Rather than a more in-depth post, I have put together a few snippets, bits of this ‘n that, from the past few days, for there has been so much “news” that it is a bit overwhelming at the moment.  Snippets are always fun on a lazy Sunday morning, yes?

The “lady” is packing …

I’m sure you all remember back in May, when Greg Gianforte,  then a republican candidate from Montana vying for the seat in the House of Representatives vacated by Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, body-slammed and physically beat Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.  The incident took place on the eve of the election, and even so, Gianforte went on to win the seat in Congress.  Mr. Jacobs was a reporter … doing his job … doing what reporters do … trying to get answers.  Now, five months later, for some reason, an obscure Montana Republican party official, Karen Marshall, while giving a radio interview said …

“If that kid [Jacobs] had done to me what he did to Greg, I would have shot him.” 

Seriously?  This is how party officials talk these days?  Oh yeah, well we do have a president who has been sued thousands of times and who has been accused of sexual assault at least 16 times, yet he won the election.  And a representative who beat up a reporter, and he won the election.  I guess there are no longer any rules of etiquette in the political forum.  My own fighting instincts surfaced and I had a response on the tips of my fingers to Ms. Marshall, but then, Michelle Obama’s voice entered the back of my mind, saying, “When they go low, we go high”, and I bit my tongue … er, fingers.  However, let it be known that I think Ms. Marshall is very un-qualified for her position and should be terminated for making that statement in a public venue.

Greg Gianforte mug shot

On the other hand, perhaps it says more about the voting public, that they are willing to vote for people of such low values and ill-repute.

The Bannon cannon fires another shot in the dark …

Good ol’ Steve Bannon has been fodder for this blog far too many times, and today … he’s baaaaaack.  “What now?” you ask in your tired voices.  Remember earlier this week, when former President George W. Bush gave a speech whereby, without mentioning Trump by name, he very eloquently put Trump down?  Well, apparently Stevie Bannon took umbrage.  Speaking to a crowd of about 500 people at a California Republican party convention on Friday night, Bannon said …

 “He embarrassed himself. The speechwriter wrote a highfalutin speech. It’s clear he didn’t understand anything he was talking about … He has no earthly idea whether he’s coming or going, just like it was when he was president of the United States.”

As my late grandmother would have said, chutzpah!  Steve Bannon, self-defined white supremacist, the man who said he would like to tear down our system of democracy and start over, has the unmitigated gall to say this about a former president who, while not my favourite, has at least a thousand times more class than Bannon.  Some days, you just have to laugh at it.

Oh, and by the way … the “crowd” of 500?  They each paid $100 for the dubious honour of listening to this fool speak.  Just goes to show that some people have more money than good sense.

Words from the King of Calypso …

Most of my readers, I think, are old enough to remember the silvery voice of Mr. Harry Belafonte.  He is in a class by himself, an entertainer, for sure, a beautiful singer, but so much more.  He was a civil rights activist, working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and even lending financial support to Dr. King’s family during lean times.  He is also a humanitarian and political activist, his causes far too numerous for this brief snippet.  I will likely be writing more about Mr. Belafonte soon, but today I merely wish to report on his appearance at Carnegie Music Hall Friday night … an appearance that is said to likely be his last. He spoke on a number of topics for nearly two hours, reminiscing about his life and his career. And he took a moment to add his voice to so many others of late, such as Senator John McCain and former Presidents Bush (Jr.) and Obama, when he said that in electing Trump, “the country made a mistake and I think the next mistake might very well be the gas chamber and what happened to Jews [under] Hitler is not too far from our door.”

Martin Luther King & Harry Belafonte

I have many fond memories of Mr. Harry Belafonte and his music.  One of my long-time favourites is one of his first hits, The Banana Boat Song, and I would like to share this with you in honour of not only a great entertainer, but a great and wise man.

A few good men …

Five former U.S. Presidents, Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter appeared in Texas on Saturday at a concert to raise money to help those caught up in the devastating trails of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. We did not hear any of them whining about how Puerto Rico was a disaster, nor did we hear them bragging about what a good thing they were doing.  They just went and did.

All five presidents appeared on stage for the anthem, before taking their seats to watch acts including Lee Greenwood, who opened with Proud to be an American, and Lady Gaga.  These guys are a class act, and the difference between them and the current occupant of the Oval Office is that of night vs. day.  Some of these gentlemen I have liked better than others, but on Saturday, it was “politics aside, people need help and we are here to try to help”.  I don’t know about you folks, but my hat is off to them.

And that concludes Filosofa’s Sunday morning snippets.  No, it is not a regular feature … it comes along when my mind bounce is such that I cannot seem to delve deeply into a single story.  Happy Sunday, friends!!!