I listen to the various pundits on all the news stations and newspapers going on and on about what Democrats need to do to win the midterm elections. They all have a variation of the same theme. They must have a “message.” They can’t just say “Hey we are better than that asshole Trump and those fucking Republicans.”
They need to be for something, like universal health care, a 15-dollar minimum wage, not ripping innocent children from their parents for the crime of trying to come to America for a better life. But here’s the thing.
That’s bullshit. I completely disagree. We have moved far beyond arguing about political policy. We need to run on what kind of human beings we are in this country.
It’s really simple.
Are we, as Americans, decent human beings? Or are we dicks?
It turns out that over the last two years we have found out there are a frighteningly large number of Americans who are unimaginably horrible dicks.
If you think ripping a baby from a mother or father and then sending it to another state without any way of keeping track of who the baby belongs to or where it went is OK, you’re a dick.
If you are horrified by this and you didn’t believe such a thing was possible in America, you’re a decent human being.
If you think white supremacists and Nazis are good people, you’re a dick.
If you think a white supremacist running down innocent protesters with his car and killing at least one is bad, you’re a decent human being. Side note: NAZIS ARE BAD.
If you are a white person who calls the police because
1 – A black family is barbecuing in a public park
2 – A black fireman is doing fire safety checks in his own neighborhood
3 – A black state representative is going door to door talking to her constituents
4 – A black woman is at a community pool to which she belongs
5 – A black man is wearing socks at a public swimming pool
you’re a racist dick.
Oddly, most of the dicks who called the police on these people were women. Turns out
You don’t need a prick to be a dick.
That might make a pretty good bumper sticker or tee-shirt.
One of dicks who actually did one of those things.
If this stuff both surprises and appalls you, you’re a decent human being.
I’ve been covering elections for CBS since Nixon. In every election, both sides always say the same thing. “This is the most important election of our lives.”
And we all go, “yeah, sure, whatever.” But this time, for the first time in my life, I agree. We, as a country, are at an honest-to-God existential crossroad. We are being governed by the largest group of horrible dicks in modern history.
And we are being led by the biggest dick of all, the twidiot-in-chief.
So, please, get out and vote this November.
Be a decent human being.
Don’t be a dick. There are way too many of them out there already.
I am not confused by the dappling of the paths and lawns. That’s the way the shady part of summertime looks. My problem is entirely grammatical.
Sunshine lessened through summer leaves IS or ARE dappled?
Dappled deck
I keep thinking the “sunshine” is collective and should take “is,” but one of my three grammar fixers will always disagree with me. I was pretty sure I had the whole present tense issue locked up, but as it turns out, it’s more complicated than that.
And then, there’s the lawn …
How does anyone actually learn English when even the “machinery” used to check it can’t figure it out?
And the woods itself …
Getting past the grammatical confusion, I’m glad I took some wondrously leafy photographs last week … or was it just a couple of days ago? Time is fleeing past me so quickly, I don’t know whether I did whatever it was this morning or a week ago.
Photo: Garry Armstrong – Lad with dappled unicorn!
Just so you know, there are lots of dappled horses and you can lessen anything that was at one time (or another) bigger. I just don’t know if I have any dappled horses or dogs, though I have ridden and kept many dappled creatures.
If you have been stopping by this space for a while you may recall a series of stories about Harold, the retired planner from the Midwest. He tried to organize all of his time with care, but life had a way of throwing up little distractions along the way. Then came something he did not plan, a major detour. Links to the original stories follow this unexpected event:
Bill rolled over to take a look at the alarm clock. It was almost 8:30 so he decided to spring into action. He never set the alarm clock. He saw no need. He was retired and had always longed for the time when the alarm clock was not to be used to alarm him out of his sleep. Some days he got up by 7:30 am, other days it was 10. It depended largely on how late he stayed up reading or watching television.
Since he needed to make a call at 9 am, the affable retiree rushed about the house in a rather disorderly fashion, leaving a bit of a mess in his wake. That did not bother him as there would be plenty of time later to clean up the place. Now he was making coffee and giving just the slightest thought as to what he would buy today at the supermarket.
The only thing Bill tried to be punctual at all week was the Monday call to his neighbor, Harold, who lived just a few doors down. The way Bill saw it, old Harold probably relied on the weekly call.
The Midwest planner from down the block seemed to know no one and had little contact with the world. Bill was convinced he was doing Harold a big favor. He did not know exactly how Harold felt about the weekly sojourn to the giant Publix supermarket, however. It must have been a Monday highlight for the newly retired neighbor and new friend.
The quiet neighborhood
A quick glance out the window revealed a perfect Florida morning. Bill loved this area of Florida. In honesty, he settled there because the property values were quite depressed in Sarasota County after the big recession, and he got a good deal in a good neighborhood of old timers, like himself.
Now it was time to help out an old guy who needed a friend, so he called Harold on his AARP phone and waited for his tentative voice to respond. Bill was quite amused as he thought of the same surprised tone Harold had each Monday morning when he answered the phone.
Much to the amazement of Bill, there was no response. He let the phone ring a long time before giving up. “I wonder what the old guy is up to this morning,” Bill thought. So he decided to wander down the street and ring Harold’s doorbell.
As he went up the steps to the front door, a voice called out. “You ain’t gonna find no body at home, young man,” Harold’s next door neighbor called out as Bill chuckled to himself. Not too many people referred to him as “young man.” In fact, no one did. He turned around and walked in the direction of a woman who did seem to be a lot older than Bill or Harold.
Mabel Crockett was well into her eighties but still rather spry. She kept up on the neighbors by frequently finding an excuse to do things around the outside of the house. It was unnecessary as there was an Association to deal with maintenance and yard work, but she liked checking up on things.
“So where is old Harold this morning?” Bill asked in a cheery tone.
“They carted him off pretty early, I reckon,” Mabel said in a deep southern drawl.
“What?” an astounded Bill exclaimed.
“Well I ain’t one to meddle in other folks’ affairs,” she lied, “but I seen that Sunday paper still settin’ there on that landing he calls a porch, so I just took a walk over there. In the back I could see he was, uh, just layin’ there on the ground in that screened in patio. So I went on home, dialed 911, and it’s a good thing.”
“Good thing?” Bill questioned.
“Why, he was still breathin’ when they loaded him into that big ol’ ambulance. Leastwise, I think he was still breathing. The young feller drivin’ that big vehicle said he still seemed kinda fresh.”
“Fresh? That seems a strange way to put it,” Bill said with a rather incredulous tone.
“Well, I guess it was because he couldn’t a been layin’ there too long. Anyways, they said they was taking him over to the general hospital. Right over here a piece,” she said pointing to the south.
“Oh my,” Bill responded with a great deal of concern. He said good-bye to the old woman and rushed to his car.
When he arrived at the general hospital, he went right to the emergency room and inquired about Harold. His questions only got questions in return. “What time did he arrive? What was the problem? Did he come by ambulance or did someone bring him?”
Finally, the woman without the answers invited him to take a seat and someone would come out shortly. By “shortly” she must have meant an hour.
After the long wait, a nurse with a clipboard in hand appeared. “Are you here about the elderly gentlemen who had a stroke?”
“Stroke!” Bill exclaimed as he got all choked up about someone he barely knew.
“Yes,” she said calmly. “Are you the next of kin?”
“No.”
“A relative perhaps?”
“No.”
“Do you know who is next of kin or related somehow?”
“No.”
“Do you know who his doctor is?”
The series of questions went on until Bill finally explained that he was just a neighbor. In fact, Bill did not even know Harold’s last name. The nurse looked disappointed but thanked Bill anyway and went back to her station. Bill followed.
“Excuse me, nurse, will I be able to see him?” Bill inquired.
“No, only immediate family,” she explained.
“But we don’t know if he has immediate family,” Bill said with a sense of urgency.
“I’m sorry,” she said as if she has had to say that a thousand times before.
As he left the hospital Bill realized that the master planner from the Midwest had no plan for this. Although Bill rarely planned anything, he decided he better go home and make one.
Although the first run of roses is beginning to fade a bit, it’s still an impressive site out there in our garden, or, as they say around here, GAHDEN. Dump that “r” … we don’t need them in Massachusetts. Bet you can’t find an “r” in there. No “r” in Massachusetts!
A few roses!
It’s really quite impressive. When I took my clippers and attacked the roses, I hoped it might improve them, straggle bunch of brutal thorn bushes that they were. I did not expect this massive response.
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