Will You Be Staying After Sunday?

For the past two weekends, I’ve been featuring Sunday Songs… so let’s keep this theme going.

This time around, we’ll be giving a listen to Will You Be Staying After Sunday… recorded half a century ago by Peppermint Rainbow… a band that oft gets categorized as one of those “one hit wonders”.

Delving a bit deeper into the musical nuts and bolts… we’re talking about a feel good musical arrangement to accompany timeless, love song sentiments… where the lead female vocalist lyrically role plays… expresses her heartfelt desires for commitment from her Sunday lover… in hopes that he’ll stay long past Monday… perhaps for a lifetime?

While it’s hard to reconcile how such aural fluff could coexist against the gawd awful backdrop of political / cultural upheaval (e.g., war, assassinations, police brutality, riots, etc.), this does beg the question…

Was not an upbeat sounding song exactly what was needed back then… and now more than ever… in the here and now?

All things considered… you know things have got to be really bad when 2018 makes those of us, who were coming of age during the Sixties, still yearn for those yesteryears… in spite of all of those long ago, negative news vibes.

Yeah… I know… I know… my musical tastes may not be palatable to some of my site’s younger visitors but… on the upside… this Sunday Song tracks out at only 2:29… so, mercifully, it’ll be over before you know it!

Even if you’re still covering your ears, thumbing your nose, thumbs downing it and/or giving it a middle finger salute, you can always mute it and feast your eyes upon the YouTube videographer’s mesmerizing handiwork… right? Hell, that palatable image of fresh off the iron griddle, made from scratch pancakes… topped off with bananas, blueberries and drizzled with maple syrup… alone… just might be reason enough to stick around… right?

 

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“Exhuming” a Virtual Reality Literary Time Capsule

 

With each and every new post, we wind up “burying” many of our favorite past posts.

True, reblogging can “exhume” them but, recently, I began wondering if there might be a better, easier method? Perhaps, even a way to, simultaneously, post and selectively repost?

With that in mind, I created a new category, titled: “A-Graded Past Posts”. Admittedly, such nomenclature, at first glance, may seem akin to an overly inflated, self-appraisal but, I assure you, this was merely to get that new title to begin with an “A”… thereby positioning it near the top of my Categories Menu where site visitors will be more apt to spot it.

To complete this project, I next located / re-categorized many of my favorite blogs spanning the 2+ years since my arrival within our WordPress community.

Time permitting… I cordially invite you to check out my archived, select past posts… the subject matter inclusive of social / political commentary, human interest stories, humor, fiction, sci-fi, musical BlogCasts, song parodies, poetry, limericks and even one hybrid acrostic limerick and a parable.

To access them, either scroll down the right side of my home page to locate my categories menu title “A-Graded Past Posts” or click this link… “A-Graded Past Posts”.

As always, I am humbled by the mere notion that… with each click of that rectangular shaped, teal hued PUBLISH button… my outward rushing thoughts attain the speed of light to span the globe… to mind-meld with readers who I’ve already met… and readers who I’ve yet to meet.

I thank all of you kindly souls, who deem my posts worthy of your precious time.

 

Brett Kavanaugh’s Pervasive Evasiveness

 

Brett Kavanaugh’s choked back tears during yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing were understandable. Weighing heavily upon his mind is Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he attempted to rape her three+ decades ago and how this front-page news has jeopardized his SCOTUS appointment, stressed out his marriage and necessitated awkward discussions with his young daughters.

True, Kavanaugh adamantly maintains his innocence, however, the only ways that’d even be possible is if this is EITHER a case of mistaken identity OR that… against the backdrop of this amoral, Trumpian era… attempted rape is no longer considered a crime.

While I’m a lifelong liberal, what compels me to believe Ford’s testimony rather than Kavanaugh’s goes way beyond partisan politics.

What defies all logic is how a man, who so steadfastly claims he didn’t do it, would not be demanding another FBI investigation and even a polygraph examination… both of which could conceivably restore his public image, ease the stress within his private life and reward him with the very SCOTUS job he lusts for.

Adding more sour notes to Kavanaugh’s so-called choirboy image is his stonewalling of the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats’ legitimate questions, many of which only had required a simple yes or no response. Worse yet… despite the Committee’s rules against filibustering… he incessantly rambled on nonsensically… embellishing his non-answers with a barrage of circumlocution, non-sequiturs and inconsequentials… all for the express purpose of running out the clock.

And make no mistake here, Kavanaugh afforded the wildly partisan, madman, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley the perfect opportunity to gleefully, promptly enforce the five minute rule to repeatedly shut up / shut down the Democrats… i.e., to thwart all of their honest attempts to establish the truth… either all on their own or with the subsequent FBI assist they unanimously requested. As to be expected… the Republicans adamantly and fallaciously maintained that it is now too late for such an investigation.

Well… for the edification of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s recalcitrant Republicans… it’s never too late to investigate.

More to the point… one would expect a Supreme Court judge wannabe to insist on establishing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Why would Brett Kavanaugh ever object to that… that is… unless the truth would clearly establish his guilt?

 

“Exhuming” E-Buried Time Capsule Blogs

 

One reality, common to most blogging platforms, is everything gets archived chronologically. That means that, unless visitors have tons of time to browse, extensively, through a site’s archives and/or categories sections… far too often, a blogger’s favorite past posts do wind up languishing in obscurity. That’s akin to burying blogs in a time capsule.

True, WordPress does make “re-blogging” possible… but why take up the extra space?

My solution is to add a new category. I’m labeling it “A-Graded Past Posts”. Admittedly, to have thunk up such a title may suggest there’s an inflated ego in play. Even so… nothing could be further from the truth. It’s just that since everything winds up in alphabetic order, too, to situate this new category’s title near the top of my list, it needed to start with an “A”.

My game plan involves perusing my two years+ “deep” archive… to locate the blogs I wish to add to my new category.

If you wind up reading this blog within minutes of my posting time, you might only find this post. But rest assured, within the next ten minutes, you will find at least one past post… and I will be adding a few more in the days and weeks to come.

My launch of this new category will not only “exhume” my favorite blogs but make them more readily accessible to you… saving you considerable time… time better spent actually reading them!

As always, I am humbled by the mere notion that… with each click of that rectangular shaped, aqua hued PUBLISH button... my outward rushing thoughts attain the speed of light to span the globe… to interact within the minds of readers who I’ve already met… and readers who I’ve yet to meet.

I appreciate and welcome you all!

 

 

Don’t Thumb Noses at the Constitution… Thumb Thru It!

 

Blog Subtitle: An Open Letter to All Wayward Republicans

 

To all who this must concern…

Some friendly reminders. Be you a bad actor president or congressperson, none of you are our bosses! We the People are your bosses… even We… who did not vote for you! Even if you’re a judge who the president selected, it’s no different! Indirectly, We still are your bosses! You must remain mindful that ballots can both hire and fire. If you demonstrate that your Lust for Power is greater than your Love of Country, We will ensure that… ballot-wise… ASAP… it’ll be that latter eventuality.

Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution safeguards against absolute power corrupting absolutely. That’s the system of checks and balances / separation of powers. More specifically those are the provisions, which unequivocally stipulate that the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches each wield no more than 33 1/3 percent of the power… and that everyone keeps a watchful eye on everyone else.

Translation: The prez is not the boss of congresspersons and judges.

If this reality check cannot get your patriotism to kick in, maybe your sense of self preservation will? If not… then someday… likely soon… the autocratic prez could stage a coup d’état, bark out his “You’re Fired” and kick out all 435 U.S. Representatives, all 100 U.S. Senators and all 9 SCOTUS judges. After all, why would any dictator even need any of you when he, alone, is calling all the shots?

Turning now to some friendly reminders to the Senate Judiciary Committee Republican majority…

America, most assuredly, is not comprised of 100 percent righties. In fairness to ALL 327+ Million people, whose lives and livelihoods the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions directly impact… you must keep in mind that, in theory, the judiciary is not supposed to have even the slightest whiff of partisanship. But since, in practice, we do know that’s not the case, what would be wrong with striving to, eventually, balance out this court with 3 conservatives, 3 liberals and 3 moderates? That’d be more in keeping with America’s political demographics. That’d also mean that Brett Kavanaugh’s rightwing extremism, alone, should be reason enough to disqualify him.

As for Kavanaugh’s accusers Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez… in fairness to both of them, you cannot and must not summarily dismiss their allegations. What if their accounts are spot on? What if he’s not an honorable, law abiding man, worthy of wielding the enormous power, which a lifetime position on the highest court of the land would afford him?

True, in America, the principle of innocent until proven guilty must rule. Even so, you guys are taking an enormous leap of faith based on hearsay, alone… i.e., you’re assuming he’s a decent, squeaky clean dude just because he says so.

To keep this totally real… I cannot say, with certainty, that Kavanaugh is guilty any more than you can say, with certainty, that he’s innocent.

Do your damned job and dig deep to get at the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. First of all, how about insisting that Kavanaugh submit to a polygraph test? You also must let the FBI take as much time as is needed to rigorously re-investigate him. You do realize that investigating is the FBI’s stock-in-trade, doncha? Hell, what do you suppose the “I’ in “FBI” stands for, anyway?

After that, whenever / wherever possible, transparency must rule re the FBI’s findings, the lie-detector test results and the testimony. Most importantly, take as much time as is needed to fully and thoughtfully deliberate these findings. In the end, if reasonable doubt remains you must not approve him.

Consider what could happen were you to shirk your duty. You might wind up seating a guilty as hell judge who… to avoid a conflict of interest… would need to recuse himself every time a women’s rights case is heard by the court!

SIDEBAR: Gawd… I had to go back to reread that above paragraph several times… and you know what? The mere thought of such a compromised, dysfunctional court still stuns the hell out of me!

But let’s hope you still have enough common sense to never muck up the SCOTUS in that manner.

True, it’d be better to have a fully staffed Supreme Court… but… rest assured… even if filling that one vacant seat takes awhile… the 400+ day vacancy following Judge Antonin Scalia’s death did set a precedent…. one which has amply proven that America can and will survive with only eight SCOTUS judges.

If you’re worried that those eight judges will fail to protect Donald J. Trump from the long arm of the law / from Robert Mueller’s “long arm”… TOUGH $#!^

Constitutionally speaking, protecting a corrupt president has never been… is not now… and shall never be the function of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. If you won’t take my word for it, thumb through the U.S. Constitution… instead of thumbing your collective Republican nose at it.

E-Signed,

CommonSenseTom

 

 

#MeToo vs. Kavanaugh ~ 1 Quick Limerick #063

 

Is “Judge” Brett Kavanaugh in a new bind?
A MeToo Woman adds voice, speaks her mind!
She claims, Brett the Yale yutz,
Dropped his drawers, exposed putz!
Bet Lady Justice thanks God she is blind!

 

Artists and sculptors typically portray Lady Justice as blindfolded… her covered eyes being symbolic of (what should be) jurisprudence’s fair and impartial treatment of the accused. And, yes, the accused Kavanaugh is entitled to such treatment. However, that fairness, most assuredly, must never involve a free ride aboard the beyond the pale, over the top, over the speed limit, Republican run train… complete with a blindfolded engineer.

IF…

The now two women’s allegations prove true… that’d mean that Republican runaway crazy train could easily… and wrongfully… railroad a sexual offender onto the U.S. Supreme Court bench.

Were that to happen, it be tantamount to these Righties pink slipping Lady Justice. While punching the time clock for the last time, out of anger, she might be tempted tear off her blindfold and toss it into their faces.

But… would that really be a good idea? Hell, Lady Justice, in keeping that blindfold, could make her the luckiest woman in America! How so? Think about it!

She’d never run the risk of Kavanaugh forcing her to see his pathetic junk dangling out from his torn open, black, “judicial” robe!

 

 

For more limericks (as well as other verses and song parodies, etc.), head over to my “Categories Menu” and select “Poetry”.

 

 

Secular Reverence For Sunday Mornin’

Sunday Mornin’, performed by William Oliver Swofford [b. Feb 22, 1945 – d. Feb 12, 2000]… professionally known as Oliver… reached #35 on the charts way back in December 1969… but… had I had any say in the matter… it’d have been a chart topper.

In a world gone utterly mad, it is so reassuring to hear such a powerful voice accompanied by soothing instrumentation and stunning visuals, which showcase the hushed urban scenes and… far more significantly… all the love in the air and Mother Nature sporting her Sunday Best.

Enjoy!

 

Pathetic PR Produces PO’d Patrons

 

Incident #1: Bad Automotive Motives! Two decades ago, my car’s AC had conked out. Fortunately, one of the dealership’s mechanics, a man named Art (who could’ve been a member of an Indy 500 pit crew), quickly got me back on the sweltering, summertime road. Unfortunately, upon closer examination of my bill, I discovered I’d been charged for TWO hours of labor even though I knew fully well the mechanic had taken only half that time.

Suspecting a clerical error, I returned to have a talk with the service manager, who explained that… Art’s efficiency notwithstanding… it was customary to assess labor charges based upon the industry-set standards. This was so wrong on at least two levels.

[1] Art wasn’t idle during that hour he had saved for his boss. He promptly moved on to his next repair assignment, and that customer also got overcharged… and so on and so on. [2] The dealership’s swindle the customer policy was thumbing it’s collective nose at loyal customers. Case in point… my father, sister and I had purchased a total of five cars from them.

Even though this dealership has since changed ownership, whenever they service my car, my mind automatically flashes back to this incident. The only reason I go back there stems from my suspicion that auto repair ripoffs are also an industry standard.

Incident #2: Toxic Radio-Activity! Ten years ago, my local NPR affiliate had entered the final hour of their weeklong, fall pledge drive. Their station falling tens of thousands of bucks shy of their goal, the on air staff had promptly gone into panic mode… their fundraising tactics devolving into tackiness and offensiveness. They were practically equating non-contributers to lowlife deadbeats. True, nobody had actually uttered that D-word, BUT, their implication hadn’t even needed their transmitter to be heard loud and clear.

What they had failed to realize was how they were begging for money against the backdrop of 2008’s global, financial meltdown… while many of us were prIoritizing our own bottom lines over a public radio station’s. Since they had implied I was unwelcome… well… for the longest time… their guilt trip had caused me to totally stop listening to them.

Another thing they had failed to consider was how economic woes oft, eventually, go away. And then what? Would the listeners they had told to get lost even be around to hear their future pledge drive appeals? One wonders, too, whether or not the folks they had intimidated into contributing were even able to make good on their pledges?

Incident #3: WordPress Peer Pressure! Recently, a fellow blogger began bombarding his followers’ Readers with his posts offering his FOR A FEE, Mr. Know-It-All / Mr. Fixit services. His claims were that [1] once we ponied up, we’d soon attract multiple thousands of adoring followers and attain the blogosphere straosphere AND [2] sans his help, we’d remain clueless flounderers. Folks… NOBODY… and I mean NOBODY… not even a masochist… ever wants to be demeaned in that way… especially on a daily basis.

To sum up these three incidents… savvy businesspersons ISO $$$ understand that [1] they (literally) cannot afford to offend either actual or potential consumers… [2] people never take kindly to shoddy treatment… [3] pissed off people have long memories… and oft take to the www / log in to social media sites… to vent their grievances… as my post amply demonstrates.

 

Honoring Thy / My Father

 

As of this posting day, it’s been 30 long years since my father and I last conversed… since I had wished him good luck just prior to his gurney ride into the “theatre”, where his surgeon would soon discover his efforts were too little / too late. Indeed, the colon cancer, which he had already suspected, had gone on a metastatic rampage.

Dad, having been in fearful denial of the seriousness of his health problems, had left the pre-surgery Advanced Directives page blank. This meant, by default, his doctor was obligated to save his patient’s life at all costs… even when the chances for recovery were hopelessly grim. And, indeed, it had been the good doctor’s operating room heroics, ALONE, which had prevented Dad from dying right there on the table.

Further complicating matters were my father’s lifelong obesity and addiction to cigarettes, cigars and pipe… all of which had rendered him ventilator dependent.

Although I had not eye-witnessed that harrowing, life or death, O.R. scene, personally, I have little doubt every dramatized TV hospital show I had ever viewed would’ve paled in comparison.

And so, by default, my Dad’s fate was now left up his wife. Of course, since my Dad had been “programmed” in an era where misogynist society had ignorantly regarded wives subservient… he had always been the decision maker in their marriage. Ergo, my Mom had been ill-prepared to make any decisions at all. As for life or death decisions? Forget it!

More significantly, the love in her heart would not permit her to see the futility of her fighting for her husband’s life. Admittedly, the love in my heart would not allow me to see the light / let Dad go into the light, either.

True, his doctor did frequently talk to me… restate his plea for compassion… point out how inhumane these hospital heroics actually were. Admittedly, I did experience fleeting moments where I could view this dispassionately… concur that… to quote the good Doc’s increasingly exasperated words… “We should stop beating on a dead horse!” On some level, I did understand how the inability and unwillingness to “pull the plug” was only causing my father pointless, endless suffering… and more pragmatically… how our indecisiveness was tying up medical personnel, supplies and equipment that patients, who did have a far better chance for survival, so desperately needed.

For the next six weeks, only ICU heroics continued to keep my Dad alive. Amazingly, he did rally… oh, so briefly got off that ventilator, which finally allowed him to speak. However… his utterances had been reduced to mere, unintelligible yammering… the only things sounding even remotely human being his yawns and snoring. A hell of a fate for a learned man who had earned multiple college degrees and had spoken so eloquently.

I suppose you could say, in a sense, my Dad’s actual place and time of death had been on that operating room table, on this very day, Tuesday, September 20, 1988… approximately 9 a.m.

Returning to the here and now… and at the risk of sounding too preachy… the moral to this story is that we must always do our very best to take care of ourselves… concede that, in spite of our best efforts, our bodies will, inevitably, fail us. Ergo, we must accept our mortality. To that end, it’s imperative that we always clearly communicate our realistic, advanced directives to the medical professionals we encounter in our lives.

What better way to show our love for our families than sparing them the needless angst of deciding our fates for us.

 

 

Oh Well…Tomorrow Is Another Day?

 

Our resoluteness, notwithstanding, we cannot always get what we want in life. BELIEVE ME, I’m speaking from personal experiences… memories of two score and four years’ worth of my own disappointments.

Under such circumstances, our options are to EITHER be big boys / girls / persons… take it all in stride and move on… OR get all whiny, throw undignified tantrums and angrily explore and execute a sundry of rampaging, retaliatory MOs.

Yes, it is tough to discover that the powers-that-be can and do fail to always recognize our talents / concur with our own high opinions of ourselves. Yes, it can involve a lot of heartbreak to accept such defeat. But, if we cannot be gracious about sucking it up… as it were… well… maybe… just maybe… we’ve unwittingly revealed an unattractive, undesirable character flaw? One, which whoever rejected us may’ve even sensed?

In other words… our being resolute can both work for and against us. Even a Thesaurus offers up synonyms for both contingencies…

“Brave / Stalwart / Spirited vs. Inflexible / Intransigent / Implacable”

Case in point is the Inflexible / Intransigent / Implacable fake prez Donald J. Trump and his like-minded, Mini-Me minion Brett Kavanaugh. Can’t all thinking persons sense the negative flip side of that resolute “coin”? Detect their unattractive, undesirable character flaws?

Seeing how it’s a foregone conclusion that these little boys never have / never will graciously accept defeat… that, were this to happen, they’d get all whiny, throw tantrums… and explore and execute a sundry of rampaging, retaliatory MOs… well… this does raise yet another, worrisome issue…

Since nobody could ever, possibly, be so Inflexible / Intransigent / Implacable UNLESS they’re also harboring ulterior motives… we must suspect their secret agendas could involve irreparably harming civilization.

As to what, exactly, they may be plotting? Since the possibilities are endless, tomorrow just might not be another day. The End could be a lot closer than we think.

The End