LIAR!!

At a recent campaign stop in Iowa, presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren was asked if dishonesty should be a disqualifying trait in a presidential candidate? Mrs. Warren replied, ”How could the American people want someone who lies to them?” Which…really doesn’t, you know, answer the question, does it? 

But Elizabeth Warren is good at that: Not answering questions. Actually, all politicians are good at it, especially those who rise to the national level. You never want to give a direct, definitive answer today in case you need to give a different answer to a different crowd tomorrow.

Speaking of answers, the one to Senator Warren’s rhetorical question is simple: Americans don’t care. We know that all politicians lie – WE KNOW IT! We accept it as a fact. Whether one politician lies more than another is pretty meaningless. It’s not a matter of degree, and we don’t judge politicians on some sliding scale of, ”Well…my guy doesn’t lie to us as often as your guy, so my guy is okay.”

No, it doesn’t work like that, not at all. The fact that your guy lies less than my guy is irrelevant. It’s like saying, "Well, my unmarried daughter is less pregnant than your unmarried pregnant daughter, so my daughter is more virtuous than yours."  Wrong!  It doesn’t matter that mine is about ready to pop while yours just got knocked-up last week.  They're both equally pregnant, see?

So how could the American people want someone who lies to them? Easy! We don’t have a choice, now do we, Pocahontas? Okay, maybe that’s unfair…because the DNA testing did reveal that Warren was 0.000000001% “something” other than white. Okay Senator, then you want to go over again how you got FIRED from a seasonal job for being pregnant?  See, there’s this other story you told about how you simply decided not to return to that job. 

I rest my case.

Senator Warren, next time someone asks you a stupid question like, "Should dishonesty disqualify someone from being President?" just tell them the truth - that all politicians lie as a matter of course.  Ohhhhhh, that's right, I forgot, you're a politician too!  There's no way you could answer that question honestly.

Things We Wish We Had (and had not) Said

We all have those things we wished we hadn't said, right?  And of course, we always remember things we *could* have said, usually well after the opportunity to say them has passed.  "Jerkstore!" for example.  (You'd have to have watched Seinfeld to get that reference.)  It's usually one or the other. 

So a guy gets in my Uber at the hilariously-named Pensacola "International" Airport the other morning.  Dead ringer for Cory Booker.  I mean, spittin' image.  But I did not mention this fact.  You do not tell a black guy he looks like some famous other black guy.  That's like saying all Asians look alike.  Even though he did and they do. 

I start the trip and see that we're going to the headquarters of Cox Cable, which is up in the Ellyson Industrial Park which used to be Ellyson Field, a Navy flight training base where my dad learned to fly helicopters in 1952.  I always like going up to Ellyson.  Some of the old hangars are still there, and I can sort of get a sense of what my dad saw when he was there back before I was born. 

"My" Cory Booker is obviously some mid-level manager for Cox from out of town.  He's only in Pensacola for the day, for a meeting.  He sits back, sighs and mentions that his "friends" at Cox were supposed to pick him up at the airport but they didn't show so he had to take an Uber.  And what I almost...and I really mean...*ALMOST*….said was, "Some friends, those guys....those suckas...those Cox suckas…"  But I bit my tongue and did not make that joke.  It was, for those that know me, a great (and unusual) display of self-control.

Optimists and Pessimists

Well, despite the endless fretting, hand-wringing and worrying by some people, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un did not send us a nice present, Christmas or otherwise, as he promised.  No beautiful vase, no nuclear-tipped missile.  Nothing. War of words - that's the only kind of war Kim Jong-Un can wage. The U.S. killed Iran's General Qassem Soleimani, whom we have been told was one of the top terrorists in the world. Prior presidents have considered "taking him out" but did not. President Trump did. This caused one of my liberal friends to exclaim, "It's like if Iran killed Mike Pence!"  Uhhhh, no it wasn't, not even remotely.  Mike Pence has never facilitated the murder of any other person or group (that we know of!).  But hey, everybody's got their own reality, even me. The planet was not launched into WWIII over this Iran thing, again, despite what many feared and predicted.  Iran did shoot down a Ukrainian airliner - for what reason (ineptness?  deliberately?) we do not know.  Either way, it's a huge embarrassment for Iran.  Not that the gentle Canadians would ever do anything about it other than issue a strongly-worded letter to Iran.  Oh yeah, that'll show 'em. And so we are back where we were, more or less...  Except, for better or for worse, the world now understands that we have a legit "crazy person" in charge of the U.S. who's not afraid to take decisive, controversial action - unlike some former presidents who relied more on diplomacy and appeasement. Speaking of which... Thanks to President Obama, Iran got back all the money the U.S. has owed them since 1979...with interest! (See THIS article for an explanation.) Now, thanks to President Trump, Iran knows that if one more dime of it gets spent to kill Americans, there will be hell to pay. I am dismayed by the level of negativity we see so often all around us.  The mainstream media continually bombards us with ONLY views about the bad things that are going to happen because of this or that.  They assume that the result of everything will be bad, and then they bring on "experts" to reinforce that viewpoint.  The media's everything is bad! negative attitude filters down and infects their viewers, turning them into confirmed, registered pessimists.  That's a horrible, dangerous mindset.  I hate to bring this up, but my faith tells me that things can get better.  This gives me hope that they will be.  As I've always said: Without faith, hope is just wishful thinking.  And if you don't have faith or hope, you're living in a dark, dark place.  I prefer to look on the bright side...to be an optimist.

God's Plan

I was going to write about politics or some other useless topic, but when I sat down at the computer, I just couldn't work up the energy to take on any insignificant subject.  I mean, it all seems like just so much bullshit.  I've been feeling kind of "blah" lately.  The rediculous circus we call our government is getting to me.  Plus, it's been too cold and the days are too short for any meaningful motorcycle riding, and I obviously haven't been doing any flying.  Better days are coming, I know that.  And I can't wait.

I walked out of my house to go to work the other morning...okay, it was 11:59 but technically still "morning"…  The temperature (mid-60's) was very pleasant, the sky was bright blue, birds were chirping and I could hear flutes playing - you know, just a perfect day!  A day that made me glad I live in Florida and not Wisconsin.  And I thought to myself, "Isn't the world supposed to be ending right about now?"  But it did not - the world didn't end yesterday, and it probably won't end today.

I drove around in my little Uber, taking a variety of passengers here and there.  All of them were interesting to talk to.  I treasure those oh-so-brief interactions.  At the end of my "shift" (meaning a little after two p.m. when I decided to quit for the day), I realized that God has put me in the perfect job.  God, you say?  Yep, God, I say.

Those of us who believe in a Creator understand that everything happens because of God's plan.  And obviously, His plan for me was to be right here, right now, dispensing wisdom like Joe the Bartender, except without the alcohol and with better hours. But it's not just the (questionable) wisdom I dispense; I also benefit and grow from listening to the experiences of my passengers.

...Like the little old lady I picked up at a doctor's office yesterday who just celebrated her 84th birthday and is still going strong.  She told me she had six kids - five daughters and one son (coincidentally named Robert).  She has already buried two of her daughters, of which she was incredibly sad.  But her spirit was indomitable, as they say.  She loved her life, and was very happy.  And she gave all the credit for that to God.

I know that not everybody believes in God.  Skeptics argue: If God is responsible for all of the good things in my life, why do some many bad things happen?  

Fair question...and one I cannot answer.  But look, "bad things" happen to all of us, me included.  My life is not perfect - far from it!  But I do not let the bad things overwhelm me.  I keep them in perspective and push ahead in faith - the faith that God wants the best for me...and will provide it...if I just keep trusting His promises to us.  Scoff if you like.

I have had many "good breaks" in my life - many more than I can count.  You can call those coincidences or luck-of-the-draw or whatever.  I prefer to call them good fortune.  I know that they were gifts from God.  You might say, "Speaking of fortune, then why aren't you as rich as  Donald Trump?"  Well that's because I've never wanted to be.  I'm sure that if I were meant (destined?) to be that rich and powerful, then God would've put that desire...and drive...and capability into me.  But He did not.  I'm cool with that.  

"You can't always get what you want," sang the Rolling Stones way back in 1969.  
But if you try sometimes, you just might find
You just might find!
You get what you need  

Maybe not a parable of biblical profundity, but good enough.  You can get what you need.  But it won't come automatically.  You do have to try.  Have faith that God wants what's best for you.  Be thankful, be humble.  Stay positive - keep a "good spirit."  Don't let the bad stuff get you down.

My little old lady passenger said that she was tired.  She'd been up and about, doing stuff all morning (plus the doctor's appointment), and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.  She'd been up late, looking for her social security card, which she simply could not find.  She needed to produce the original hard copy for something today.  Finally, she said a little prayer, and "God" told her exactly where to look.  It was there.  Maybe something just jogged her memory and she remembered where it was?  Who knows.  "I know people don't believe me when I tell them that God speaks to me," she said, "but He does."  

Who am I to argue?

Flirting With Alcoholism

My father was a bad alcoholic.  It pains me to admit that, and my brothers and sisters would probably prefer that I did not mention it, but the truth is the truth: Throughout most of my formative years, dad’s drinking was a problem.  He did reform, somewhat, in later years, but he never really did stop drinking entirely.

We children of alcoholics all have the gene that makes us susceptible to the “disease” as people like to call it although I’m not sure I agree.  One can always choose to not drink in the first place.  Trouble is, few of us make that choice.  

Now, I’ll admit that I like to drink.  I don’t drink because I like the taste of beer (or rum!).  I like the way it makes me feel.  If it wasn’t for the bad hangovers I get, I’d drink all the time!  In fact, I could see myself becoming a major alky.  

I’ve never kept alcohol in the house.  No beer in the fridge, no bottles of Jack in the cupboard.  It’s my little way of keeping myself from becoming an alcoholic.  I don’t ever want to be that guy who drinks at home by himself.  If I have guests over, I’ll go out and buy a bottle of nice wine.  Other than that, I don’t drink at home.

Here’s why:  For supper tonight, I cooked up a dish that I’ve known about and liked for a long time.  It’s a complicated recipe, including scallops, cilantro, ginger root, fresh garlic, snow peas, bell peppers, corn starch…oh, and a cup of white wine.  Ingredients of which I have exactly zero.  So out I go…not to Walmart (which never in a million years would have fresh cilantro), but to Publix, the higher-end grocery store where the rich snobs shop.  God, I hate that place.  Nevertheless, they had everything I needed, including a nice bottle of white.  $50.00 later, I'm walking out to the car thinking, "Why didn't we just go out to a nice restaurant?"

The dish came out fine – if a little bland – just as I remembered it.  Since the bottle of wine was already opened, I decided to have a glass with my meal.  And then another.  And soon the bottle was empty and I was back to my “no alcohol in the house” promise.  And right now, as I write this, I am feeing verrrrry good!  

I have gone through periods of fairly heavy drinking in my life.  Happily and thankfully, those days are over.  I’m not one of those annoying reformed-alcoholic teatotalers who claims to never drink – oh no!  If I go out with friends, I can (and will!) still merrily drink them under the table.  I just don’t do that very often anymore.  My goal is to never have another hangover as long as I live.  So far, so good…although we’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow morning.  Putting an open bottle of wine in front of me is a bad, bad thing.

On Trump and Morality

Hey, when you take a strong position on an issue, you're likely to get some feedback. Not all of it is going to be positive. Take Mark Galli, Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today Magazine. He recently published an editorial condemning President Trump and asserting that he was "morally unfit" to be President. Not a huge problem by itself…everybody’s entitled to their opinion…except that Galli unwisely invoked the name of Reverend Billy Graham, who founded the magazine. Oopsie! Turns out that Rev. Graham was a supporter of Donald Trump and voted for him for president. 

Anyway, now 200 or so "evangelicals" have come out in angry contradiction to Galli and his editorial.  You can read that article HERE.

President Trump surely is a controversial, polarizing character in modern American history. You love him or you hate him. We can say that he is not a "moral" or "ethical" man, and there is plenty of evidence to support that statement. Trump is also not a "good Christian" by any stretch of the imagination (although who am I to judge?). Luckily, the U.S. is not a Christian nation, per se. Our country may have been created with respect to certain Christian principles and values, but the founders went out of their way to ensure that the government would never be dominated by any one particular church or religion - like England.

Every voice needs to be heard - even Galli's. This is America, after all, where we fight and die for our First Amendment rights. Nobody should be shouted down or forcibly shut up, no matter how unpopular are their words.  Mark Galli may have taken a provocative stance among conservative Christians, but I admire him for doing it. Donald Trump is, to be honest, a pretty despicable person. Impeachably despicable? Ehhh, I don't know. People...*voters*...should seriously be asking themselves if Trump is really the person we/they want leading our country for another four years? 

For Christians, that's got to be a tough question. To them, morality comes from God.  But this is America; we cannot demand that all politicians believe the same things we do…or even that they be Christians for that matter.  We cannot even tell them what is “moral” behavior and what’s not, for morality is one of those ill-defined, subjective concepts.  Like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said in 1964 when asked to define pornography: ”I know it when I see it!"  But how important is morality in a supposedly religion-free government that has worked so hard to expel God from our lives?  

Well, morality is about how we act towards others within the framework of society, right? Those generally-good feelings (and actions) toward one another are innate to most – but not all – of us humans.  You don’t have to be a Christian to be a moral person - but it helps. Still, as a Christian I cannot demand that a person adhere to the same moral standards as I do.  And so Trump is a dilemma.  I may not personally be able to stand him, but does that mean he can't be a good President?

For atheists, it may even be a harder question - because we know that morals (and their close friend, ethics) are "squishy." They change over time and are not generally set in stone, as it were. Things that were once seen as immoral don’t seem like such a big deal now. And so, should we even care about how "immoral" Trump acts in the present? Perhaps one day in the future, his current behavior, like that of unmarried couples living together, or pregnancy out of wedlock, both of which were once considered highly immoral, may seem perfectly acceptable and inoffensive. 

And wouldn’t that be some shit!

My Waning Love Affair With The Keurig

I like coffee.  But I don’t love coffee like some people do…I don’t need coffee to “get the day started” when I wake up.  And I'm no coffee snob.  I like it; I drink it; end of story.

I’ve bitched before about how our local convenience stores have all gone to these automatic machines that grind and brew cups individually – so no more drinking from a pot that’s been sitting there for who-knows-how-long, or coming in to find no coffee brewed because the clerks were too busy to make more.  Now, instead of just pouring a cup and moving on, we stand in line, tapping our feet and waiting for the guy in front of us to figure out how to work the oh-so-complicated machine and get his damn coffee brewed.  Ahh, progress...

A while back, Keurig coffeemakers became popular.  Such convenience!  Just pop the little pod into the machine and (snap your fingers), instant coffee!  I resisted buying one for a couple of reasons, but finally bit the bullet and became a convert.  Walmart sells one model, the K55 for $134.99.  I found one on Facebook Marketplace - brand new and unused - for $25.00.

And now, after a year or so, the Keurig sits, no longer used, taking up space on my kitchen counter.  I’ve gone back to just making conventional instant coffee.  I can stick a saucepan of water on the stove and have it heated to boiling and poured in a cup before I can get my “Bob McMuffin” (my version of the McDonalds classic) made.  Heating a cup of water in the microwave takes even less time and effort.  Why do I need this Keurig again?

You have to keep refilling the Keurig supply reservoir after every two or three cups or so.  Then you have to wait for it to heat up the water.  Then you have the pod to dispose of.  I buy a package of 48 “Donut Shop” pods from Walmart.  At $14.88 per box, it works out to $0.31 per cup.  On the other hand, an $8.59 container of instant coffee gives me 200 cups, which works out to be $0.05 per cup.  And to me, they taste the same.

True, you can get all kinds of flavors and types of those coffee pods, so everyone in the fam can have their own special blend.  But it’s just me in this house, and like I said, I’m no coffee snob.  Give me any ol’ coffee and I’m happy.  The Keurig is a neat invention, but - for me - it really doesn't do anything better than before.