Every now and then I let my mind run loose … take it to the park, unsnap the ol’ leash, and just give it free rein to run amok. This happened today and the ol’ mind took off at warp speed. It was a while before I saw it again, and when it returned, it was more than a little bedraggled, and was covered in snark. And so … tonight you get a dose of whatever came from my mind … you may want to don your pith helmets …
And the Most Admired Woman is …
That’s right, folks … none other than the role model of class, style and grace, Michelle Obama!!!
And to really ice the cake, the Most Admired Man in 2018 … none other than the male counterpart role model of class, style and grace, President Barack Obama!!!
I cannot think of two people more worthy of the honour. What does gall me, however, is that Donald Trump came in second for Most Admired Man … why??? However, even so there is a bright spot, for he is only the second president not to win the top honour during his presidency … the other was Gerald Ford. Eat your heart out, Donnie!!!
Abortion
It isn’t my intent to have another discussion on when a cell becomes a life … there are plenty of those going ‘round and frankly, each side continues to make the same points, and nobody is listening to the other side, so why even bother? But I have some questions for those who are so vehemently against abortion based on their religion.
I want you to think about seven-year-old Jakelin Caal and eight-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo (shown above). These two children both died in the past week while in custody of the United States government. They died because of inadequate care and insufficient medical treatment. Both of their deaths were preventable. These were children, not fetuses. Growing, living, breathing children in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). And yet, I don’t see people protesting, carrying signs and demanding that the children in custody of the U.S. government, children who have in many cases been taken from their parents, be treated with care and compassion. Where is the outrage of those who call themselves “right-to-lifers”? Whose life? Is it only unborn white babies whose lives you will fight for?
And the next question … who or what gives you the right to determine what is right for the rest of us? If you believe abortion is wrong and you don’t choose to have one, fine. Don’t have one. This isn’t Nazi Germany (yet) and nobody will force you. Have 20 children for all I care, but do not ever try to impose your values on others. Not everyone believes in the same god you do, not everyone shares your set of values. And … AND … not everyone has the same opportunities you have such that they can raise a child, afford food, medical care, clothing and shelter to keep that child safe, happy & healthy. Don’t judge others’ situations using your own as a moral compass.
Adoption, you say? Well, let see … domestically, approximately 99,900 children were adopted last year (another 35,000 were adopted from foreign countries). Okay, so almost 100,000 kids adopted … sounds good, right? Wrong. On any given day there are some 438,000 children in foster care, and in the course of a year, some 687,000 children spend at least some time in the system.
My point? Two of them, actually. 1) No single life has more value than another. Those who are determined that a fetus qualifies as a life should be equally concerned and willing to act on behalf of those immigrant children at our southern border, the children being killed all over the world – in Syria, Greece, Saudi Arabia. And those people should be out there advocating for children stuck in a foster care system that barely functions. 2) Freedom of choice belongs to each of us. I will not force you to have an abortion, but don’t tell me that I cannot until you have lived in my shoes.
Statistics, statistics, statistics …
Politico published a set of year-end data that can be used to fact-check some of Donald Trump’s braggadocio. I found these statistics fairly interesting and thought you might too. Naturally, I couldn’t resist adding a bit of snark …
- Number of campaign rallies Trump held in 2018: 44 (Note that the next presidential election will not take place until November 3rd of 2020 … more than two years from the time these rallies were held)
- Number of times he visited one of his golf clubs: 67 (Remember how he said Obama played too much golf and that when elected, he, Trump, would be too busy working to have time for golf? Ahem …)
- Number of war zones visited: 1 (And that was only because the heat in the kitchen at home was getting to be too much for him. When he went to Iraq earlier this week, rather than a positive talk focusing on the troops, he lied to them about their pay raise, and made the rest of his speech all about him. It was a photo op, that’s all)
- Number of 2018 general election candidates Trump endorsed: 90. Percentage of those candidates who won: 55%. (Some candidates, wisely, asked him to stay the hell out of their states)
- Percentage increase in the number of tweets from 2017 to 2018: 32% (He has tweeted more than the first forty-three presidents all combined!!!)
- Percentage increase in references to “witch hunt” from 2017 to 2018: 620% (Holy Smokes, Batman!!! Does this dude ever w-o-r-k???)
- Number of Cabinet secretaries who were removed or quit: 10 (And those were the lucky ones who got out while they still had at least a modicum of sanity)
- Percentage of Trump’s executive staff that has turned over in first two years: 65% (In most corporations, a manager with a turnover rate of 65% would have been long since out the door!)
- Number of presidents who’ve had more than one chief of staff in their first two years: 4. Number of presidents other than Trump who have had three: 0 (He certainly is a record-setting president, isn’t he?)
- Percentage increase in U.S. trade deficit since Trump took office: 18% (Hmmm … seems I remember something about how he was so appalled by the trade deficit under Obama and he, Trump, was going to reduce it? Perhaps I imagined it.)
Yessir, a record-setting president … too bad none of his records are good for the country, yes?
And so, I shall save any remaining snark for another day. Have a lovely Friday, my friends!
Agreed on all points Jill. Some days I am depressed just being on the same planet with so many willfully ignorant people. My views on abortion are the same;and for so many years, seeing abused children, children who die at the hands of the neglect of unwilling parents, I have begged to know how these people justify beating up abortion doctors and burning clinics in order to bring new lives into the world and then turn their backs on those very lives in other circumstances. It is because they are fighting for a cause that makes them feel good-feel good to judge, feel good to berate, feel good to be part of a larger group. Mob mentality is very real and so very frightening. Then as a group they will justify shutting down the social systems that provide services for poor children and their families. I know there are some honest souls who don’t understand the enormity of this issue but they need to look beneath the surface. Michelle Obama never stops amazing me.
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I know just what you mean. I was at the grocery on Sunday, and Kroger was packed with people … rude people. I was run into with a cart twice, and nearly tripped by a kid running out in front of me. Finally … it was in the ketchup aisle, I said to no one in particular … “I no longer wish to be a part of the human race!!!” I am largely content to stay home these days, for I am disgusted by much of what I see in public venues. Sigh. I keep hoping to wake up some day and find that it was all a bad dream, and the world has righted itself back on its axis. And yes, Michelle Obama is a one-of-a-kind lady! Far above the madding crowd, so to speak, and so is her husband! Happy New Year, my friend, whatever it brings …
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And all the best to you and your lived ones! I was really steuck by the truth in Stephen King’s The Mist. The way humans react to a situation would be largely as depicted in that film. No one wants to believe it but very few are willing to stand and face opposition. They feel safer in a crowd. 😞
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He has truly let America down. What a complete loser!
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Yes he has … in every possible way. I hope that by the end of 2019 he is but a bad memory. Fingers crossed.
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I nominate our current child President as the most likely candidate to win the “rot in hell”award.
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I second the nomination! All those in favour …
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Dear Jill,
President Trump will be rewarded with being declared by the history bools as the worst president, ever.. The GOP serving in the US Congress from 2017-2021 as the most cowardly, feckless elected lawmakers, ever.
The GOP cowards will pay a price eventually for NOT taking seriously their ‘oaths of office’ which are not supposed to be a swearing on empty words.
At this point in Jan 2019, there is no excuse for those who continue to back him that’ll pass my smell test other than his remaining supporters are the racist, anti-immigration, anti -LGBTQ, anti-semantic members of his base. Those pro-lifers cannot claim the pro-life mantel while condoning the president’s treatment of refugees seeking asylum and the death of 2 children at the US southern border because of his policies.
He has figured out that he will never top a ‘most admired’ list or the ‘Nobel Prize.’
Hugs, Gronda
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I’m sure you are right and I have long said I’d like to pop back in 100 years from now just to see how the history books treat this era and Mr. Trump.
The term “pro-life” as it is used today is the epitome of hypocrisy. Pro-lifers support the death penalty and do NOT support their tax dollars going for food stamps, housing assistance or medicaid to help take care of those babies they insisted had a ‘right’ to be born. Hypocrites every one!
I can think of a few lists he would be at the top of, such as “Biggest Jerk of the 21st Century”. 😉
Hugs!
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While I applaud the #1 choices on the Most Admired List of men and women, I have to question how Donald and Melania Trump deserve being among the top 10 of either list. Considering that by definition to “admire” means regard with respect or warm approval, awarding the honor to them seems dubious at best…but then again, the criteria for the award may be the culprit. I know that you are quite fond of CNN’s Don Lemon. I came across his CNN Tonight from last night, Dec. 27, 2018 and immediately thought ‘this is for Jill’! If you missed it, do take time to watch his disparagement of Trump’s Government Shutdown. Thank-you!
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I asked the very same question! In this case, perhaps ‘admire’ is defined more as ‘sucking up’? But why? I will check out Don Lemon’s piece … yes, I love his low-key sarcasm, his spot-on analyses, his slightly raised eyebrow when he asks a rhetorical question. 😉
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There are countries and communities where church attendance is practically compulsory. Separation of church and state was instituted as an American principle by the “founders” to prevent what they saw happen in England and the rest of world where the church ran things. Religion is voluntary in the US at least. You can believe what you want. I can believe what I want – and we both are free to express ours thoughts and views to the fullest as long as nobody gets killed. If you don’t want an abortion, don’t get one. Dont tell the other lady what to do.
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Well said! Too many people these days think that their way is the right way for everyone. This is one of the many reasons I have no use for religion … I am of the “Live and let live” philosophy.
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It’s a pretty simple philosophy, the golden rule. But if you look back historically, once the religious establishment gets into govt, despotism is never very far behind.
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You are so right! The religionists feel compelled to impose their way on everyone else and then havoc reigns.
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Thanks for the numbers. Also, per The Washington Post – 7,500 lies in office. Per Politifacts – 69% rate of lying, increasing to 75% at pep rallies. Here is another – per his five autobiographers Trump has a problem with the truth.
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A problem with the truth??? Really? Who knew? 😉
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A record breaking President of all negative honours. Is it still possible that 40% of the population still believe in him and would vote for him.? Where is the w all he promised, and he money from Mexico to build it? Where is the economy he promised, the jobs he promised, a new coal industry. Everything built on sand and lies.
Cwtch
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Yep … all negative, but yet his approval rating vacillates between 36% – 42%. His promises were ignoble to begin with, and best they aren’t kept. But worse, he is dragging us down a path, the ending of which I do not like. Scarier still is the fact that if the democrats don’t put forth a very inspiring and viable candidate in 2020, we could conceivably end up stuck with Trump until 2025. The world cannot survive six more years of a madman with a set of nuclear codes at his command.
Cwtch
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Oh, and congrats to the Obamas. And since Michelle refuses to run, I think the Dems should talk to Reagan’s daughter. She seems to understand things pretty well. No one in politics right now seems to have the power to unite the Dems. Someone has to…
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Didn’t realize Patti Davis is a liberal, she’s certainly outspoken against Trump.
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Maybe a thought! She was at one time quite the rebel, but I don’t know what she’s been up to in the past few decades. You’re right … someone has to, else we will end up with more of … the Trumptanic. The world cannot afford that!
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The Titanic sunk. So can Trump.
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He is surely headed full-speed toward that iceberg, don’t you think?
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But the iceberg seems like an ocean mirage. The faster he goes, the farther it seems in front of him. Even the laws of motion don’t work for him…
But someday he will collide with the illusion he has in his brain, and he will end up shitwrecked!
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An ocean mirage … you’re quite right! Likely caused by global warming. I hope that ‘someday he will collide’ comes soon enough. Sigh.
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Try singing, instead of sighing, for a day or two. Get those batteries recharged. Year 2 of Trump is at an end. Celebrate.
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Actually, I do sing (very badly) quite often! Much depends on what room I’m in. In the kitchen, I always sing. In the living room, I always sigh. In the car, I usually sing except when I am cursing other drivers. 😉
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And do you later regret cursing other drivers, even when you know they can’t hear you. Or does that give you free reign to curse even louder?
And do you ever sing “I Love My Shirt” by Donovan? You can’t help but be happy when you sing that.
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It depends on my humour … or lack thereof … but yes, usually I find that cursing them only serves to increase my own angst, except for those who are truly endangering us all by their foolish driving, like cutting across 4 lanes of traffic at one time. I try to just shake my head and go on, but lately when I shake my head, there is an odd rattling sound. Marbles loose?
Ha ha … I had never heard of that song by Donovan!!! I just checked it out on YouTube … I suspect you’re right and that it would be hard to stay angry while singing that song! I shall try it!
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Maybe it will help to put the marbles back in place, at least for awhile.
I remember a time in my hippie days my wardrobe consisted of one shirt, one pair of flares, and a pair of sandals I mostly wore around my neck. He could have written that song for me, lol.
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Perhaps so … it certainly made me laugh, at the very least! 😉
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Laughing is good, especially these days.
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Beyond good … I think perhaps it is essential to our continued existence!
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You have a lovely Friday, too, Jill. If the government is still not working when you go to sleep tonight–correct me if I am wrong, but that makes a week off he job. 51 more weeks would make year. 2 more years would bring a new election. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all…
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Thanks!!! I have begun to wonder if we will ever have a functional government again. Though it’s only been shut down a week, it has been in a state of chaos and disarray for two years now. I just hope the new election in two years brings change … positive change! Happy New Year to you and Gail, my friend!
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Thank you.
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