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grumpy-gay-gardener · 3 years

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Like many people, I was dismayed at the finale of Supernatural. Quite frankly, the last two episodes felt quite off from everything else. 15x20 was just awful.

I felt weird when the beginning of the episode wasted time with the cheesy montage of the fluffy domestic crap. I was thinking, they’re wasting an awful lot of time with this filler for a show finale. Showing Jared jogging with very PNW scenery was annoying. ( sorry but it felt like Jared and not Sam)

The we get the vamp mimes. They joke about falls flat and their dialog was just off, disconnected. It felt forced. Then we get a terrible ans awkward fight scene. It felt as wooden as that death trap of a barn. Jenny?! Why tf do we get a reappearance of someone so unimportant? My guess is she was local and available.

Then there’s deans death by improbably placed rebar, aka the rusty nail. Are you effing kidding me? Early on in the episode. I didn’t see it coming but it was a trash bag surprise. What a horrible, disrespectful slap in the face to Dean and the fans. Dean became the last cruel sacrifice for man pain.

Dean gets to heaven and we get Bobby explaining that heaven was improved by Jack an Cas. Casual vague mention of Cas and that’s that. No addressing anything else or letting Dean express any feelings etc. They silenced Dean and sent him for heavenly drive. At that point, I was just feeling done. I found my self checking the clock counting down when it would end.

Sam’s aging montage was a pile of vapid, insulting crap. Lousy make up and dime store wig and all. It felt completely unbelievable. Zero emotional investment. His toddler kid, teen kid and adult son looked nothing alike. Again I’m guessing available was the only criteria for those filler placements. I felt even more chested that we get not a single mention of Eileen. Instead we get literally nofaced background wife. Incredibly misogynistic as usual.

Then we get the vapid and clumsy reunion in heaven.

That was no love letter to the fans. That was a colossal middle finger to the fans. They gave us 15x18 just so they could then crap all over us.

I’ve had a bad feeling for a while that they’d pull something like this. I’ve long worried that the TPTB would not take any empathetic consideration to substantial fan base that relied on this show as an emotional support foundation. Over the years, the cast and fandom have been vocal and actively supported mental health issues. This finale is giant eff you to that. It seems especially cruel and vicious in light of AKF, SPNFamily, You’re not Alone, Family Don’t End With Blood etc. They threw it all out the goddamn window for a message promoting that death is the path to peace and happiness. How horrible is it to promote such terrible and dangerous ideas to a sensitive fan base that had been welcomed previously with what seemed to be empathy to mental health issues. They have to know they had this unique fan base and have openly nurtured it. I have long worried that they would not take into account this unique set of circumstances when they ended the show. I believe it’s called depraved indifference and it just sucks. TBH, the extended break because of Covid allowed me to disconnect from the show emotionally so I had a barrier of sorts going into the final episodes. It all seems like such a waste. I agree with some other analysis that thinks it’s partly network greed and shortsightedness. I remember some bigwig CW executive blathering on about how it’s just about the brothers etc. I was concerned about that influence then. Honestly, part of this finale felt like a gaslight promotion of Jared’s upcoming Walker Texas Ranger show. The weird shirtless scene that seemed awkwardly gratuitous and completely out of place bugged me. It felt like a promotional thing for Jared. So too did the jogging scene, his aging montage as well as the shorter hair cut reveal. May we present to you her future Walker Texas Ranger. I got a targeted promotion for the new show in the day of the finale. I think the execs thought they’d just easily role Supernatural fans into the new show and I think they’re going to be sorely mistaken. They pissed a lot of potential viewers of with this shitshow finale. TBH, it doesn’t surprise me but it’s still profoundly disappointing. I feel bad for all the hurt and betrayed fans. This show helped motivate me to get treatment for my depression and anxiety and I’m grateful for that. I just think it is cruel many other fens that counted on this show, SPNFAMILY and the cast with the support for mental health. In the end, all that matters to the network is money and I vindictively hope this depraved indifference they’ve committed costs CW dearly. I know I’ll never be able to trust that network again. In reality, the other fans and the community helped me love the show and the characters more than the actual show ever did. Nothing can take that away but I’m sad that the show will have ended with such a garbage end destroying its legacy. I’ll be sticking to reading for a long time before I can ever emotionally invest myself in a TV show again.

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cloudsrust · 4 years

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Imagine a crossover between luigi's mansion & lobotomy corporation? Like luigi as an employee, while the boss ghosts & king boo as anormalities

Oh god- I wouldn’t wish that sort of life on my worst enemy,, let alone poor Luigi out of everyone!;; But just as a hypothetical scenario- first of all I’d see him wear Melting Love’s armor- well, more like a gooigi version of it- with maybe Big Bird’s weapon (long reach and works as a light- the closest I could think of the top of my head to his poltergust,,). Oww and Polterpup could be a ghost Ppodae! :,>

I could also see some like “combinations” that could be made between some of the ghost bosses and abnormalities- instead of it just being the ghosts.

Under the cut is me rambling about which anormalities would go well mixed/matched with the various boss ghosts ‘cause why not,,

Both Steward and Chambrea I’d say they’d match well with All Around Little Helper, because of their role of servants.

Kruller I’d say Army in Pink (Yep- the first observation name) because of his cop uniform and him mostly just want to protect (well- himself but- yeah,,).. ohh or maybe Big Bird! They’re both quite the soft and round shape and they’re both practically night guards.

Chef Soulffle could go with Fairy Festival because of the “protecting/conserving” food thing-

Wolfgeist mhhh- a mix of Heart of Inspiration (His violence) and La Luna (The piano obsession and elegance)- I would also say Singing Machine (I mean- he attacks you with notes and his won damn piano so-)

MacFrights- cough punishing bird cough I mean- maybe something with Crumbling Armor due to his fighting spirit.

Potter I’d say Parasite Tree due to the relaxing yet mortal beauty of the zone of his. Maybe even Meat Lantern because of his lil’ “pet plant”.

Morty- this might sound weird but Silent Orchestra would go well with him. Just- the way this abnormality is absolutely DRAMMATIC in his needs and how he highly worries about his title of “conductor” and role- it fits. (The irony of comparing and Aleph (highest threat) to the gentlest ghost)

Ug I could say Fragment of the Universe- weird yes but, both share the fact that they live in their own world/time still and have trouble communicating with other humans and such- would be a weird but interesting combo.

Clem-... Opened Can of Wellcheers? The slightly suburban feel mixed with sea (water) kinda goes with him. (Would also go with Scarecrow but that’s more on my headcanon past for Clem more than anything,,)

Serpci would be good with King of Greed- the gold really fits her and the importance given to riches, food and material possensions is quite ancient egyptian like.

The Triplets- Laetitia! Not only she is also called “The Little Witch” but her whole thing is that she desires to cheer up others with her unknowingly(?) lethal pranks- it would fit them! And they’d be quite cutely dressed ngl ahah.

Got no ideas for Fishook, Deepend and Gloria unfortunately;;

Gravely gives me both We Can Change Anything and Portrait of Another World because of the importance she gives to her looks and hiding her imperfection and the way she first used all the other ghosts against Luigi before giving it a go herself.

King Boo- well being THE boss I’d go with an Aleph- The good old White Night, mostly becaus of the large ammount of minions he always has in every game and how he’ll practically... throw a tantrum or make a whole ass mess if left alone for too long;; plus ngl-... KB with all them wings would look kinda cool-

#the cloud can speak oh boi #rambling about Lobotomy Corp is really fun sorry yall ohoh #also like- these are like off the top of my head so yeah;;; might a bit innacurate

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resonanteye · 4 years

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via http://resonanteye.net/current-events-condensed/

current events; condensed

A condensed post including short writings on current events.

CONSPIRACIES ARE NOT SECRET IN THIS CENTURY

open up? conspiracies? here’s the real one.

if They want to “cull the weak” and control us better, what better way than to present a false choice between going back to work and risking lives, or slowly going broke at home?

it’s a false choice. there are hoarders, greedy fucks holding money they’re not entitled to, billions. enough for everything to be covered. hell, the Pentagon LOST enough money to pay EVERYONE’S rent and mortgage for the best six months. LOST IT.

The conspiracy? PRETEND THAT MONEY ISN’T THERE. force people to fight over scraps, pretend there are only two options. don’t let people come together and agree that TOO MUCH MONEY IS IN TOO FEW HANDS, because that might mean we can beat this thing.

unity among the poor? PREVENT AT ALL COSTS. if you kill a few hundred thousand people in the process, fuck it. that doesn’t matter to Them. They want to keep their grip on power, forcing us to behave like serfs working at their pleasure, dying for their capital gains. Living in their damn bunkers.

There is more than these two choices, don’t let them suck you in. the current garbage video circulating is MORE OF THEIR SHIT. it’s part of this. it’s not “secret info” or “exposing an evil plan”.

to get what They want – they’ve just got to keep us arguing about whether to open up or not. that’s it. that’s all they’ve got to do. circulate some fake anti science garbage to make sure it goes over easy.

and murder a ton of people to make another dollar.

THAT’S your conspiracy. THERE’S your elite takeover.

they don’t need micro chips, 5g, or any of this other shit. vaccines aren’t “Them”, the anti vax movement is THEM trying to murder the “useless”.

” WAKE UP, SHEEPLE ” it’s obvious as fuck and you don’t need to go out on any limbs to see it. it’s plain as day. they’re saying it out loud. there’s no need for this conspiracy to be secret. half of you are HAPPY TO JOIN IN.

stop that. join together. fight for the end of greedy leeches stealing from us then pretending that money is gone and they can’t help. the big banks? THEY FUCKING OWE US ONE. it’s time we collect, TOGETHER. right/left/middle. all of us. they owe all of us.

Divine is disgusted by slumming yuppies

SEGREGATION, A REAL THING

in a post about this photo, someone from Europe, younger, asked if segregation was a real thing, a real law in the US. comments were then closed, so I’ll post my reply here instead, in case anyone was not aware.

Elvis sits to eat at a segregated lunch counter while an elderly black woman stands, waiting for food to take away. she’s not allowed to sit there.

it was law, and when it wasn’t the law it was the unspoken rule, for a very long time.

lunch counter (restaurants of all kinds), bus sections, bathrooms, water faucets and schools were separated by race. the fight to desegregate schools is most well known, as it lasted a very long time and required buses, because people of color had also been segregated by neighborhood- many towns refused to sell and owners refused to rent to anyone of color in a “white area”. (the TV show “the Jeffersons” addresses this, and it’s also known as “redlining”)

many politicians on both sides of the aisle supported it, but the Democratic party eventually worked to pass the civil rights amendment and related bills to stop it, although there were those in the party who still argued in favor of these laws.

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-said-desegregation-would-create-a-racial-jungle-2019-7

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Maddox

(of note- this happened after desegregation, that’s how strongly politicians felt about it! ten years in and they were still arguing that it had been a good thing.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_resistance

after it legally ended, thanks to the civil rights movement, there was blowback; people trying to vote, to eat lunch, ride the bus, go to school, were viciously attacked by crowds or groups of white people.

FILE – In this May 28, 1963 file photo, a group of whites pour sugar, ketchup and mustard over the heads of Tougaloo College student demonstrators at a sit-in demonstration at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Miss. Seated at the counter, from left, are Tougaloo College professor John Salter,and students Joan Trumpauer and Anne Moody. John Salter, who also used the name John Hunter Gray, died Monday, Jan. 7, 2019 at his home in Pocatello, Idaho. Relatives say he was 84 when he died Monday after an illness. (Fred Blackwell/The Clarion-Ledger via AP, File) ORG XMIT: MSJAD701

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Riders https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

during this time, due to so much police and community violence, the Black Panther formed to monitor and protect people.

https://www.wglt.org/post/director-chronicles-black-panthers-rise-new-tactics-were-needed#stream/0

members of the Black Panthers, preparing to feed the community

GENERATION X

sure, we are slackers. yeah. we’re ok with staying home. you have just told a generation of latchkey tech addicts raised during the bridge from antenna TVs to HD internet streaming to sit at home. if you’d feed us, we wouldn’t even blink at it. this quarantine stuff? that’s not the hard thing.

but we’re watching friends and family die. a lot of us have been down this road before. we’ve watched right wing pigs (yes, I’ll say it) allow our friends to die before. we’ve been down this road of denial and greed and prejudice and all of it. we’ve seen what happens when politicians value money and ego over human lives, and we know it SUCKS ASS.

hell, we watched Reagan. Bush. Bush. Clinton, too-he was only a hair better. and so-

when we need to, we pound the pavement. we toss the bricks. we get arrested. we wipe mace out of our eyes and stampede.

we always tend to be masked, regardless of standards of the moment. I don’t think, in my life, I’ve been to a protest that didn’t have a contingent of masked people wishing to avoid cameras. Now, a protest for actual assistance for people? a real protest, a fight for better conditions, the 300-some strikes that have happened that the news ISN’T covering? yeah. surgical masks. they’re brilliant photos, but not as interesting for the crap media as a few fat guys with guns.

because that’s the joke they want to show us, yeah? not people actually fighting in solidarity, to protect each other, get better work conditions, protect the disabled, get better healthcare for all, support people financially… the shit the majority of people really want. no. they’re not covering that real shit.

the news, they like a spectacle.

we need to find ways to make the facts spectacular.

I have rarely seen my generation protest FOR corporate interests and find any such thing suspicious as all fuck. I don’t believe a bit of that shit. That’s paid for, that’s arranged, that’s a pony show. That’s the same tiny batch of zonked out cultists that don’t have a trump rally to travel to right now. it’s like a damn road show, the same hundred people, like some Boomer deadhead traveling bus shit. I don’t trust it and I don’t believe it. the older folks at them, yeah. they’re that little band of travelers. sure. but us?

Seattle police use gas to push back World Trade Organization protesters in downtown Seattle Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999. The protests delayed the opening of the WTO third ministerial conference. (AP Photo/Eric Draper)

because even though we will go do Things, we are, in fact, ok with staying home.

and we don’t like your fucking company. and corporations bought our music and art and killed it in front of our eyes, and there’s no getting our trust back. and we will wear a goddamn busted ass thrift store sack before we spend money on slave-sewn clothes. and we would rather read and write and play music and watch movies all damn day, than go to jobs in cubicles.

War protesters and march to Gas Works Park protesting the US involvement in the Persian Gulf and the buid up to war against Irag January 15 deadline 1991 Seattle Washington State USA

I mean, we’ll usually go, because we gotta eat. so feed us. give us bread. you already poisoned the roses.

THE ASSHOLE FACTORY

this is where your conspiracy videos are made. in the asshole factory.

what do you notice about these photos? do you see the threats? what kind of people are there?

it is almost like there’s a monthly event they’ve been going to, that’s been cancelled, where they could hold up trump signs and boo anything reasonable… wonder what that event is. where have you seen some of these faces before? I’ve seen a few in the rally photos and videos.

check out “small business” guy. who is he? does he own a “small business”, you think? (photos by Orin Louis)

ON THE PANDEMIC

a lot of people talking about immunity/reinfection and that study.

that study is just saying we don’t know yet. we just don’t know yet.

it’s early days.

Coronavirus is not influenza, they’re two different families of virus. VERY different.

this is more related to the common cold (in its behavior)than to the flu. (the cold is a rhinovirus. SARS & MERS, and Covid-19, if you want to find out more about these viruses, don’t look up the flu-they are Coronaviruses.)

it is contagious the way a cold is, but it has serious effects on any part of the body with ace2 receptors. (simply put- blood, lungs, heart, kidneys, brain)

they have been working on a cold vaccine for decades. no success. BUT. again, it’s early days. there’s never been this kind of pressure for a vaccine for it. so, to be direct: we don’t know yet. they’ve never been this desperate, this well funded, to find a cold vaccine.

this could be a seasonal thing, eventually- it could mutate to be less lethal and become just another cold we can get every year. it could mutate to be even more vicious and we all are in serious danger all the time. it could create immunity, and some will be ok for a year or a month or a decade… it might not, and people can catch it again and worse.

we just don’t know yet. the whole reason we are isolating the way we are is to buy time for science to find these answers. we’re not in quarantine to “kill it off” or stop it. we are slowing it down so science can have time to find answers, so less of us die while that happens.

every day we don’t infect other people, is a day in which researchers can work. we need them to work. they are doing that. every day we don’t infect other people, is a day this virus doesn’t get a chance to mutate and change. this helps a lot.

science needs time. all this economic mayhem- it’s to buy them time to help us, to figure it out. the answers won’t come right away and during this time we may hear things that are being tried and tested, some may not work at all, some may be worse than nothing, so information won’t be steady or always correct. when you read a thing, wait a day. read more about it. read the actual study- and if you can’t, wait a few days and read what scientific sources say about it (the lancet, NEJM, etc). don’t rely on NBC, fox, etc to do a great job reporting on science. you’ll have to have patience, even science is having to watch and wait while things are researched, right now.

nobody has the answers; it’s NOVEL. brand new.

they’re testing, they’re researching, they’re learning this thing’s secrets as fast as they can, while we wait that process out.

be as safe as you can be while we buy them the time.

image: pink pangolin drawing in frame

COMMON SENSE KNOWLEDGE

FOR ACCURACY

You shouldn’t leave the house unless you absolutely have to: food, medicine, or other necessity of life. This includes going to other people’s houses.

Masks are good at protecting others if you are infected, and help protect you too, just not as much as others. Wear one.

Stores are closed, unless they provide food or medicine. Alcohol is a necessity for alcoholics who will have actual seizures and could die from withdrawal, so some of those are open. (Some states have been pressured into letting other things stay open, and people insist on going to church and being able to buy guns in public stores, but that’s political shit and you shouldn’t go places unless you have to.)

This virus is deadly to many people, even healthy ones, is as contagious as a common cold, and has killed more people in a month than the flu does in a year. You don’t want to catch it, and if you do, you want to catch it when doctors and nurses aren’t overworked from other people catching it too. There are 8 strains identified right now. This will change over time, because it’ll mutate- like every virus. EVERY virus.

Glovesw help, unless you change them after touching a contaminated surface. They’re good if used properly and if you’re not sure how to do that, don’t bother. Just wash your hands often.

Everyonen to stay home, but you can go outside- away from people. Staying a good distance from people is really the whole point of staying home.

There will be shortages of some things at the grocery store as supplies run out, and as things are shipped to replace them. Chill out.

The virus does spread through and sometimes kill children, but we weren’t aware of this until we had better information.

You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you will be contagious for up to two weeks before you get sick. YOU WILL BE CONTAGIOUS WITH NO TEMPERATURE OR SYMPTOMS.

You really shouldn’t be eating restaurant food, unless you can reheat it. Wipe down or wash off your groceries.

You are safe if you maintain six feet distance from others, if everyone is masked and nobody is coughing or sneezing. If they are, you need about 27 feet of distance. Keep space from people.

The virus remains active on different surfaces for a time. The surface being porous may or may not matter; like many things, research by science will give better answers as they have time to figure it out.

We count the number of deaths but we don’t know how many people are infected because most places have not got enough tests to see who is infected. Until we can test everyone, stay home, stay away from people.

We have no treatment. There are clinical trials of many different drugs and at least one vaccine, right now, but it will take time to find out what works.

We should stay away from people to avoid spreading this virus until scientists can offer a treatment or preventative measure like a vaccine. There is no reason to infect people, help the virus mutate, or fuck around with this.

If you are an essential worker of ANY kind, you deserve a living wage, hazard pay, full PPE and kindness from everyone who needs you right now. we should be fighting for your safety, not to make things more dangerous for you.

Stop spreading misinformation. Science doesn’t know everything about this yet, information can and will change or become more specific as time goes by. Yes, business interests and governments have handled the entire thing like a clown show, but you don’t have to be part of making it worse.

THE VALIDITY OF PROTESTING IN THIS TIME

protest for:

stronger unions

better pay

stronger social safety nets during a pandemic

your right to own and bear arms

your freedom of speech/freedom from unwarranted surveillance

safer working conditions

medical care for all

free education

fair elections

physical safety from police violence

safety from racist/hate crimes

NOT FOR:

fuck, BUYING things. don’t protest to be able to go buy shit? what the hell is wrong with you?!? you can buy a gun next month, dipshit. you can buy through private sale. fuck all the way off with that.

SOMEONE ELSE TO WAIT ON YOU (haircuts, restaurants, nails, tattoos, etc)

the right to block hospital entrances (we all saw the footage, shut the fuck up)

the right to gigantic church services during a pandemic. YOU CAN DO LIKE GRANDPA DID AND WATCH YOUR PREACHER ON THE TEE VEE.

going to a shit job that you’ve never liked instead of all the things above that would have allowed you to get through this shit without starving to begin with

by the way, local seed and feed stores are open nation wide; agriculture is considered an essential business. you can’t buy whatever the fuck at wallymart right now though, SO SORRY. maybe don’t even fucking shop there?

edit to add; if they were only endangering themselves I wouldn’t give a shit – but you know these fuckers are getting too close to store cashiers, walking the wrong way down narrow aisles, and touching every-fuckin-thing.

also: 81% of people polled, from EVERY political group, think they should be staying home. and agree with that. THIS IS A CRAP PROTEST BY A TINY, UNIMPORTANT GROUP and should not be getting the coverage it is. they aren’t enough to restore an economy, let alone fill a small concert hall.

I may split these into separate posts, if you’d like that, comment so I know people need/want that.

#advice #current events #pandemic #911 #complaints #deep thoughts #dos and donts #ethics #health and safety #politics #posts with lists in them #questions #true stories #Uncategorized #wtc 9/11 einstruzende neubauten artistic poetic terrori #you

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disneydreamlights · 6 years

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I literally can’t get over this stupid fucking comment. The article was literally about the magic in the little things at Disney World that keep us coming back even after everything changes and the big things may not be as magical. It was literally pure and resonated with me because even if some of my little things and my biggest thing are gone I’ll still always have little things that keep the magic alive because of the memories they hold and this fuckwad had to be like “Boo hoo corporate greed Disney sucks there’s no magic they’re just going to ruin everything” and he had to post his stupid fucking comment twice.

I don’t even care if you believe the magic of the parks is gone. My own dad believes the magic of the parks is gone. I have some friends who have never even seen the magic there in the first place. I fucking care because this is an article about how even the smallest places in Disney World, the places and things that likely won’t change, can bring magic, and this asswipe has to go and be a dick about how no that’s not the case because “Corporate greed hurr durr durr.” and I hate this so much.

#personal stuff

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go-redgirl · 5 years

Video

youtube

Herman Cain: The Fed needs to be more aggressive

____________________________________________________________________

INDIVIDUALS/COMMENTS/POSTS:

Black Dove's Youtube Channel The fed needs to be abolished.

AndTheCorrectAnswerIs The Fed needs to be ended. It is a private banking cabal, and has nothing to do with the Federal Government.

Dawud Muhammad I like hearing from Herman Cain...!!

Downright Dutch No, we need to be more agressive to arrogant 🤪🤢dRATS who do not trust the Best President Ever!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Potus has it all totally in control, and Cain and the Deep State is PANICKING hahaha HAHA Fed is soon finito! 💸💸💸

Hunter Volcan The federal reserve is owned by private bankers (stated by section 7A of federal reserve act) and they have a monopoly on creating the world’s reserve currency. We are all financially enslaved to them with debt that is mathematically impossible to pay off. End the Fed!!!

D Storm Trump was correct and, sadly, the Fed was wrong.

REPLY Harold Cale As for me I will never go to another NFL GAME AGAIN / I am a proud Marine that served in the Vietnam war and I will never support another NFL game and you can take this to the bank.. !!

gerry etheridge Mr Cain, please run for office again in 2024. The timing is Right.

Margret Situ So, the economy is not doing well? Not doing that well huh. Otherwise why would we need to lowering interest rate?

sam M China should be stopped, then Japan and south Korea. America first.

Gary McAleer This brother's been around. He knows the game in maintaining the strength of morality against those who would tear it down in a heartbeat, who think to themselves: Hey, I won't be around when my greed leaves its wake behind.

derek starkjr Mr. Trump is doing a great job . If any human that has a chance in solving Homeless suffering in America it would be now.

Joyce Castellanos

Harmon is correct

Starlet Satore Cut the rates!! Stay the course Mr President 🇱🇷

Boo Ya Jay Zee WHO?? OHHHHH, the Jay Zee who thought he had enough weight to help Clinton win ? Silly me, how could I forget that?

Virginia Campodonico BUSINESS people keep investing Americans MONEY FROM the stock market, KEEP GETTING breaks in TAXES FROM our government, their CEOS get enormous SALARIES and the inventors GET Bread CRUMBS

JOSEPH WILLIAMS TRUMP IN 2020 ,THE MAN WITH A PLAN.

Bluesdawg If markets don't go up and down you can't call it a market. You have to pay attention by getting in and getting out. There has to be losers to create winners. Once again, IT'S A MARKET

Yo Man The best thing about taxing china is we will eventually start building more goods here, it will take time to get geared up but most manufacturing can return.👍

REPLY Zachary Mullins It will collapse no getting around it. The fed was set up in this way. What Trump is doing is creating a economy that runs along side the fed economy. That's why he brought the economy up so fast and got people off gov assistance. That's why he's renegotiating the bad trade deals. That's why he's calling out the fed everyday. It's to bring them into the spotlight where they don't want to be. The system was always suppose to collapse. Dems helped it along the way. Trump will be going back to the gold standard and our debt economy will be done. Trump is brilliant folks and only he could have pulled this off. Those out there complaining about the fed needs to be more aggressive are the bad guys. Remember who brought the fed into the U.S. Woodrow Wilson dem. Also remember that the fed not only has America deep in debt but the whole world as well.

sick of liberals

Herman is right , cut rates

Super Cajun Who are the members of the Federal Reserve? Are they all American citizens?

Luis Rosales Hong Kong's freedom is essential! China is destabilizing itself while blaming the west.

The Dude I'm voting for Trump especially if there's a recession!

the great dirtbag The feds need to be abolished or at least replaced with people who are going to be pro-american

dm 34280 How healthy is the U.S. economy?

The overwhelming consensus among experts is that the U.S. economy is slowing after a pretty hot 2018. But there’s heated debate over how fast it’s cooling.

Some argue that by the end of this year the U.S. economy is likely to look and feel a lot as it did in 2016: decent but not great. Others say the nation is likely to slip into a moderate downturn akin to those in 1990 or 2001. (The White House is adamant that there’s no slowing).

The big risk is if corporate anxiety over the trade war, weak growth abroad and the slowing manufacturing sector causes businesses to halt hiring in the United States in coming months, a shift that would probably spook Main Street and cause the almighty American consumer to pull back on spending. 1. Manufacturing (red flag)

There has been a sharp deceleration in manufacturing in 2019. Hiring has flatlined after having one of its best years last year since the late 1990s. Output is slowing, and, especially alarming, manufacturing sentiment has tumbled to levels that almost signal a recession.

2. Trucking (yellow to red flag) — Nearly every good sold in the United States touches a truck at some point, which is why trucking shipment data can be revealing. After a stellar 2018, shipments have plunged during the past six months, according to the Cass Freight Index.

3. Business spending (yellow flag) — Business leaders are nervous, according to most metrics of sentiment in the corporate sector. But the question is how is that translating into decision-making? This year evidence is growing that companies are pulling back on investment spending. The Fed can not help bad policies. Read more

REPLY Mile High I love Fox Business channel. I'm a business man so very informative.

Lone Star Patriot The fed needs to be in history books.

Marek Kolenda Fredo new GOP Republicans candidate for 2020 election

REPLY Damien Wright What a load of nonsense . FED should raise rates start building the economey on savings not inflation .

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feotakahari · 3 years

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Like Clockwork

A short story

I wish I was afraid of fire. Fire has cachet. If there was a fire between me and the chintzy “Hawaiian” restaurant where I’m supposed to start my shift at 8:45 AM sharp, people would be screaming and running. Maybe I’d even get the day off. At the very least, I’d get to start my shift later.

Nobody ever understands when I tell them I’m afraid of clocks.

Leaving for the afternoon is easier. The department store opens at 9, so I can cut through there. I don’t have to pass by the antique clock and watch repair shop. I don’t even have to think about it. I don’t have to hear that ticking that I know full well is probably in my head, no one can hear anything over the sound of the mall radio blaring Christmas songs a month in advance, but I hear it anyway, ticking and tocking inside my skull--

Deep breaths.

I tell myself the owner is probably a nice person. It’s not his fault he likes clocks. But saying that doesn’t help. Then I tell myself to get going, because it’s not like Flava Flav is going to jump out and yell “boo!” That doesn’t help either.

One step, and then another. Keep taking steps, and you’ll be past this. Step, tick, step, tock, step, like a clockwork doll.

I’ll cut through the department store at 9. Maybe I can get away with being a few minutes late. Again.

Marc’s over at my place again. He’s complaining about his band’s vocalist. I’m doing him the courtesy of pretending to listen.

“--like Jacob thinks he’s the only one in this band who matters. Christ, we started this together! It was about all of us making it big, not just him!”

Marc’s not afraid of clocks. Marc’s afraid of heights and unlit alleys and bloody horror movies. Normal things. I like that about Marc.

“I love the man like a brother, I really do, but sometimes I want to tell him to cram it up his--” He takes a deep breath and lets it out.

“You already have my advice,” I tell him.

“Stab him with a sharpened drumstick?”

I only suggested that once. I was kidding. Mostly.

“Boot him,” I say. “Sage can sing. Maybe not well, but he can sing. Jacob needs an ego check. I’m sure everyone else will back you up.” “Sage wants to give him another chance,” he says, like Sage--and Marc--haven’t given him too many chances already.

“Well, if you do go back to the drumstick idea, I’ll support you on that, too.”

“I’ll keep it in--shit, what time is it?” He pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I’ve got to go to work. See you later.”

I give him a quick kiss before he goes.

He told me once that he often loses track of time when he’s here. He said it’s because I don’t have any clocks to check. He doesn’t mention that anymore, after he saw how I reacted. That’s another thing I like about him.

I don’t think anyone involved in the creation of this restaurant was actually Hawaiian. But it’s not like there are a lot of places that will hire someone with work experience as spotty as mine. Whatever pays the rent, right?

Bus the tray. Clean the table. Wipe the spill on the floor. Bus the tray. Clean the next table. Efficient. Automatic. Like a ticking clock.

I force myself to slow down and take a breath.

I know full well the boss doesn’t think much of me. I heard him say once, when he thought I wasn’t listening, that he was surprised a “pretty little doll" like me would be willing to clean anything. But I’m NOT a doll. I checked, and I bleed red, so I’m probably human.

(Don’t be so shocked. You’d check too, if you were me.)

No, my problem is rhythm. I fall into old patterns, old traumas, cleaning to the tick and the tock in my head. Everything has to be spic and span, or else--

A customer is glaring at me again.

I started trying to wipe the table while he was still eating. I do that a lot, when I get lost in my head. I back away and clean somewhere else. Hopefully, he won't raise a complaint.

“I’m telling you, this one’s actually good!” Marc says.

I raise a single eyebrow at him. I consider myself a master of the eyebrow. It’s easier than talking.

“You-good, not just me-good,” he clarifies. I press play on the video, and listen to the song. It’s not very good.

I’ve tried to get into punk music. Believe me, I’ve tried. Not just because I want to support Marc’s band, but because I want to enjoy something that’s loud and erratic and not at all like a ticking clock. But I still want rhythms, even if they’re different rhythms. I can’t put up with tuneless whining.

“It’s spirited,” I tell him. “They care a lot about corporate greed.”

I watch his face fall, and I pat him on the shoulder. “You can like what you like,” I tell him, “and I can like what I like. That’s okay.”

“I just want to share something with you,” he says. “Sometimes I feel like we barely have anything in common.”

“You share a lot with me,” I tell him. “You share your day, you share your thoughts, and you share your kisses. I love how you keep me grounded. That matters more to me than some song.”

For a moment, I swear I see his eyes narrow. But they’re back to normal before I can figure out why.

Cleaning. Busing tables. Moving erratically, fast steps and then slow. Tick-tick tock is different from tick tock. The rhythm feels more natural, and I lose myself in the work.

The guy at the corner table snaps his fingers. “Hey, I need a refill!”

“I’ll be with you momentarily,” I say, even and firm.

It was supposed to be “I’ll be there soon,” wasn’t it? I have so many bad habits in this job.

“It’s been a moment,” he says. “And a minute. And five minutes. So get me my refill.”

I’m not even supposed to be handling his table. “I’ll be there--”

“Just get me my refill, baby doll,” he says.

“I’m NOT a doll!”

I dropped the tray, and now there’s soda all over the floor. I try to clean it up, but the manager calls me back into the kitchen.

Too many complaints, he says. Hostility towards customers, he says. Not smiling enough, he says.

This is how I get fired from all my jobs. It’s as regular as clockwork.

“I’m not a doll,” I say quietly to myself as I walk out the door.

Marc’s waiting outside when I get home. “Jacob’s out of control,” he says. He doesn’t say it like he’s mad or frustrated. He says it like he’s discovered a fact and knows he needs to accept it.

I resist the urge to swear. “I’m sorry, Marc, but I can’t deal with whatever Jacob did right now. Today has been a really bad day. I’ll listen to this when I have more space in my head to think.”

“You think I always have space in my head to listen to your latest disaster?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m the only one you talk to when things go wrong. I get that. So I try to listen even when I feel like screaming. Right now, I think I’m going to have to stop being friends with someone I’ve known since I was six. You’re the only person I can talk to about it who’d understand and isn’t personally involved, and it’s not important enough for you to care.”

“Marc, that’s not what I’m--”

The neighbors can probably hear us. We’re acting out of place, disrupting the ordinary rhythms of the day. I don’t even know why that matters anymore.

“Look, I have one more question, and then you can say whatever you want to say, and I’ll listen. You said you love how I keep you grounded. You said you appreciate that I don’t poke at the things you don’t like to remember. I’ve been listening, and you never say you love me. Or anything about me that isn’t about how I’m helpful for you. I know you don’t lie. Can you say you love me? Can those words come out of your mouth?”

Deep in my chest, a clock stops ticking and doesn’t start again.

I stand there in silence, and he looks away from me. “That’s what I thought,” he says. “I’m like your little Chihuahua. I bark at the things that matter to me, and you think it’s cute how my problems are so much smaller and less important than your problems. But they’re big to me, and real for me. And if they’re not real for you, then we have nothing to talk about.”

I don’t say goodbye as he stalks away. I can’t contradict anything he’s said.

I don’t even want to think about what my nightmares will be like tonight.

It’s three weeks later when I show up at Marc’s band practice. “Need a backup drummer?” I ask.

“That’s the first thing you have to say?” he asks me.

“I’m sorry I treated you like you didn’t matter. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I know I’ve been a terrible girlfriend. But I’m bad at apologies, so this is the best thing I could think of. Need a backup drummer?”

“I need anyone who can play music at all.”

Jacob isn’t there anymore. Sage isn’t either. It’s just Marc and . . . Kyle? Kenneth? Wow. I really haven’t been listening.

“I have two weeks of drum experience,” I tell him. “The tick-tock in my head was getting bad, and I wanted to see if I could replace it with tickety-tockety-ta-tickety. That’s good enough for a punk band, right?”

“That’s good enough, and I accept your apology. Hey Casey! Say hi to my friend over here!”

Friend. Not girlfriend. I can live with that.

Casey’s been politely pretending not to notice our drama bomb, but he looks in our direction now. “Hi to your friend over there,” he says. I like him already.

We segue into discussing their next song. My first song. With me on drums, Marc’s handling vocals for now. He can’t exactly sing, but whatever. It’s a punk band.

I beat my anger into the drums like a distorted heartbeat, and I know I’ll be okay.

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maxihealth · 5 years

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Health Care and the Democratic Debates – Round 2 – Battle Royale for M4All vs Medicare for All Who Want It – What It Means for Industry

Looking at this photo of the 2020 Democratic Party Presidential candidate debater line-up might give you a déjà vu feeling, a repeat of the night-before debate. But this was Round 2 of the debate, with ten more White House aspirants sharing views — sometimes sparring — on issues of immigration, economic justice, climate change, and once again health care playing a starring role from the start of the two-hour event.

The line-up from left to write included:

Marianne Williamson. author and spiritual advisor

John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado

Andrew Yang. tech company executive

Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana

Joe Biden, Former Vice President

Bernie Sanders, Senator-Vermont

Kamala Harris. Senator-California

Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator-New York

Michael Bennet, Senator-Colorado

Eric Swalwell. Representative for California’s 15th U.S. Congressional District

The format of Round 2 was the same as the night before, with Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, and Jose Diaz-Balart leading the first hour of Q&A, and Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow wrangling the second hour. “Wrangling” is the right description for this night, which featured candidates interrupting each other, more raised voices and passionate assertions and parrying — especially on issues related to generation and age, immigration, and a spirited dialogue between Sen. Harris and VP Biden on race, busing, and segregation — which in the larger public health context continue to have a direct impact on health equity, health disparities, and socio-economic status.

Lester Holt began with Sen. Sanders, noting his call for big new government benefits like universal health care through Medicare for All and free college tuition. Holt asked the Senator whether he expected Americans to welcome paying more taxes for these services. Sanders explained that the vast majority of people will pay significantly les for health care than they do right now. And, that education is an investment in the future of the nation and thus, we must make public colleges tuition-free and eliminate student debt by “placing a tax on Wall Street.”

Guthrie turned to VP Biden, stating that Sanders is calling for a revolution. Biden talked about income inequality, immediately pivoting to the President: “Trump thinks Wall Street built America,” Biden began his response. Biden’s father said, “a job is more than a paycheck; it’s about dignity and respect…We have to make sure to return dignity to middle class” by covering health insurance and affordable health care, expanding education opportunities, and ensuring that people breath air that’s clean and -insurance =covered and must afford it. Continuing education, And ensure they can breathe clean air and drink clean water. “Trump put us in a horrible situation,” and Biden would address this fiscally by eliminating the tax cuts for the wealthy.

Senator Harris, too, mentioned government benefits like free college and Medicare for All as her health plan preference. When asked, “Do Democrats have a responsibility to explain how to pay for all of the proposals” Harris responded, “Where was that question when Republicans and Trump passed a tax bill contributing $1 trillion debt to America paid for by the middle class?” She continued that working families need to be lifted up, and that rules have been written in favor of people who have the most versus the people who work the most.

Hickenlooper warned that Dems will lose in 2020 if they embrace socialism and booed at Calif convention when he said that. Sanders IDs as Dem Socilist. Hickenlooper says bottom line is if we don’t define clearly we are NOT socialists republicans will call us that — the Green New Deal…I’m a scientist but we can’t promise every American a govt job HC is a right and not a privilege but we can’t eliminate private insurance for 100 mm people who don’t want to give it up, CO first state to bring envy comity together to address methane emissions….expanding reproductive rights and reduced teen pregnancy…he’s done what everyone is talking about doing.

Sen. Gillibrand said this debate in the Democratic party is “confusing…[facing off] capitalism versus greed.” The things we’re trying to change, she explained, is when companies care more about profits than people, citing the “greed” of insurance and drug companies and the gun lobby. Her takeaway: “We want healthy capitalism, not corrupted capitalism.”

Sen. Bennet argued for universal health care (in a public/private system) but not for Medicare for All. “Health care is a right,” he asserted as all candidates have shared. We accomplish the goal “by finishing the work we started with Obamacare and create a public option where every American can make a choice or keep private insurance.”

Mayor Pete took a more moderate approach to education and health care policy, by not supporting free college for all nor Medicare for All. Instead, he is for “Medicare for All Who Want It,” in his words.

Andrew Yang is the only candidate talking about a guaranteed basic income of $1,000 a month for every U.S. adult 18 and over, which he terms “The Freedom Dividend.” How to pay for this $12K per year per capita? Diaz-Balart asked. Yang, a technology entrepreneur, said that it’s difficult to fund “when Amazon pays no taxes and drives businesses out of stores.” Yang imagines a “trickle-up economy” that would circulate through regional economies. Thus, he would ensure these highly successful businesses bear their fair share of taxes, and also levy a value-added (consumption) tax.

Note that, up to this point, health care was not the explicit question, but clearly was on the front-burner for most of the ten candidates in this round of debate.

At this point, then, Holt moved the question to health care, addressing the group in a “raise your hand” question: “Who would abolish private insurance for a government run health care plan?”

Hands were raised by Sanders and Harris (who walked this back a bit today in interviews).

Gillibrand chimed in, discussing her “transition plan” to achieve Medicare for All. Gillibrand said she ran on M4A and in a 2:1 Rebpuclican district — and won. She wants to get to universal health care and initially create competition with insurers. “They have never put people over profits and I doubt they ever will. People will choose Medicare and we will (eventually) get to Medicare for All and then get to single payer” like Social Security, she forecasted.

Mayor Pete asserted that “everybody who says Medicare for All has a responsibility to explain how to get from here to there.” Buttigieg would call it “Medicare for All Who Want It,” made available on health insurance exchanges. If people are right, it will be more inclusive and efficient, and then a natural glide path to single payer, he explained. Even countries like the U.K. and Canada have some private insurance. “We can’t be relying on the tender mercies of the corporate sector,” he added. Primary care must be available to all, noting that his father who was recently quite ill was financially saved by Medicare coverage.

Biden, too, told his personal story of family health trauma and financial coverage with health insurance. He said the “quick way” to get to universal health coverage is to “build on what we did with Obamacare. Make sure everyone does have an option” by being able to buy into a Medicare-like plan. “Urgency matters – people right now are facing what my family faced,” he empathized.

Holt challenged Sanders, who “wants to scrap the private health insurance as we know it,” Holt described, saying that no state that has tried this has been succcessful. “If they can’t make it work,” Holt asked, how can killing private health insurance be successfully implemented in the U.S. for 330 million people nationally?

Sanders said it’s hard to believe every other country including the one “50 miles to the north” of Vermont, Canada, has figured out a way to provide health care for every man, woman and child, paying 50% of what we are paying in the U.S. He added that it’s not in the interest of health insurance or drug companies to provide quality care in a cost-effective manner. Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, Sanders repeated from the night-before debate, and he would lower these by half.

Marianne Williamson argued for the Federal government to be able to negotiate Rx prices with drug manufacturers. “We don’t have a health care system in the U.S. – we have a sick care system,” she noted. She went on to rhetorically ask why so many Americans have unnecessary chronic illnesses compared with other countries, answering that this has to do with environmental policy, chemicals, food supply, and other factors.

Bennet recounted his recent prostate cancer and treatment, which occurred at the same time his child had her appendix out. “Families should have choice – I think that’s what Americans want,” he attested. “Millions do not have health insurance as they make too much money to get on Medicaid.” Canada has around 35 million people, he said, and there are probably 35 million in ther U.S. who could be part of the Buttigieg-described “Medicare for Those Who Want It” population.

Harris asked us to consider “how this affects real people.” She described a scenario of “any night in America, a parent sees their child with a temperature out of control” calling 911. They take their child teh ER, and sit outside of the hospital looking at the sliding glass doors with their hand on their child’s forehead. They know that if they walk into those doors, they will have to deal with a $5,000 deductible.

Guthrie moved the question from health care coverage for U.S. citizens to health care for undocumented immigrants. This was another hand-raising exercise. Mayor Pete supported health coverage for undocumented immigrants, “because our country is healthier when everyone is healthier. Undocumented immigrants in South Bend pay sales taxes and property taxes,” adding that “this is not about a handout – this is an insurance program.”

Health Populi’s Hot Points — implications for health care industry stakeholders

Cover me…. The two over-arching issues about which most Americans, across political party, converge are for health insurance coverage and lower prescription drug costs. The January 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll found that 73% of Americans favored creating a national government administrared health plan similar to Medicare open to anyone, but allowing people to keep coverage they had. This is consistent with most of the 20 debaters’ views — a la Mayor Pete’s “Medicare For All Who Want It” approach.

The ongoing challenge of explaining “Medicare for All” versus universal health coverage accomplished through a combined public/private plan takes more than a 240-character tweet to explain. As President Trump observed just weeks into moving into the White House, trying to usher through his promised repeal-and-replace policy, and with both a Republican majority House and Senate in the legislative branch under his leadership, “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.”

Prescription drug costs are also in U.S. voters’ sights, whether we’re listening to EpiPen-buying parents, Hep C patients, or people managing diabetes. A Washington Post op-ed published earlier this month noted, “A caravan for insulin demonstrates how the American health-care system is failing us.”

Lower my drug prices. The cover theme of the May 2019 AARP Bulletin focused on “the fight to lower prescription drug prices,” saying that, “medicine can be made more affordable. Here’s how the battle is being fought…and how it can be won.” The story included this graph comparing drug company profits to other successful businesses operating in the U.S., comparing the profitability of Gilead, Abbvie, Pfizer, Lilly and BMS to the levels of Facebook, McDonald’s, Apple, Starbucks and AT&T based on Morningstar’s data.

Across political party ID, Americans want the Federal government to negotiate prices with prescription drug companies to get lower prices for people on Medicare. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s March 2019 Health Tracking Poll found this, a policy backed by many of the Democratic Presidential candidates.

This approach is embraced by most wealthy countries around the world, which responds in part to Senator Sanders’ question about “how” other countries can fiscally provide for universal health coverage for all their health citizens.

A caveat about using traditional Medicare as “the” mechanism for covering “All” was raised by Jeff Delaney on Night 1 — that is that Medicare payments to hospitals may be insufficient to cover providers’ costs if scaled to 100% of covered Americans. We’ll need a closer actuarial analysis about hospitals’ real costs (not the “chargemaster,” but actual costs for delivering units of care) to calculate what a viable payment rate could be for these plans. And note that Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare in providing social supports and services that many people on the plan value — and that make a difference in outcomes, health engagement, and patient satisfaction.

For more on that topic, see the May 7 2019 JAMA article, The Implications of “Medicare for All” for US Hospitals, written by two physician-influencers from Stanford University School of Medicine,

Improving health equity and outcomes – addressing and learning from the example of maternal mortality. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy countries. Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised this point in the first debate. I bring it to this synthesis of the two nights because too much of the health reform discussion focused on insurance without attending to social determinants of health and the direct relationship between socioeconomic status and health outcomes.

Marianne Williamson spoke to this in the very few minutes she had to speak out during the debate, and I appreciated her alluding to the opportunity to bake health into all policies — environmental, agricultural, food and nutrition, et. al.

Assuring univeral health care in and of itself, whether via a M4A or public/private mix, doesn’t directly impact the many factors that shape a person’s health — those social determinants like education, clean water and air, job security, food/nutrition security, and safe neighborhoods with access to green spaces and walkability. Indeed, access to health care services is one component of the SDOH universe, but only one — impacting about 20% of health outcomes.

Finally…Where was the mass call-out for mental health as part of America’s public health? The rise of deaths of despair in the U.S. have reversed improvements the nation has made in life expectancy. An article this month in Rolling Stone titled All-American Despair addresses the tragic losses of lives through peoples’ stories, from everyday men to the suicides of Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams. The author, Stephjen Rodrick, took a 2,000-mile driving trip through the American West which, he hypothesized, was “a self-immolation center for middle-aged men.”

A key section of this investigative piece recounts: “For years, a comfortable excuse for the ascending suicide rate in the rural West was tied to the crushing impact of the Great Recession. But it still climbs on a decade later. ‘There was hope that OK, as the economy recovers, boy, it’s going to be nice to see that suicide rate go down,’? says Dr. Jane Pearson, a suicide expert at the National Institute of Mental Health….The impact of hard times can linger long after the stock market recovers. A sense of community can disintegrate in lean years, a deadly factor when it comes to men separating themselves from their friends and family and stepping alone into the darkness.”

Mental health is part of overall health, and extracts costs out of people living in the U.S. — financial costs in terms of productivity and job security and unemployment; health care costs in terms of depression and anxiety as co-morbidities coupled with chronic conditions and and acute illnesses; and finally, the loss of life described by Deaton and Case shown in this chart, along with those described by Rodrick in Rolling Stone.

Any Democrat running for President in 2020 knows that health care will drive voters to the polls the way it did in the 2018 midterm elections. Getting this right — listening to people, whether they’re rationing insulin, burying their sisters or daughters due to preventable maternal mortality, or sitting in their cars agonizing about whether to walk through the ER door with their sick child — will be key to resonating with American voters…who perhaps after the 2020 electon will emerge as health citizens.

The post Health Care and the Democratic Debates – Round 2 – Battle Royale for M4All vs Medicare for All Who Want It – What It Means for Industry appeared first on HealthPopuli.com.

Health Care and the Democratic Debates – Round 2 – Battle Royale for M4All vs Medicare for All Who Want It – What It Means for Industry posted first on https://carilloncitydental.blogspot.com

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notbemoved-blog · 7 years

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Didn’t Even See It Coming . . .

I've always been a little behind the curve when spotting trends, particularly political ones. As a 17-year old high school senior in 1968 at a Catholic seminary, I went all-in for Richard Nixon. I had a LARGE "Nixon's the One" poster plastered on my dorm room wall. I'm not sure what appealed to me about the guy who had not yet declared that he was "not a crook." Maybe it was that the times, they were a changin', but I was stuck in a 1950s world. I certainly hadn't yet experienced the shifting mores of middle America. (I was in a Catholic seminary, for God's sake!) But Nixon's law and order message must have appealed to me since I was a guy whose family was coming unglued due to alcoholism (Mom) and too much authoritarian macho (Dad). I wanted peace and stability and that funny talking guy from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey, just didn't seem like he was going to provide it. Little did I know that Nixon's brand of authoritarianism mixed with his playing fast and loose with the law was going to tear our country apart unlike anything we had known until then. [Four years later, I would be on the McGovern bandwagon and we all know how that turned out, so, wrong again!]

Yes, I had this poster on my wall in high school ....

I couldn't vote in 1968, but in that fateful election, the country lost the opportunity to have a truly Progressive President at its helm. Hubert Humphrey had championed racial equality and working class economic empowerment (through unions) that would have brought the country into a new era of social awareness and acceptance of "otherness." Instead, we got Nixon, whose presidency and cabinet picks (and even his VP choice!) would bring mass demonstrations and generational divisions that would fester for years.

Humphrey should have been the choice of progressives in 1968.

Cultural cues have also sometimes eluded me. When most people were tuning in and turning on to Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, I was rocking out to Motown, Aretha, and James Brown. It wasn't until I hit a really rough patch in my mid-20s--after I had left the seminary and was trying to find my way in the wider world--that I was able to relate to the poetry and the disenchantment that Dylan had tapped into. I'm always a little slow to the party.

The times were changing a little too fast for me ...

That's why I'm so bereft about our national suicide—as Neil Gabbler called it in his billmoyers.com piece, Farewell, America—in electing the Big Man Donald Trump over my candidate of choice, Hillary Clinton. I suppose it's like the Nixon/Humphrey showdown. We picked the guy who was going to take us back, not the guy (or gal) who was going to move us forward. But why didn't I see it coming?

I was, after all, lucky enough to be on hand during the Democratic Convention this summer when Hillary received her crown. That was supposed to be it. The election was just a formality. Everyone loved her, didn't they? Everyone in Hillaryland, anyway. And how could that blowhard Trump ever get in? Who even believed he was serious? Wasn't he just doing this to burnish his brand?

But I could have been more adept at reading the tea leaves. That first day at the convention should have been a wake-up call. When the Bernie delegates booed at every mention of Hillary's name; when the Democracy Spring protesters talked about corporate greed and wanting to disrupt the status quo, I should have listened more carefully. I did wonder how it would all turn out, with 40 percent of the delegates feeling so disenchanted with the presumed nominee. But I just told myself that they'd get on board once the convention was over and the choice was clear. How could they be so foolish as to throw away their vote on a third-party candidate, or worse, stay home and not vote at all when so much was at stake?

Protests continued even DURING Hillary’s speech to the DNC.

I did worry about the enthusiasm gap. Even on Day 2, when the moaners and groaner were still out in force even though the Clinton camp had done all they could to heal the rift in the party in the wake of the Wasserman Schultz debacle. [E-mails released by Wikileaks revealed that as head of the DNC, Schultz had favored Clinton over Sanders at key moments during the primaries.] But I missed the bigger story, the fact that Clinton was a flawed candidate, that the constant drip of Wikileaks would continue to undermine her already flagging credibility, that the right wing’s ginned up stories about Benghazi and her poor technology choices—amplified by constant media coverage—would continue to haunt her and stop any forward momentum that her impressive credentials and wonderful policy positions, under normal circumstances, should have propelled her to victory.

We were all in Hillaryland. We were willing to suspend disbelief and thought that we would coast into the White House with a white gauzy pantsuit breeze at our backs. But it didn't happen. Somehow we forgot a key portion of the electorate--the white guys--and even the white gals jumped ship for the big talking carnival barker. Incredible, I know. And I, like many pundits and blowhard TV analysts, didn't see it coming.

Bill Clinton - working man’s President.

Bill Clinton apparently did. According to a Politico post-mortem, the former president had advised Hillary's campaign to try and find a message that would be more inclusive and resonate with the white working class, but “was dismissed with a hand wave from the senior members of the team.” Who's crying now? We all are.

I'm not exactly sure what white America has against the current situation. White collar workers are doing just fine. Wall Street continues to make a killing. Government workers have lots to do. But so many of these folks went for Trump.

And, yes, the blue collar workers are hurting. I get that. Even though the DEMS brought the country's economy back from the brink, we didn't get the credit for it because the recovery didn't extend far enough. Not enough stimulus, Paul Krugman would admonish. Should have been $2 trillion, not $750 billion. Who knew? That was during Obama’s attempted honeymoon period with those who would become his mortal adversaries. He was trying to play nice. They were out to destroy him. Sadly, their obstructionism seems to have worked. They wouldn’t hear of anything higher than the $750 billion and later wouldn’t allow Obama’s jobs bill to go through—the very bill that would have provided help to the blue collar workers! But somehow the obstructionists get to take the victory lap for having choked the American working class. Go figure. Nasty obstructionism worked. Another trend I didn’t see coming

Who’s laughing now? Not me ....

It’s going to be a very long four years. Yes, the infrastructure bill will be good for rebuilding America’s bridges and highways. (Watch Trump GET the $2 billion Obama couldn’t due to the false claim of “fiscal restraint.”) Things will begin to look shiny and new, just like Trump Tower. But our country will be no less divided. In fact, the divisions will cause a faster fraying of the cultural fabric of America. We will become increasingly polarized. And economically, the haves will retreat to their gilded cages while the have-nots are left to fend for themselves.

I may not be able to spot trends, but this seems like something entirely new. We may be witnessing the end of our democracy as we have known it, at least during my lifetime, which spans a quarter of the lifetime of the USA. It feels like we are in for a very bad time. But I won’t be able to say “I told you so” because I couldn’t have imagined we’d get to this point. I didn’t even see it coming.

#Hillaryland #Bill Clinton #Nixon'sTheOne #Hubert Humphrey #Neil Gabbler #Politico #Paul Krugman

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