It Takes All Kinds - But Not These, Please

Many years ago, I knew a wily old country lawyer who often referred to a certain class of people as the "Maggots of Society". He was referring to people who were possessed of a kind of free-floating anger that they could never pinpoint. I'm sure you know people like this. They are generally dissatisfied with their lives, but can never figure out how to change their circumstances.

They are the people who are against every idea put forth that would lead to the betterment of the community. They are largely uneducated, semi-literate at best. They are naysayers, who don't even understand what they are speaking against. They are largely white, and at least the southerners among them are racists.

Until recent years, if you asked them exactly what they were angry about, they couldn't give you a definitive answer. Their anger was usually aimed at some local officials or businessmen, because they never read newspapers or thought much about the world in general.

All that changed when Fox News came along. Gradually, it dawned on them that the Fox News people were saying things they wanted to hear. A new world of hatred opened up to them, and soon, they were expressing anger at the national government, Democrats, the Congress, the Senate , the President and above all, liberals in general. How satisfying it was to finally have a target for all of their dissatisfaction.

Fox News told them to be mad at the Government for bailing out the banks. It never occurred to them to be angry at the banks, instead. They were incensed to discover, through Fox News, and members of the Republican party that the new Democratic President was a Muslim and had not even been born in this country. The Republicans became their new best friends.

They were warned that healthcare reform would be disastrous, and the government would raise taxes, loot Medicare, take away their rights to see the doctors of their choice, and would decide when it was time for them to die. Hot diggety-dog! Now, they were really mad! So, they started to band together and probably for the first time in their lives, got interested in politics. Sarah Palin was their sweetheart. She spoke their language, by golly!

They started organizing and having meetings to rant and rave about the things and people they hate. But, first they had to have a name. They were encouraged by Republicans, who know how to take advantage of ignorance when they see it. So, it came to pass that those same people, who would have been called the "Maggots of Society" by a savvy old country lawyer, became today's "Teabaggers".

So endeth the lesson.

Stay tuned.

Movie Review

A couple of days ago, I watched "Inglourious Basterds", Quinton Tarantino's latest effort. First, I'd like to say that I did not misspell the title. Tarantino did. And, he says he'll never explain why "Inglourious" was spelled that way, but that "Basterds" is just the way the word is pronounced.

Apparently, the movie answered the question, "What if there were two plots to assassinate Nazi Germany's leadership and both plots succeeded?"

Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), was the leader of a group of Jewish Allied Solders, whose sole raison d'etre was to "kill Nazis", and collect their scalps. I thought that Brad Pitt bore a strong resemblance to Marlon Brando's character in "The Godfather." This may or may not have been on purpose. As a matter of fact, he sounded like a redneck version of Vito Corleone. And, the scar that looked as though it stretched from ear to ear was never explained.

The other plot was planned by a young French Jewish movie house owner bent on avenging her family and others who had been slaughtered by Nazi soldiers. Christopher Waltz played a German Lieutenant who ordered the slaughter. The part was played brilliantly by Waltz, and he may just win an Oscar for it.

"Inglourious Basterds" is the first Quentin Tarantino movie I have ever understood. This worries me.

Stay tuned.

Message Loud and Clear

The President was in full lecture mode tonight, wasn't he? He scolded the Republicans, the Democrats AND the Supreme Court. He even tweaked the media pundits and their "sound bites". And, they all needed it.

Five times he referred to bills that had been passed by the House, and said nothing about the Senate. By his silence, he made his point about the Senate dragging its heels. I hope Harry Reid was taking notes.

I liked the speech. I can see where some in that chamber didn't. I doubt if he will see much change in those folks. But, I'll bet the President feels better. He seemed to enjoy it.

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The newly elected Governor of Virginia made the rebuttal speech. His problem was it's hard to rebut a speech you haven't heard.

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Our very own Blanche Lincoln, who purports to be a Democrat, held a news conference the other day to brag about the fact that she received $1.5 Million in the previous quarter. That was an "in your face" to those nine Republicans who are planning to run against her, and maybe a 10th in the person of Representative John Boozeman, who hopes to be movin' on up to the Senate.

She thanked the "people of Arkansas" who sent donations, but they were the wrong people to thank. She should have thanked the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. No matter how much she boasts about having $5 Million on hand, she could still lose. So, yesterday she announced that she would not vote yes on passing the healthcare bill by reconciliation. OK. Her vote isn't needed for that, anyway. Somehow, though, I don't think that will save her. She deserves to lose.

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Four Republicans broke into Mary Landrieu's office in Louisiana and got caught at it. They made up some cockamamie story about why they broke in, and I hope they realize that what they did was still illegal. If not, they're in for a big surprise.

Two of these guys were in on the "fake pimp" attack on ACORN, a Republican dirty trick that worked well enough to fool some of the people into thinking that ACORN wasn't to be trusted. In fact, I imagine some people still believe the story.

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John and Elizabeth Edwards are going to divorce. Maybe we can just shut up about them, now.

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The newest anxiously awaited Apple innovation has been introduced, and someone in the company should have had the foresight to realize that it shouldn't be called the I-Pad. Already people are tweeting, blogging, and referring to the product as a feminine product which I won't name. I will tell you that word is that the I-Pad will be sold in two sizes - Mini and Maxi.

Stay tuned.

Healthcare Reform Still Possible

I have been watching, with some amusement, the media meltdown over the special election in Massachusetts. For pity's sake, people, calm down! That guy is a nut! By the next election, he'll be gone with the wind. Of course, it'll take six years, but.........

(CORRECTION: Jay reminded me that he will only serve a two year term. Anyway, that's still two years too many.)

Nevertheless, the people of Massachusetts ought to be ashamed of themselves. The pundits have a thousand reasons why the Democrats didn't hold onto that Senate seat. Some say it was because "the American people don't want healthcare reform!" to "Coakley was a piss-poor candidate" ( this is one I agree with). But, I think the main reason is that they already have a good healthcare plan and who cares about anyone else in the country.

People sure are pounding on President Obama because he isn't Superman and didn't turn everything around and cure all the ills of the country in the space of one year. There are two things to take into consideration here. 1. As we get closer and closer to the interim election, voters always, always try to turn the "in" party "out". They are always mad because the current President hasn't done enough, in their view. 2. And more importantly, President Obama never dreamed he would be betrayed by his own party.

The reason things get so messy during a Democratic administration is that, unlike the Republicans, the Democrats will not march in lock-step. They tend to think for themselves. It is like herding cats to get them together on any subject.

Not that anybody ever listens to me, but I still think healthcare reform is possible. It just needs to be done the way Teddy Kennedy always said to do it - get something passed, then make changes as needed, to get the bill you really wanted in the first place.

And, speaking of Teddy, the voters in Massachusetts letting his seat go to a Republican just at the moment when his lifelong dream is about to be realized just seems wrong. Very wrong.

Stay tuned.

The Associate

John Grisham may not know how to end a book, but he sure knows how to begin one! I have been waiting for the local library to call and tell me that The Associate is finally available. I don't believe their waiting list was so long that, after ten months, my name still hasn't come up. It has been my experience there just aren't that many people around here who read anything but Bible verses and the obituaries. But, I digress.

So, when the book came out in paperback, I quickly ordered it from Amazon.com and when I got it, I immediately got comfy and eagerly began to read. It grabbed me from page one. I like that in a book.

Kyle McAvoy is on the verge of graduating law school. He is a brilliant student with a brilliant future ahead of him, until he meets Bennie. Bennie is in possession of a video taken one drunken night at Kyle's apartment. I don't need to go into detail about the video, do I? It involves two of Kyle's roommates and a young lady. Although Kyle didn't participate in the activity of the evening, he WAS there, albeit passed out in a chair. The video clearly shows this.

A few days after the orgy, the young lady in question started hollering "rape", and the boys were hauled in for questioning. It was a close call. If the young lady hadn't been so generous with her affections with so very many other young men, it could have turned ugly for the guys. But, as it was, she kept changing her story and her reputation preceded her, so the boys were never charged or tried. Whew! Nevertheless, the video existed and could have caused no end of trouble and embarrassment to Kyle and his frat brothers, because, after four years, the young lady was still claiming she was raped that night.

Back to Bennie. He is in possession of said tape, and explains to Kyle that if he doesn't do his bidding, he will release the tape and ruin his life and those of his friends. He wants Kyle to accept a job offer with a very prominent New York law firm. This firm is engaged in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions. Kyle is supposed to steal information from his employer and deliver it to Bennie. Panic ensues.

This plot gets very involved, in typical John Grisham fashion, and keeps you on the edge of your recliner right up until the end. Grisham's books always seem to leave you wondering, "what happened next?" and this one is no different.

But, I highly recommend this book, if you like trying to unravel puzzles as much as I do.

Stay tuned.

At A Loss for Words

I have been trying to do a blog post all week. I wanted to talk about the earthquake in Haiti, but I find that I just don't know what to say. Such devastation! I feel so sorry for those people, and so helpless.

I can only watch for a few minutes at a time. But, I saw some idiot here in the U.S. get in front of a TV camera yesterday and claim that Obama hasn't responded quickly enough. Good grief! It's not as if we could just get in buses and trucks and drive to the devastated area, like we could have done after Katrina, and you know how long it took to respond in that little debacle.

Then, you have the very unchristian Pat Robertson claiming that the Haitians brought it on themselves for reasons that don't even bear repeating, so I won't. And how about the idiot Rush Limbaugh, suspecting that President Obama will make political hay out of the disaster. Those two people ought to be ashamed of themselves. Then again, we have to consider the source.

Just imagine having to live in a country like Haiti. The lucky ones are able to make $2.00 a day and others try to get by on $1.00 a day. Most of us, no matter how poor we think we are, simply cannot fathom the plight of those people.

Pray for them. Pray hard.

Stay tuned.

Chasing Terrorism

Now, I'm just a little old lady, living in the wilds of the Ozarks, and I know there are lots of people who know lots more than I do about world affairs. So, I guess I'm inviting a lot of criticism when I say I don't think we are fighting terrorism in the right way.

Here's a little story: I lived in a ten-unit apartment building when I was in college. There were five units upstairs and five downstairs. One by one, we complained about an infestation of roaches in our units. Hardly a week went by without one or two of us calling the owner and asking him to hire someone to fumigate, and week in and week out, he ignored our requests.

So, we did the best we could, and sprayed and stomped roaches until, one weekend, after careful planning by the residents, we all moved out. We had to. With all our spraying of individual apartments, we were simply running the roaches out of one unit and into the next. We weren't getting rid of them. They were simply relocating.

And, that's what we're doing in the Middle East. We're chasing Al Quaeda from one country to another without solving the problem. And, at the same time, we're fighting on another front, an unwinnable war in Iraq.

So, here's my idea. Declare a national emergency and bring the troops home, leaving what we can call a "peacekeeping force" in the Middle East. Put the Air Force in charge of security in our airports, the Navy and Coast Guard in charge of security in our ports of entry and the Army and Marines patrolling our borders, both with Mexico and Canada. Make the term, Homeland Security mean something. And, let the Middle Eastern countries solve their own "roach" problems in their own ways.

Now, aren't you glad I'm back?

Stay tuned.