Scattered Acres

TW3 was a TV program of the sixties that satirized the week's political, social and cultural events and actions. Among the luminaries on the screen were David Frost, Nichols and May, with cameo appearances by Gloria Steinem, Tom Lehrer and many others. But what could they have done with the week just passed?  Number 1, Saturday: Trump announces the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the recently deceased RBG on the Supreme  Court. He couldn’t have picked a more polar opposite justice. McConnell promises to rush Senate confirmation, negating his principle of not elevating a nominee to the court so close to a presidential election.  Number 2, Sunday: The New York Times publishes information about Trump’s tax returns and his business losses. Trump paid $750 in the first two years of his presidency and nothing in many preceding years. As a businessman, his business loses were staggering.  Number 3, Tuesday: Trump blusters interruptions at what was billed was the...

Donald J. Trump is his own Joseph Goebbels. For those who don’t know the name, Goebbels was Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany. Trump is his own minister of propaganda. Between Goebbels and Hitler, the big lie was perfected by repeated articulation.  Trump has indicated publicly that he may not abide by the results of the coming November election. He claims already the despite the polls showing Biden ahead nationally, that he has won the election and any contrary result will be due to a rigged election. How often have you heard rigged election? This repetition is the big lie in process.  Trump is beyond violating traditional American norms. He is beyond his own personality disorders and flawed character. He is undermining faith in American institutions at every turn. He is trashing the Constitution. American democracy as we know it is under dire threat. It behooves everyone who believes in democracy, rather than authoritarianism, to address the threat. You can do t...

Followers of this blog may wonder why it has been silent for almost two weeks.  The news is breaking fast.  Trump this. Trump that. There are an abundance of good writers who are on top of each hour. Too much for me to digest, reflect on, and write about. It's not just current events that command attention. Folks are beginning to speculate of what things will be like on November 4 and the days and weeks to follow. "We'll have to see what happens". 

  Democrats:    1) Democracy is in deep trouble.    2) Trump is not fit for the office.  Republicans:    1) Praise Trump from whom all blessings flow.     2) Biden is the socialist's stooge. 

I saw my first convention on a small black and white screen TV in 1956. I saw then President Eisenhower make his way in a cavalcade of motor vehicles to the Republican convention site at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. That’s right, the Cow Palace. I saw his opponent, Adlai Stevenson, campaign in Boston’s Mechanics Hall. He tried to “talk sense to the American people”, but lost handily. The next convention of memory was the Democrats of 1960. Kennedy had the nomination locked up, so only the VP pick remained. Kennedy picked rival Lyndon Johnson and the convention erupted in boos.  1968 was a year to remember in many ways. The Democratic Convention in Chicago takes the prize for drama. LBJ had dropped out; Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated. There were lots of loose delegates which headed toward VP Hubert Humphrey. The backdrop however, was the Vietnam War and the hippy movement. Humphrey carried the burden of Johnson’s war and so became a target of protest. And protest there was ...

We don’t have cable, so I don’t get to see Fox News very often. Usually it’s at a motel while traveling. This time it was an overnight in the hospital for a routine procedure.  What I saw on Fox and Friends was a parade of cynical, hard-nosed commentators with the singular purpose of advancing a right wing political agenda. Well, I’m not sure I saw an agenda, but what I saw was a constant tear down of Democrats. The big issue was socialism , socialism ,  socialism , without ever defining it. The second big issue was violence in the cities with plenty of video up close and personal. Often words were attributed to Democrats only identified by mug-shot, but not by name. And during the hour or so I watched, I saw virtually no reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. For those who get their information solely from Fox News, some critical thinking is needed. Viewers should fact-check and verify what they hear and see from other sources. Fox News is carbon-copy of the Trump campaign pla...

Maine, where I live, is one of the states least affected by the coronavirus. Here, about one out of every 313 people in the state has been touched by the virus. And my county is even safer with one case recorded for every 990 people.  So you can imagine how surprised I was to learn that a case arrived next door. Arrived is the correct word, because it came from away . It was the middle-aged son or our neighbor whom I see in my imagination arriving home saying, "Mom, I'm sick." It turns out that the gentleman lives in a far away state and seems to have caught the bug at a wedding. Weren't we all warned about that? I don't know where the wedding was held, but here's a story from Millinocket, Maine, the gateway to Mount Katahdan and the terminus of the Appalachian Trail. They had a wedding reception there with 65 people gathered in a church with reception to follow. 26 folk tested positive with 6 more probables. About half the people caught COVID-19 at the weddi...