guess I was star-struck or nervous after all, I admitted to myself. I finished in a hurry and closed the door with the rusty little bell jingling behind me as I exited.
So there we sat, the cub reporter and the movie star looking across the table at each other in silence. As much as it hurt to admit it, my mother was right. He was drop-dead gorgeous. But as I began, what really struck me was how genuinely nice he was. Down-to-earth and approachable, with a square jaw and perfect white teeth. His blue eyes penetrated the very core of my soul.
“Tell me something most people would never know about you, I began. What was your childhood like? Were you happy growing up?” People loved this human interest stuff. Journalism 101. Get the subject talking about themselves and then hit them with the big questions.
Don’t forget the little things.
He showed no signs of being uncomfortable with my first salvo of questions and slowly began speaking. Perfect diction, perfect delivery, and of course, perfect white teeth.
“My parents provided me with every opportunity to succeed, he began. My childhood was a very happy, loving time, so no headline-grabbing revelations available there,” he offered almost apologetically. “My two elder siblings were somewhat over-protective of me so I led quite the sheltered existence,” he recounted wistfully. “I always had a pet when I was growing up, a fish, a bird, I didn’t quite care what, but I was always surrounded by animals so I grew up protecting them. That is why…”
“You give so much of your time and money to different animal charities and organizations,” I finished his sentence.
“You’ve done your homework,” he complimented. He expounded “that is also why I ONLY give my time and money to animal organizations.”
My raised eyebrow must have belied my relaxed posture, so Thomas felt the need to continue. “Let me ask you something,” he began. “Have you ever had a dog tell you a lie? Have you ever had a cat try to steal your money at gunpoint? Has a bird ever broken into your house and stolen your stereo or television?”
“Neither have I,” he said before I could proffer an answer to any of his questions.
“Neither have I.”
He went on about his happy childhood, his climb to film stardom, and I found myself both in awe and in love. I felt my cheeks flush. I gathered myself and started. I also realized my allotted time had come to an end. I blurted as he began to rise.
“Thomas, you are one of the most visible faces on the planet. Admired by men. Adored by women. Idolized by millions. Where do you go to escape it all?”
“Really?” he laughed. “Let me guess. First ever interview for you, right?”
Now I was blushing crimson.
I nodded.
“Well, you might have taken into consideration the fact that you are conducting this interview in a federal maximum security prison and that I am shackled by the legs and handcuffed to this chair. Or the fact that I disemboweled six people and ate their intestines.”
“You know, little things like that.”
***
Stay well.
