'Very well then, you win! Take him! But never forget that the man whom you want me to spare will one day prove the ruin of the party which you and I have so long defended. There are many Marius's in this fellow Caesar.' Lucius Cornelius Sulla in Suetonius' Twelve Caesars
This election puts Republicans in a hard position. Even as the choice in this election is between a normal candidate and an abnormal one, it’s also between a liberal candidate and a, well, conservative-ish one. I don’t doubt Trump would nominate pro-life judges, or that he would resist raising taxes. I understand why so many Republicans have decided to suppress their doubts and support him.
But this is a dangerous game. We are a nation protected by norms, not just by laws. Our political parties should be held to certain standards in terms of the candidates they nominate, the behaviors they accept, the ideas they mainstream. Trump violates those standards. By indulging him, the Republican Party is normalizing him and his behavior, and making itself abnormal. Ezra Klein in VoxEzra Klein, writes in Vox. Vox is Latin for voice. Cool. Like Bono cool. I mean frigus.
So, Trump, Ezra has no doubt, will appoint Pro-Life judges. Frigus, Dude, Frigus! Optimum Est!
Yet, I am led to believe, Ezra, that such a thing would be abnormal?
I imagine that Ezra Klein has heard about Caesar and maybe he has some idea about the pther two gents from Latin antinquity -Sulla and Gaius Marius*.
There I go being all harsh. I will tell Ezra and any one interested below the following sentences.
Sorry. You see. I have very little tolerance for persons who tell me who I am and how I should think and behave.
I do pretty well. I'm no Bill Moyers -thanks be to God - but I do Okay.
A cousin of mine was asked to wrap the tree on his front lawn with Blue bunting in order to 'show his solidarity with Police Officers.' My cousin, like me, has many friends who are Chicago cops and he does not need to be told to wrap his tree in blue, yellow, black, or green bunting to show anything. He and I express ourselves without too much difficulty.
I no longer hang the American flag out on appropriate days, because the proximity of my house happens to be the votex of a wind tunnel and every flag has been blown away, along with the hardware for the last twenty years.
I love America. I would like to see America great again. That can only happen if we get rid of abortion - Roe v. Wade is the high water-mark of American greatness and the great waters have been receding since 1972.
I am not confused about who I am; nor, am I fundamentally bothered by my continued time on earth.
- Race - White, AKA Caucasian native -born ( close-knit ethnic Irish)
- Religion - Roman Catholic (see above)
- Gender - Male
- Marital Status - Widower ( three children)
- Education - BA, MA
- Employment - Educator
- Age - 63 and change
- Health- Excellent
- Political Identification- Democrat ( see above)
- Class- Lower Middle Blue Collar
- Languages - English - weak Spanish - reads Latin and some French
- Interests - High, Wide and handsome
Will voting for Trump on November 8th cause me to worry that I might no longer be, as Illinois Representative and shrew Jan Schakowsky explained on MSNBC, a " decent person?" No, by a pack of smokes and a wink from a homely girl. I watched Jan Schalowsky treat a young Asian girl in the most awful manner, but on MSNBC Schakowsky sided herself as one of the "decent people."
Color me indecent.
Color me indecent.
I will continue to be the absolute "peach of guy" that it has been my pleasure to be this three score and three.
My constitution is solid, because I pray on my knees and stand on my two legs. I keep my belly full and bowels empty. I treat people with kindness, dignity and the respect they deserve, until people treat me, my own and fellow human beings with contempt.
I read and I remember what I read. As Blue Collar kid, I learned that what I do is much more important than what I say I do. I grew up with admiration for public persons - teachers, coaches, doctors, cops, firemen, newspaper reporters and even elected officials who remembered how they became elected officials.
Feelings are secondary to facts, because feelings can be misleading. Hell. I thought I'd marry Judy Procheska in 1966. She married an obstetrician and now lives in Vail, CO. I did fall in love and married the woman who is mother of my children. Got the license and birth certificates to show.
Them's facts and facts matter.
I taught and raised money in Catholic secondary schools for over forty years. I feel I did a pretty good job. The records show that I did a very good job. However, I was raised not to expect 'atta-boys' for doing my job.
As an English teacher, it is incumbent upon the teacher to know composition, grammar, rhetoric, the canons of taste, critical theory and historical context. If a teacher does not write, that teacher just might be a deficient writing instructor. Might. I know many high school English teachers who not only do not write, but can not write - far too many. I know far too many more who can identify any of leading writers in the canon of world literature. These teachers really care about the kids, but enough to read, write, or argue with any heft in their own discipline.
So, that is how it is.
I come from a family of skilled tradesmen. They do not suffer fools ( incompetents, layabouts, ticket punchers) gladly. My cousin Barbara, many years my junior, is the chief engineer of an iconic building in Chicago's Loop. No glass ceiling there. Barbara went to college and decided to try the trade of her late father. It is a male dominated trade. Barbara rose to the top of her trade, not because she is woman, but because she is one hell of an engineer.
That is how it should be and it is.
Our social and political life is dominated by some very arrogant jerks.
Two have secured the nominations from America's two major political parties.
In order to secure the Presidency of Hillary Clinton our nation has endured a purge of talent in both parties and the rise of a flamboyant huckster as the binary choice for the minority of American voters, and vast armies unqualified voters who will be chauffeured the polls between early voting in October and through November 8, 2016.
The Flamboyant Huckster repells me, but I am going to vote for him for the following reasons
- CNN (Mrs. Turner's Channel)
- MSNBC ( America's Clown Car)
- New York Times
- Washington Post
- Chicago Tribune
- NPR
- Public Television
- The Nation, Salon, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Huffington Post
- Planned Parenthood
- The Journolistas (2008-2016)
Most of all it is persons, public persons who have proved themselves to be bullies, frauds, dummies, hypocrites, cowards and opportunists. People like, Pres. Bill Clinton, Pres. Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Sen. Barbra Boxer, Sen. Mark Kirk, Sen. Dick Durbin, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Boss Toni Preckwinkle, Governor Bruce Rauner, Columnists David Brooks, Sally Kohn, Micheal Eric Dyson, Dana Millbank and Eric Zorn.
These punks want us to pick fights with one another over a stupid election. This is the stupidest election, since the Democrat Party quit itself in 1972.
The JounoList is said to be a 'forum' where like minded ink-slingers and political hacks can share memes in order to "Fundamentally Transform" America. They have.
Here is the thing.
The Media created the rise of Donald Trump and it fertilized and watered the stink weed he opposes.
The people who created the atmosphere of mistrust bordereing on paranoia in our nation are unlike some of the Honors students who became honors students because their well-heeled parents bullied the takers of tuition into Honors placements. Most of the students in Honors and A.P. English are hardworking, humble and honest. A very few are pests and not very very bright pests at best.
Honors pests tended to be snotty bullies of the peers and suck-ups to their betters. The perfect examples of Honors pests might be Chris Hayes on MSNBC (who got his job via nepotism and his father-in-law is none aother than Andy Shaw ABC news-goof and President of the BGA in Chicago) who excels at talking over people,but saying nothing.
Honors Pests now seem to dominate the pages Salon, VOX, or the cable news. Now, in all fairness FOX has some real dopes - that Huckleberry Hound imitator jumps to mind: Sheppard Smith, but nothing surpasses MSNBC as a huge clown car.
The media wanted Trump to face Hillary. They systematically assassinated every GOP and Democratic candidate with the aid and comfort of the DNC and the Clinton Foundation's black bag operatives.
Now, we are told that we can choose Hillary, or choose to stand with the abnormal.
Me, I will never stand with abortion happy grifters, globalist grifters, or race-baiting hustlers. New normal or not.
* Gaius Marius was Roman soldier, born in the sticks and not a noble Roman. He was a skilled soldier and he is credited with creating the Roman Army that conquered the world. He was a cousin of Gaius Julius Caesar who was noble Roman - kind of like a Kennedy, or Rockefeller ( upstarts who became somebodies - real Americans are Cabots, Adamses, Lodges, & etc. Marius was elected Consul seven times and was called the First Man of Rome. Marius opened Roman citizenship to doers. Noble Romans hated that.
Cornelius Sulla a handsome, wealthy, educated and connected Noble Roman. Sulla was Marius' second -in-command and had been very close to his boss. Marius at the height of his power had a stroke and a radical change in his personality. Marius began to see enemies everywhere and began torturing and executing everyone.
Sulla replace Marius as First Man of Rome, upon Marius' death. Sulla wanted to murder young Caesar, but was stopped by the 'noble Romans' of the Senate.
Sulla was a monster himself, but he created Caesar. Ezra and the Honors Pests of the American Media created Trump - and he is only half as bad as Hillary.
