2.     No Triple Crown again this year.   Truth be known…I’m being factitious with that one, because if I was going to be disappointed over something, the winner of a horse race would be the very last.  Again to quote a neighbor (a different one) “don’t ever forget there are a lot more horses asses than there are horses.”  I guess it all comes back to that gambling thing (not unlike the lottery) because without the betting part, horse racing would be totally irrelevant.   It’s a niche sport to be sure….and to quote Austen Gregerson in “The Rant”……”insanely rich dudes betting on who spliced together the best horse genes doesn’t make me feel inspired, no matter how many mint juleps I drank.”     I believe he called it “funny hats and haughty affluence.”

3.   I went to an Alan Jackson concert over the weekend.  Love Alan Jackson, he has made dozens of huge country hits and from all appearances, he’s a class guy, great with his audiences, surrounds himself with incredible musicians and puts on a fantastic show.   The disappointment?  The aforementioned audience.   I had great seats, first row (left-center) behind the vomitorium (look it up) and the evening weather was perfect for this amphitheater setting.  I paid just under a hundred bucks each for four seats and never sat down once.  It’s sorta the way concerts go I guess.           As soon as the star comes to the stage, the idiot audience stands….in some cases stands on the seat….to sing-along, dance, gyrate, scream and hoot and holler, fondle each other, spill beer and wine in all directions and otherwise make total fools out of themselves for the entire one-hour-15-minute show…….in my estimation, completely ruining the evening for those of us who came to see and hear Alan Jackson perform, not the audience.

Having said all that, I just wish the teflon on my pots and pans was half as effective as it is on this guy, but I’m beginning to see some cracks and I’m feeling quite certain right now, our community organizer from the South side of Chicago is losing his grip…and it’s not going to be pretty.  Benghazi for one.   What a disgrace.  Oh I don’t think anybody is going down with this one, probably not even Hillary because as I’ve stated many times, the public has the attention span of an ant.   But a pure and intentional cover-up of how and why four Americans, including a U.S. Ambassador got slaughtered by terrorists cannot be denied.   Even that weasel Jay Carney couldn’t squirm out of that one.    And speaking of Carney squirming, did you see or hear his handling of the IRS debacle?   That was a made for prime-time take-down of the BHO spokesman and BHO fans…..what have you got to say about this one.  (Where’s that cat?)   Not only did the Internal Revenue Service admit to profiling Republican and right-wing organizations, they actually apologized for this disgusting demonstration and folks………get this……….as if the IRS doesn’t have the clout to inflict enough pain and suffering in our lives….with virtual access to our shorts……this is the independent (what a joke) government agency that will be administering Obama Care.  The access to our shorts is no longer virtual kids…..it’s actual…..    Our health and medical lives put into the hands of the IRS starting next year after it confessed to snooping into organizations such as the Tea Party with billions of taxpayers dollars footing the bill.

“Call now!!!”    Oh, cancel that…….“Wait there’s more!   I just heard the Justice Department, another apparent political wing of the BHO administration, has been accused of an unprecedented intrusion into the news gathering policies of Associated Press, secretly confiscating telephone records of AP journalists.   This one is huge…..I mean huge….and BHO fans, I for one am going to enjoy watching the carnage.

The kick-back I get every time I bring this subject up should be enough to keep me away from it, but this is just totally irresistible and I just cant help myself.     The misguided voters of the state said “yes” last November to allowing the Commonwealth to get into the pot-selling business…for medicinal purposes only you understand ;-) and the bill approved by the brain trusts on Beacon Hill said the state should have 30 locations.  Thirty dispensaries around the Commonwealth where citizens could go buy some here-to-for illegal dope.   Oh yes, it’s for medicinal purposes only, prescribed by a Doctor for cancer patients, Parkinson’s diseases, AIDS, or maybe even, headaches, bellyaches, depressions, glaucoma, sleeplessness, overweight, hunger pains…. you name it.     Thirty locations….maybe in Wellesley, Sudbury, Andover, Lincoln, Hamilton….maybe even in Richmond.  Guess who lives there!

Medicinal pot heads have become such a nuisance in every (the very few) state it has been tried, I find it amazing the Commonwealth really wants to go through with this.   The majority of the people (allegedly) favor it, most of my acquaintances do as well, but before the state opens its first-ever weed-dispensary, the Public Health Committee at the state house is scheduling a hearing on a move to reduce the number of “joints” from 30 to 10. TEN!  Plus they want language in there to say….”no wacky weed dispensing near a school, no weed within a thousand feet of a church and no-where near a civic center.”    What does this tell you?   Does it say this is a good thing?   I don’t think so…and if you need any reminders about the slippery slope of this enterprise, just check out Club 64 in Denver, Colorado.  Colorado is over-ridden by whack-jobs on a number of issues, but neighborhood pot joints……bring your own dope and perhaps some munchies and get stoned with us for the night… definitely over the top.

The FAA has been cutting back personnel for almost a year now and clearly, the sequester date was looming.    A lot of things could have been done to prevent it, but they opted to do nothing.   The White House, clearly bent on creating suffering among us,  joined in the refusal to do something about it and in a matter of hours, tens of thousands of air travelers were stranded and were suffering.     Four members of my family got caught in it.  My son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were flying back to Boston with a stopover in New York.   All airline postings, up to the time they left Florida said….”flights are on time.”   The minute they landed at JFK in New York, facing a four-hour layover, the signs said “your flight will be delayed one hour.”     A half hour after that, the signs said “your flight to Boston will be delayed two hours.”     Now they’re lookin’ at a 6 hour airport delay, just to get from New York to Boston on a Monday evening.        Soon thereafter…the signs went up….”your flight is cancelled.”  No explanation (usually they lie about something) just “flight cancelled” and this family of four (including two 10-year old kids) starts the scramble to rent a car and now drive five hours to get home.    Perfect ending to a 14-hour day that should have been three and a half hours.

Disgraceful… unforgivable…….but then fixed in a heartbeat, as soon as Congress realized their flights home were about to be impacted as well. Thank God for Congress and BHO.   Please remember things like this on election day!!!

I heard one nationally syndicated talk show guy today…..yuckin’ in up about the Ortiz garbage mouth saying….and I quote…..”that had to have been one of the most appropriate and timely uses of the F-Bomb I’ve ever heard in my life.” He loved it!!!!

And get a load of this…….the FCC, yes the freekin’ Federal Communications Commission immediately gave Ortiz a pass….plus a free pass for every broadcast outlet that let the “bomb” fly without bleeping it.

In front of little old ladies, little kids, the Police Commissioner, the Governor and my sensitive ears, 36,000 people at Fenway Park give a standing ovation  cheers and applause to an F-Bomb.   Oh, how times have changed.

Am I the only one who finds it very difficult to take that sawed-off little porkhead from North Korea seriously?  Kim Jon Yuk says he’s ready to launch a nuclear attack on the United States.   I pray it never becomes necessary, honestly, but there’s a tiny part of me that would enjoy watching the disintegration of that little tyrant and everything he stands for.

Speaking of tyrants…of a lesser nature…..did you notice the crocodile tears from the basketball coach at Rutgers when he got canned?  Mike Rice was a cheap-shot artist, a bully, an obnoxious punk who would have been fired many months, if not seasons ago if the Rutgers hierarchy had any stones.  Watching Coach Rice sobbing his apology was a blubbering joke.  The only sad part of the post mortem on this story is…..if he was a winning coach and not a loser, he’d probably still be throwing basketballs at the defenseless backs, heads and legs of his players.   And I know this sounds like a contradiction, but I had to chuckle when I heard the Windham Schools in N.H. are banning dodge-ball in gym classes for fear of hurting one of the precious children.  Give me a break…and pass the powder-puff.

Just one more thing….quickly.   Associated Press is dropping the word “illegal” when referring to illegal immigrants. When they came here it was against the law (at least to stay) and that’s unlawful…a criminal act…..illegal..and even the Obama administration agrees (wow) “if they’re here illegally….that makes ‘em illegal aliens” but Associated Press refers to them now as “undocumented.”      Please…….pass the Kool-Aid.

I”d like to tell you about two married couples who have known each other for close to  fifty years. In fact the two women have known each other for more than sixty years and have never had a cross word.  They cared for each other since childhood.  Both survived some harrowing, traumatic and frightful times as children, often times pulling their families apart, but never each other.   One always stood up for the other and no matter what the obstacle in one woman’s life, the other was there for her and while time and distance separated the two at various times over a half century, the friendship survived and in their older years, actually thrived.     The husbands of these two women always got along, never a difficult moment.  They could discuss anything and everything…and often did.  They shared time, swapped stories and traveled many parts of this country and Europe with their wives and one might have asked……”what possibly could bust up a half-century relationship among four people, two of whom shared life experiences dating  back to early childhood?”    I have the answer:

 Politics.  Just plain old politics, 21st century style.   The divisiveness that has poisoned the American way, including the total dismissal of anyone, anything with an opposing view is in some ways heart-wrenching to watch.   It’s there, and to think these two couples can no longer speak, or communicate in any fashion with each other is a sad commentary on what our world has become.   One member of the foursome became so obsessed with her beliefs (yes, her) that she’s now convinced she’s the smartest person in the room (any room), the other three members of the foursome are not worthy of being heard.   Nope….not even “heard” because their politics is unworthy….and surely their intellect is no match for the smartest person in the room.  As well he should I suppose, the husband of this closed-minded woman appears to have caved to the divisive side of things….a survival mode I’m sure.

Five decades and more of friendship and history, gone to the ugly divide this country has become when it comes to the human discourse of political events.  Yup, when politics trumps friendship, count me as “un-enrolled.”

Daytona Beach is complaining because its huge crowd of spring breakers has moved over to the Florida Panhandle in the past few years.   As a well-seasoned  Trained Observer, spring break is incredibly overrated anyway. Just about anyone will tell you, if you’ve been on one spring break in Florida, Mexico….where ever…..you’ll never got on another, unless you’re totally brain-dead.  The 18 and up spring breakers go… just to party and drink.   They’re too stupid to know when to stop drinking as evidenced by years of “Girls Gone Wild” videos and police arrest records.  There’s something about bikinis, booze and teenage bozos that doesn’t mix and if Daytona Beach had an ounce of class, it would thank Panama City (in the panhandle) for taking the crazy spring breakers and then bring back some class to the neighborhood.  That’s not going to be easy considering a half million bikers invade that town every year, but at least they’re of age, they spend a lot of cash and for the most part, the bikers don’t often proclaim they can fly and jump off a 10th-floor hotel balcony.

I heard one report of 800 spring breaker arrests last weekend alone over in the Panhandle and this week isn’t half gone yet.   Yes, we’ve already had a couple of fatalities.   And just to make matters worse, when it’s too damn cold to even go to the beach or pool while on spring break, what else is there to do?    More sarsaparillas I presume……this is ugly!

I’ll have to get to the “more Stuff” a little later.

The United States Supreme Court is taking on the subject…..taking on the argument started by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and if the polling trends are even close to being accurate, the argument should soon be settled…maybe sometime this summer.  Most of the experts are predicting 5-4…..one way or the other.

Looking back a couple of decades, the overwhelming majority of Americans said “no-way.”   Marriage by hundreds of years of definition is between a man and a woman and will remain that way.   Heck, one recent and very much alive former President of the United States, Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton denounced same-sex married couples on the issue of federal marriage benefits.  Slick Willie and the lady he’s married to were both against same-sex marriage.   They’ve since flip-flopped.   The man who is President right now, socialist  BHO was opposed to gay marriage when making his campaign promises.   One of dozens of promises he’s reneged on, so not a surprise.   But we shouldn’t be surprised either at what’s happening in society today.   Public opinion surveys now suggest slightly more than half of all Americans support marriage rights for gays.   Not very long ago it was more like 35 percent supporting it, but the times they are a changing.

Senator Bob Portman of Ohio is a classic example of how and why things change.  He has been forever against legalized gay marriage, personally and politically.   I’ve said in the past, I’m in favor of the death penalty, unless it was my child. Same story I guess, understandably so I guess with gay marriage.    His son goes public with being gay and bingo, Portman makes the switch.

As Attorney General Martha Coakley told the Globe, the Supreme Court Justices no longer live in a bubble. They are very much aware of what’s happening in the country.  With a reported 81 percent of very young people supporting legal gay marriage……it’s gonna happen……probably a close 5-4 vote…..but it’ll happen.

In addition to coming up with the nastiest and usually grubbiest look possible, the next goal is a “hog” with a set of pipes that’ll shatter the best decibel meter two towns away.   Motorcycles aren’t made to sound that way…..that loud.  This is all custom stuff added to the machine to let the world know when they’re coming, when they’re going and hopefully in the process……scare the crap out of some visiting octogenarian from Indiana……or any one of us in the general population just driving to the grocery store.

It is scary out there on the roadways during Bike Week….yes even driving around in my big ole SUV.    Oh I’m not scared for myself, I’m scared for them because if anything happens….if anything goes wrong with one side or the other not paying attention, the only person getting hurt is the nasty lookin’ guy riding on two wheels, pushing the boundaries of good judgment and tangling with a four-wheel huge SUV.   Every year during Bike Week, they lose a dozen or more to “someone not paying attention.”

The Chamber of Commerce down here loves ‘em.  They claim the bikers contribute about $300 million to the economy…..in one week.   Oh and add to this chaos…..college kids on Spring Break…….Holy Crap!!!!!

TSA says it’s okay to carry a knife now onto commercial airliners.    Brilliant don’t ya think?  They’ll still be shakin’ down old ladies in wheelchairs and turning little kids upside down looking for bombs, but knives……..no problem.   I just don’t get it. (one of many things)  But hey, we’re all in this together right?

Two things from Florida right now, you’ve gotta check out the scandal going on right with so-called internet cafes.  These little storefront gambling joints have popped up all over the state, despite the good sense of any clear thinking person, but a bunch of indictments were just handed down over the alleged racketeering and corruption going on…..involving, get this….”Allied Veterans of the World” which runs them and suspected felons are dropping like flies all over this state…….attorneys, top law enforcement officers and the Lt. Governor of Florida who quit rather than face the consequences in court as a top constitutional officer.    Also from Florida, if you’ve ever been to South Beach in Miami…..you know of Joe’s Stone Crab….the hottest joint on the sleazy strip.   A one pound serving of Stone Crab right now?   $80.  Yikes!!!   Then again, the show that goes with it, just gawking at the passersby on the street is sometimes worth it.

Did you hear Jodi Arias has PTSD?     I’m betting Jodi can’t even spell PTSD, but ya know what, shooting your boyfriend through the head a couple of times, cutting his throat ear-to-ear and stabbing him 26 times…….that just might cause post traumatic stress disorder.   We understand Jodi….we’re all in this together……by ourselves.

Former Pope Benedict.  This poor man can’t buy any good publicity, except for the unanimity that his decision to quit was perhaps his best legacy. All the arguing over what should they call him….Pope Emeritus, Emeritus Pope….former Papa….whatever.  There’s a columnist for Cox Newspapers trying to pitch the one-time pontiff to come to Florida for retirement and not bother with a fixer-upper monastery at the Vatican.   Writer Frank Cerabino argues,  ”Florida is the land of miracles,  we’re not just talking hip replacements…and….think about it Your Holiness, there’s no reason to feel cast aside and too old for the world……that’s why God made Florida.     Love it!

Dennis Rodman; arguably one of the best rebounders ever to play the game, but a complete and total idiot.  He’s in love with Kim Dung whatever and do you believe this?  Rodman comes back from a trip to North Korea expressing his love for one of the most horrific tyrant dictators of modern time and knucklehead George Steponallofus puts him on prime time national television for an in-depth interview. Rodman isn’t even sure what country he was in and Step-on-all-of-us was treating this creep like he actually had a brain.  I do hope the network is truly embarrassed by that one.

Alright….a couple more “stuff” quickly…..Jodi Arias, the whack-job who slaughtered her boyfriend with guns and knives in Arizona.  Do we really need to wait for a verdict.   Guilty….Bye Bye!     John Kerry, though Massachusetts is surely delighted we don’t have to put with him anymore, he’s handing out our money…..yes yours and mine….to the Islamic  Brotherhood in Egypt.   190-million first with a follow up check for 60-million more, just to try and convince Brotherhood  surrogate Morsi that we’re nice people.   Nice goin’ John!   One more……..did you see the first-ever woman trying out for the NFL as a kicker?    Was that hysterical or what!!   20-yards on the first boot…..oops……19 yards on the second kick.   Back to the gym Honey…..maybe next year. ;-)

Back to the “firearms salesman of the year” for a moment.  We all know he’s going nowhere with the gun control stuff in Washington this year, except maybe background checks and I’m okay with that.   I have to admit, living in the South part of the year, it’s a little scary to see the TV ads promoting the latest gun shows in the area….and there are dozens of them, year round.  ”Come see and buy the latest gun fire power, automatic weapons, machine guns  bazookas, rocket launchers, knives”….whatever!!   I wouldn’t know one from the other, but you can buy ‘em, sell ‘em, trade ‘em, swap ‘em, git ‘em…any day of the week at dozens of places within 10-miles of where you live and I’ll never understand the nation’s fixation with having this kind of firepower.    But no doubt about it, BHO launched an effort to curb that kind of firepower and it all seemed to blow up in his face…..thus, the sign in the window at the N.H. gun store…….”Barack Obama…Firearms Salesman Of The Year.”   Business is booming!!!

Oh and one more thing quickly…..the jury is still out on sequestration, but mark my words, the latest charade from the BHO administration is the latest to “go up in smoke.”   The sky is not falling, and watching the buffoons in Washington trying to push back from this cliff is sure to be entertaining at the very least.   Stay tuned!

How much of the Dulltona 500 did you watch?    Except for the day before the big race, it sure was dull at Daytona.   They tried to make Danica the focus of attention because the GoDaddy girl had the pole position, but everyone knew at best, top ten.   She finished 8th after 500 miles of left-hand turns.  Oh by the way, NASCAR officials had better do something about the safety fencing around that track, to prevent what happened on Saturday, or that sport will return to the days of days of Hee-Haw on a dirt track in Georgia…….sort of what happened to the sport of wrestling in the Olympics.  By the way, what a shame wrestling is being dropped from the summer Olympics.   Since 1896, it has been an Olympic sport and still should be, but in my opinion, it has caved to the bloodthirsty world of cage fighting.  Boxing has been soundly diminished and now wrestling has been eliminated by the publics apparent desire to take off the gloves, punch and kick bare-fisted and bare-toed, knee and choke the opponent and break bones until he “taps-out”, or is unable to on his own and we call that a sport.   Ultimate Fighters?   That’s garbage Jerry Springer fans!

Then again….what does it all matter.     The leader of the Free World says Armageddon is coming this Friday.   Some say it’s simply sequestering, which the leader of the Free World personally proposed and signed into law, but it appears now “Mr. Little” is having a change of heart.  So what are we going to do about those stubborn Republicans?

The part that troubles me the most is the complacency of us motorists who have to stick that hose into the gas tank and watch it pour hundreds of dollars every week into the tank, just get us to work…or the grocery store.   We fought a little when the prices went up to $4 and above and sure enough, the prices dropped rather precipitously to the low $3′s.    But did we demand more?   Nope….and sure enough the prices started back up again, above $3.50…..now above $3.70 and what are we sheep saying?   “Well, at least it’s not back to $4.”      The foreign oil companies have got us right by the short hairs….right where they want us.     We’ve got all the resources we need and then some to be totally oil and energy independent in this country, in a very short period of time, but if we continue to listen to the likes of RFK Jr, Daryl Hannah and the Sierra Club we’re never going to get there and the final tally will be “Knuckleheads One…The Rest of Us (U.S.) Nothing.”

Not really related…..but sorta:   Do you think Senator Robert Menendez had sex with a prostitute in Central America?  It is her word against his, and to quote Syndicated Columnist Thomas Sowell….”when it comes to a prostitute’s word against a politicians word, that is too close to call.”

Let’s see now….the Pope just quit!   Yup, sure enough…..the 80-plus pontiff…..Benedict XVI is cashin’ out.  What are we going to do….this is all wrong…..the Pope is supposed to stay there until he dies……that’s just the way it is.   “Viva il papa” the crowd was chanting……..”Grazie” responds the pope……but somehow this is just wrong……he can’t quit…he’s not dead yet!   I can’t think of much for which this Pope deserves praise….but one thing for sure…is praise him for knowing  when to step aside and having the courage to act.  It may prove his greatest legacy.  I’ve thought I might like to run for Pope, but apparently there are a few other steps I’ll have to take first, before I can get into the running.    I’m sure they’ll work it out over there….just wait for the puff of black smoke…….or is it white?

How ’bout the cold-blooded killer Chris Dorner out in California. A sick man for sure, but no sicker in some ways than the clueless left-coasters who are vowing to carry on his crusade…..over the injustices in t he L.A.PD.   This former cop slaughters no less than four people in his west coast terror run and there are tweeters all over the country, rooting for him to escape.    He ends up a crispy critter in a cabin near Big Bear Lake and the nut-jobs out there are blaming the cops  for setting the cabin on fire and frying this poor man.  Would that be a bad thing? Tell  us how you feel about this story. ;-)

And while you’re at it…..tell us how you feel about this comment….”what spending problem……we don’t have a spending problem, we have a deficit problem.”    Just file this one under classic left-coast nut-jobs.  I’d put this one right up there with what happened to Dornan…….i.e. coming to the breakfast table and finding Nancy Pelosi across the table.

President BHO was asked the same question, apparently the reporter expecting something less than an idiotic response.  The Prez doesn’t have any sons…..what might you expect him to say?    The one I did like however was the President being asked about women being used in military combat.   BHO says he’s in favor…….riiight………..sure he is!!   Wait till the two Presidential daughters are required to go to the draft board and register for the draft……..then we’ll see if he’s still in favor.   No question, the majority of folks polled think women in combat should happen, and it probably will, but wait  until registering for the draft comes up….and it will.

Just one other note quickly, I remember the first time I stepped into the convention hall at a National Political Convention and saw a reasonably posh, but not overly ostentatious TV booth housing Al-Jazeera.   Right there next to CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox….whatever….sharing the similar prominent space…….Al-Jazeera…..that anti-American mouthpiece for international terrorists…..I was disgusted.   So need I tell you what I think of  Big Al Gore, one-time Vice President of the United States, parlaying Current TV Network which he founded, into a $500 million payday for his fat pockets?     DON’T EVEN ASK!!!!!!

, and if you think that’s disconcerting for our well-being, our tail-wagging Governor, Deval is giving John Kerry’s old Senate Seat to MO!    Yes Mo Cowan, former legal counsel to Deval Patrick will serve the interim term as U. S. Senator for Massachusetts and I’d like to say….congratulations to the Boston Globe (not something I say too often) for pointing out the surprising and disappointing choice of Mo who possesses zero credentials for such an office. Considering the abundance of political talent available in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,  it’s brimming with talent, far beyond that of John Kerry for that matter, and Deval is appointing Mo?   What could you be thinking Governor?   Right height for the job?

Oh, one more thing on John Kerry’s predecessor as Secretary of State….Go and rest Hillary…write another book…..nurse that bump on your head, rest up for that run in 2016 and you just forget about things like Benghazi.  That’s all over for you, Congress obviously doesn’t care, the mainstream media apparently doesn’t care…and to use your own words “at this point what does it really matter how those people died?”   Bqhatevwr!

The game is 60-minutes long guys…..not 30-minutes…..and when you guys fiddley-farted around as you did for the entire second half, the last 30-minutes of the entire season, you should be hangin’ your helmets low……all of you……from Tom Brady on down.   You couldn’t throw the ball, you couldn’t run the ball, you couldn’t catch the ball, you couldn’t stop the pass, couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t tackle your grandmother nor manage the clock.  And what did your Coach do?    Nothing!  The supposed genius of the NFL didn’t come up with a single thing to stop this gang of thugs from Baltimore from rubbing your nose in it.   Flacco is a hell of a quarterback, I’ll give you that, but Belichick…..you had nothin’……..nothing to defend against anything Flacco did during the entire second half……….”Hey Coach Bill…what’s up with that???”    Sure your overpaid players let you down, there’s a reason Robert Kraft paid about 175-million dollars for that team nearly 20-years ago and I doubt it was to be humiliated as he must have been Sunday.      $7.5 million a year Coach Bill…….the highest coaching salary in sports……for that performance?

I am embarrassed Coach and you and everybody else should be as well.

But…….and you knew that was coming didn’t you……..But, I disagree wholeheartedly with the way he did it…..i.e. using little kids, planted in the front row in the room, to be innocent puppets for a national discussion on the 2nd amendment.   This is a discussion of protection, life and death, violence, war, murder and mayhem and anyone looking for anything more than cheap political points would never exploit young children to make their point.     Oh and did you hear the poignant analogy that “weapons used in the theater of war, do not belong in a movie theater.”     Let me write this down….this could be in the history books someday.   ;-(      I think that was even in the teleprompter…..how prothetic!   I’m not a gun guy but I’m a strong supporter of the second amendment.  There are many perfectly sane reasons for people to own guns and I will forever defend that right, but I’ve got to part company, big-time, with the NRA and gun zealots who think there’s any good reason to have assault weapons on the public marketplace.   I actually worked for many years with a guy who owns at least one of these things……magazine clips that will hold forty-leven rounds of ammunition and he used to insist, “I enjoy going to the range and firing it.”   He may be the last person I know who should own such a weapon.   It’s nonsense.

The President is also correct when he says “none of these changes, constitutional or otherwise, will prevent another mass shooting” and that’s even the argument of the NRA….it won’t.  If Barack just goes back to his hometown he’ll find 500 dead bodies with bullet holes in them…..from the last year alone.   BHO was going to demonized either way…..do this, or do nothing…but the NRA and the right-wing gun-nuts who believe the laws are fine as they are, are dead-wrong……….DEAD wrong.

So, away from the history books for a moment, the public clearly forgot or ignored the mistake it made four years ago and did it again.  We’re launching the second term for “worst performance by a President” in anyone’s memory and the Republican Party is still trying to figure out what the hell happened.   Better minds than mine will have to figure this out because God knows, there are dozens and dozens of reasons why this scenario came about and its going to take all of the next four years to figure it out.    It ain’t gonna be easy.  Alright now…..back to the top of the page:

What prompted this whole rant is the remarks of Retired General Colin Powell.  I’ve always had a lot of respect and admiration for Mr. Powell and he’s as confused as anyone as to what happened to “his” party……..the Republican Party.   He sure as hell didn’t help things much by endorsing the Democrat for President…..in fact I’m not sure he should continue to call himself a Republican.   Powell is correct when he says the Republican Party has got to “take a very hard look at itself and understand that the country has changed demographically, and if the party doesn’t change, it’s going to be in trouble.”  No kidding General……but here’s where you’re wrong;   The end result may be the same, granted, but the Republican Party did NOT shift to the right, I did not lean right…you leaned to the left…. the Dems, and perhaps the majority of voters shifted to the left.   The election of BHO was the sharpest left turn in American history and everything that has become a contentious  issue in the past decade was given life by this left turn.   From the nation’s defense to welfare handouts, from space exploration to free birth control pills, from gun control to gay marriage, from immigration law enforcement to food stamps, the folks leaning to the left won the day and the GOP has got to understand that, and deal with it.  But open your eyes, there has been no “significant shift to the right.”  None!

The club got its name from the legislative number that got the legal pot bill passed, and what it is, is a place to go and get stoned.   You’ve gotta bring your own weed…which I’m sure was grown for medicinal purposes only, and of course bring your own “munchies” because the joint won’t serve food or drink.   Bring your own pot, roll yourself a bone or two right there at the “Club” and inhale ’till you’re Rocky Mountain High.   Oh yuh, they’re gonna charge you $29.95 to get in the door, but after that…it’s just flyin’ time.   Smoke your pot to your heart’s content and it’s all perfectly legal.    As my friend George says…repeatedly…..”what a great country!”

Oh don’t get me wrong, pot is not legal in the U S of A.  In fact to the best of my knowledge it’s not legal in any country, but in certain places, where the slopes are slippery…..starting with the Netherlands and a few other spots around the world, it’s not legal but go ahead and smoke your weed and the law will just wink at you.     “Club 64″ in Denver takes it to the next level.    It doesn’t have to be for medicinal purposes….just get yourself some wacky weed, come on down to “Club 64″ and puff, puff, puff with the rest of your counterparts from the great unwashed.

I understand there are 13 or 14 states that now allow possession and use of pot for medicinal purposes…….or at least that’s the way it was introduced.   In California, everything is ok so I don’t even count them, but quite frankly, some of the others surprised me: Michigan, Rhode Island, Maryland and yes Maine surprised me.   Hawaii not really, Alaska, why not (not much else to do there) Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Colorado…not a huge surprise.   The People’s Republic of Vermont puffin’ away is no surprise, but I have to say, Massachusetts was a surprise….on several fronts; legalizing pot…and…sending one of the worst candidates in the history of politics to the U.S. Senate.  My goodness Massachusetts voters….what could you be thinking?

I know…a lot of people…including the majority of my friends disagree with me on this issue, but I said it…and I’m glad.  When a Club 64 opens on a street corner in Hamilton or Wellesley, I’ll remind you.

We all know my feelings about the irresponsibility and wretched dangers inherent in social media and this is a classic example of the “daily rag” exacerbating an already volatile situation.   For the public good?   Absolutely not.   In the public interest?  Absolutely not.  Sure the public may whine…..”we have a right to know” but ya know what, it’s public record, go research it yourself, find out if good ole Mr. Gary next door has a gun, but when a so-called NEWSpaper steps out of its area of responsibility and publishes names and addresses that may jeopardize hundreds of people…..that’s just wrong.   Oh and by the way, good ole Mr. Gary next door may have a dozen rifles and six loaded shotguns, but you’ll never know that because no permit is required for those.

One would like to think, in the journalism world at least, there was a higher social purpose for publishing  information with no intent to harm someone.   Taking those two things in reverse, I’m sure the Journal News had no intent to harm anyone….but…..you’ll never convince me or any other clear thinking person that you believe there was a higher social purpose.      There is none.   I’m not a big gun advocate, in spite of my last name (NRA: no relation) but the folks at the lefty looney birdcage liner in New York’s Hudson Valley just did it’s readership community “wrong”.

Hurricane Sandy is another one of those things that defies rational explanation.  It was a totally out-of-character act of nature which most likely will never happen again in our lifetime.   That has no explanation…….but what this country did when it came to dealing with the tragedy should embarrass us all.   Of all the tragic world events this country has responded too, from World Wars to horrific acts of nature to the nine-eleven attack on this country which proved to be the bloodiest, deadliest single incident in the history of the world and FEMA still can’t turn the lights back on in parts of New York and New Jersey.   BHO rides through ONE TIME, gets a bear hug from Mr. Big & Loud from New Jersey (Chris) promises FEMA will be right there with the victims…and what was done…….For weeks and weeks and weeks?    Nothin’!

Then of course there’s Newtown, Connecticut.    Everyone has something to say about that one and I for one believe that 99 out of every 100 people who comment should just shut up.    I guess there’s something cathartic about commenting on such tragedies, but thanks to the social media, the comments are out of control and most of those commenting…..are idiots.   Want to do something about mental illness in this country?   Want to debate gun control in this country?    Fine….but for God’s sake,  just shut up until we can get those tiny little bodies into graves.    What a horrific scar on who and what we are…as a society.

Alright, enough already.   It’s the Christmas and Holiday season….time to be of good cheer….so lets end on a happy note.      Hmmmm!   Let me think!   Oh here’s one…the Patriots beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.    Good thing they weren’t playing the Sisters of Notre Dame…they’d have lost.   Oh and one more real good thing.  John Kerry, the most disingenuous do-nothing politician I’ve ever encountered, will be leaving Massachusetts for a new job.  BHO got THAT one right….for us anyway.    See ya JFK!!!

     First, before I get into my negative side, let me say the recent holiday season was spectacular for my family.   For the first time ever, we enjoyed a Thanksgiving Holiday Season together in Florida.     Thanksgiving is such a New England thing, the thought of having it elsewhere just didn’t seem to fit my DNA, but ya know what………it was great.    Our two sons, their wives and two of the four grandchildren were with us….in Florida.     The other two grandchildren are working adults now and couldn’t get the travel time but to have 8 out of 10 of us together was wonderful.   A lot of be thankful for, and I’m now looking forward to heading back to New England for the December Christmas Season.   Can’t wait!

     Now, back to the search….for whatever.   First, under the category of “who gives a rats rump”, what is the National Hockey League searching for?   Oblivion is about the only word I can come up with, but it’s down to one solution kids; cancel the rest of this season. You’ve already screwed it up to a fair-thee-well, you clearly don’t give a damn about the fans…and never have, and if you need any more evidence of that, look at the current plan of tossing out big chunks of the season a little bit at a time and to what end?  If you can’t see it already NHL, take another look.   It’s getting little or no press coverage for one huge reason……fewer and fewer people give a crap and you didn’t have that many followers in the first place.   Smarten up!!

     One more search; the Republican Party search for someone who can explain to the party, the new realities of American voters. I’ve been struggling with it for a couple of weeks now, wondering how a Chicago community organizer who became President of the United States and accomplished absolutely nothing in four years, could actually be voted in for another four years of nothingness.  But my answer remains the same; you cannot underestimate the intelligence of the American voter and, our rigid political partisanship (mine included) makes it impossible to agree with the position of the other party and God forbid we should have a civil conversation. I have friends (and family) who are from the other side of my political spectrum.  Often times, we simply avoid the subject and remain friends,  but my wife and I have one instance where a couple (friends for 50-years) will no longer speak or communicate with us because of their (her) political beliefs versus ours.  They get mad..they get angry and that is unhealthy left-wing lunacy I can do without.  Maybe some day we’ll all smarten up…but in the meantime….the search goes on….and on.

     I friend of mine from Massachusetts  recently suggested this subject and I got to thinking about, she’s right.    Yes, she’s a lefty from the people’s republic to be sure, but my goodness Florida has become the laughing-stock of America when it comes to counting.  Who knows, this could simply be a serious issue with math…an inability to count…but holy crap….why does it take so long?   The election was last Tuesday and Florida didn’t have a winner declared until the following Sunday.     I watch one woman voter registration chief in one southern county apologizing (and then crying….like that helps) for taking so long to come up with a count……JUST IN ONE COUNTY!!! She promised it will never happen again.    Wonderful!    And other weird thing…half of the voters in Florida voted early this year, so those ballots could have been counted before election day ever happened.   Bad enough this previously Red state turned Blue much to my dismay, but remember the old “hanging chad” thing 8-year ago with a bunch of knuckleheads sitting around a table  trying to decide if the hole punched in the ballot went all the way through.   Huh?        I think I’m going to start a drive to collect enough money before the next big election to buy these folks some adding machines…..maybe even electric ones.   I say lets throw out the abacus in Florida vote counting.

     After parts of his state got destroyed recently by Hurricane Sandy, I thought maybe he would soften up a bit, become a little more humble, become a lot more gubernatorial….but no.   He spent some time sucking up to Barack (understandable) while the President was feigning concern for the people of New Jersey.      Big Chris joined BHO while they looked into the camera lens and told the folks of the Jersey shore…“we’re here for you, don’t worry, we’ve got your back” and every other time-worn cliché you can think of  and here we are a week later, and the folks hammered by Sandy are still waiting, starving and now freezing to death.  Take a look at Chris….he’s obviously not  missing any meals.  (sorry that was unfair) and what’s he still doing?   He’s still talkin’ trash to anyone who challenges him, simulating how tough he thinks he is. I saw him doing it again in an interview today.

     Governor…..Zip it!   Leave that Joyzee idiot talk to Snookie, JWoww, Pauly D, The Situation and those other morons who give your state a bad name.   You’ve got a lot of offer Chris and possibly a bright future beyond your corrupt blighted state, but right now you’re a Governor, the Chief Executive of New Joyzee.     Act like one Dude ;-) and just Zip It…..Yes you!!

     Meantime, back to the question at the top of the page;  yes I’m kinda sad, and I’m certainly disappointed, but my anger is gone, my disbelief is now reality and the only answer left to the question “OMG America…What Have You Done” is…you embarrassed your Uncle!!

     Martini Writes:    “In case you haven’t noticed, the toxin of partisan politics that was once trapped inside the asylum on the Potomac and bottled up in a few other political hot spots around the country, has suddenly been pumped,undiluted, into the national vein. 

     Cable news, much of it political and almost all of that partisan; talk radio, some of it virulent; the graceless decline of network news, until it stood undisguised, naked and seemingly unashamed in its ideological partiality; and major metropolitan newspapers, too many of which have given up the ghost of objectivity in their reporting to become obvious and open house organs for political parties….these were the forces that pushed the plunger on the syringe.”

     Brilliantly stated.    This is an issue that should remain front-and-center in our concerns for a long time to come.  The public has stolen the media, with the blessings of the media, and they’ve totally screwed it up.   There has been an explosion in information technology……and believe me when I tell you, we are on information overload right now….BIG time.

     Politics has blurred the line….or perhaps more correctly, the media has blurred the line.    Blurred…….hell it has erased the line between journalism and bloviating and I for one, struggle to accept the consequences.   It ain’t pretty….but as I stated at the top of this page…….at least when it comes to politics 2012………”It’s almost over folks……almost over!!!!!!!”

     A couple of other comments briefly on current events:    I see Massachusetts voters will a chance to make the Commonwealth the third state in the country with a referendum question on the “Right To Die.”   One recent poll suggests 64% of likely voters support legalization of the “Right To Die.”      Religious groups and medical groups have raised a million and a half dollars plus to fight it.  I believe it should and will pass.    And only because I haven’t been called any nasty names recently by the vigilant pot smokers out there, the wacky weed for medical purposes referendum should also have the “right to die.”   Puff-Puff!!!

     Very sad to see the so-called “Perversion files” released by the Oregon Supreme Court.   This is 14,500 pages of “pervs” from all over the country, including your state, who have been accused of sexual perversion acts against young boys, yet were never charged because their organizations, i.e. the Boy Scouts of America, covered up for the Perv scout masters rather than hurt the name of the Boy Scouts of America.   It’s sad news because it puts the Boy Scouts of America in the same box with the Roman Catholic Church, allowing children to be scarred for life and allowing predators (pervs) to go free, just to protect the good name and good works of these institutions.     14,500 pages of “pervs” dating back to 1959!!      Disgraceful!!!

     Newsweek magazine, for 80-years a reliable left-wing (alleged) news magazine is going digital and what a shame, no matter what its political bent.   Slowly but surely, the world is surrendering to the digital world, i.e. the social media, and if this keeps up, what are we going to use to line our bird-cage?  Newsweek says its target will be a “highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context.”     If you believe that folks, you probably believe Joe Biden was not “on something” when he debated Congressman Ryan.

     While we’re talking debates, Romney wins the first one, Biden loses the second one, Romney and Obama fight to a draw in the third and please Mr. Schieffer, show the first three moderators how it’s supposed to be done.   Lehrer was barely ok, Raddatz was totally over her head with incompetence and Candy Crowley……………holy crap Candy was that awful!   The only thing worse than Candy was the totally stupid questioners.   And if you don’t go along with the suggestion that the questioners were stupid….did you hear the questions?    “How are you different from George Bush?”  OMG!!!!     It was another classic example of how naive and ill-informed the masses are through the social media.       Bob Schieffer is a proven, though sometimes lefty journalist and he has the where-with-all to moderate this final debate. I’m looking forward to your questions Bob and then looking forward to sitting back, yourself included I hope, and letting the two duke it out.

     Gee, I never did get to Zumba hookers did I.     I’m late for my Pilates class…..:-)

     Mitt Romney had BHO for lunch…….and dinner.    I was almost embarrassed for O’bama….but only almost.      He didn’t have any cohesive answers to anything….he was totally disjointed…..he looked like an 8th grade debater and I am pumped that Mitt Romney didn’t miss a beat.    He proved he’s totally intellectually superior….he was respectful to the office, but with choice words, chewed up the community organizer and proved him to be the incompetent he’s been for four years.

      And my total redemption before I hit the pillow for the night….all…..yes ALL of the mainstream media people doing the post-debate analysis agreed…..BHO had a bad night………..but even more than that……Mitt Romney had a great night.

     Romney 1……..O’bama 0

     Yes folks, it could be later tonight when the world learns whether BHO still has the charisma without a teleprompter, or whether Mitt has the onions to look BHO in the face and say “Mr. President, your administration has been the biggest failure in American history since the Carter administration back in the 70′s, there’s nothing about it any candidate could run on and by the end of the night tonight, America will understand that.”

     I may be whistlin’ past the graveyard right now, but I sure haven’t given up.  Some of my left-looney friends will never wean themselves off the Kool-Aid, some of the lefty members of my own family still believe that the guy who has failed miserably for four years, actually deserves four more years to try to get it right.   Mitt has not been a great candidate, BHO has been a fantastic candidate if we’re talking political charisma here, but oh my goodness, take a look at the resume’s of these two men and ask yourself, which one should be sitting in the White House?

     I’m looking forward to tonight with great anticipation and trepidation.   It shouldn’t be all over tonight, but it could be and we’ll discuss that in the next couple of days.   And please don’t take this as waving a white flag, but Democrat pollster Pat Cadell is absolutely correct, “the mainstream media is threatening our country’s future, there is a purposeful conscious effort to suppress news that might hurt O’bama.  We’ve gone down a slippery slope, the mainstream media not only decided to support O’bama but is actively engaged in his reelection.”

     What has happened to the news media, particularly in the last four years, is ugly…….and I mean two G’s uggly!  More to come.

     I forced myself……yes forced myself to watch the premiers of two new NBC sitcoms last night…….Matthew Perry (whom I loved in Friends) stars now in Go On.    OMG.    I think this is about the 4th time I’ve labeled a sitcom…”the worst I’ve ever seen.”    Matthew Perry should be embarrassed, the writers should be fired and NBC should be fined for mis-using America’s time.   (Yes I know, I’m holding the clicker.)

     And then there’s “The New Normal.”   Pathetic junk and a perfect example of why primetime television on the major networks is such a joke, with a dwindling, disappearing audience.  God was that awful!!!

     Judge Wolf has been involved in more than one questionable decision in his career, but this one, on behalf of Robert (Michelle) Kosilek takes the cake and it’s going to cost us….you and me….somewhere in the vicinity of $50,000 over and above what we’re already paying for Kosilek.   Did I mention he (she) is a convicted murderer?    Yes, I think I did.   He (she) murdered his (her) wife and now wants that “reassignment.”

     In the words of Senator Scott Brown, “this is an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars” and he hopes common sense will eventually prevail.  That is the issue….”paid for by the taxpayers”…that’s what is outrageous.   Not the reassignment surgery…..its the fact that the courts think we should pay for the surgery because Kosilek is in prison…for life….for murder.

     I rest my case on one undeniable fact.   I have had a very close and personal relationship with a person who has had this surgery;   Highly successful sex  reassignment surgery and I will defend this persons integrity and character to the day I die.   But to do it for this creepy convicted killer on the taxpayers  dime???   Not a chance judge…..not a chance.

     Big headline on the OP/ED page of the Boston Globe today….a Jeff Jacoby column read “SCRAP THE CONVENTIONS.”    That is wrong at so many levels and I honestly don’t have enough space to enumerate the wrongness of it.  Jacoby concluded “extinction eventually caught up with Tyrannosaurus rex. It will catch up with this (convention) dinosaur, too.”   I so hope you’re wrong Jeff, I really do. You presented both sides of the argument very well Jeff and concluded the conventions should be scrapped, but what in heaven’s name is wrong with letting the party-faithful, the political junkies, the hard-working people behind the candidates, knocking on doors for the candidates, passing out leaflets for the candidates, after four long years, have a party to celebrate their efforts.  It’s a tradition almost as old as America, and just like the “first-in-the-nation Presidential primary in N.H. et al,” it should continue.   Jacoby suggested it just “perpetuates the charade”. a very expensive charade that many voters don’t watch.    When a man and a woman (and that’s the only way it should be) get married today, someone usually puts up a lot of money for a five-minute ceremony, the couple vows “till death do us part” blah,blah, blah, and from there, the charade (party) begins…long into the night.     Chances are better than 50-50 that marriage will fail, just like Presidential nominees, it was a waste of money…but the ceremony is “tradition”……don’t let it go away.

     My first national convention was Chicago, ’68 and I went to every one of them from there into the ’90′s….Republican and Democrat alike.  I enjoyed this past Republican convention.   It had its high points, Marco Rubio, its low points, Chris Christie and it had Clint Eastwood…..not sure what the hell he was doing there.  Time for someone to tell Clint….”get off my lawn!”

     I’m looking forward to the Dems this week…honest.    There is nothing, I mean nothing they can say or do that will change how I’m going to vote, but party-on Dems…..show me what  yuh got.     It’s tradition!!!

     Having known Dave Maynard for close to a half century, I’m proud to have called him a teacher, a mentor, a cohort and a friend.  “His expertise had no bounds”, so eloquently stated on the back cover of the book.  One minute he was a total “goof” and the next minute he was charismatic and brilliant, but at no time was there any doubt…….HE was Dave Maynard and everyone should know that.  I recall once have a casual conversation with Dave and some of his admirers and he was charming these people right out of their shoes…..all the patience in the world.   One of the gathering, probably just trying to be polite, turned to me and asked a question…at which time Dave spun around saying…..”Oh, you’re not talking about me anymore….I’m bored……I’ll see you later.”   He walked away.

     If you knew Dave Maynard the radio legend, or you’ve never heard of him (God forbid) and just want another book to read, you will love “The Dave Maynard Spin.”      It’s jam-packed with stories of his life, his travels, his elbow-rubbing with some of the biggest names ever in entertainment and to miss reading it, would be missing the legacy that everyone can enjoy.

     I find it interesting, I thought that highly rated longest running radio show on WBZ radio in the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s and 90′s was “GARY LAPIERRE” and his friends Dave, Gil, Joe, Don, Eliot and whomever…..but now I read it was Maynard in the Morning.   He was the mainstay of WBZ radio for close to 50-years and I’m proud to have been a part.

     It’s The Dave Maynard Spin”……check it out…..and Davie…R.I.P.

     By the way……why do we have a farm team?   Bring ‘em up….let ‘em play.  Ask Tampa Bay how that works.  In fact, maybe take a look at 50-year old Roger the “not guilty” Rocket.   He’s playing for a team called the Skeeters right now..have you heard?

     Ben Cherington….now’s you chance.  Everything you’ve done so far has brought us nowhere, but now you’ve got a clean slate so lets see what ya got Dr. Ben.

     Oh….one more thing Ben…you know that pitcher named Alfredo Acevas your team dumped back in 2010 because he was a total idiot…..a misbehaving knucklehead….and then you hired him back?    Obviously you didn’t get rid of all the dopes in your locker room.    Acevas threw a another hissy fit over the weekend, started yappin’ at his Manager for “not putting him in the game”, it got out of control ugly and now Acevas gets a “time-out” for three games, in the corner with the dunce  hat on again.   I’ve seen better behavior at a kindergarten for spoiled rotten kids!

     Wait till next year fans…..wait till next year!

     This team is rotting from the inside out and fans had better prepare for worse stuff to come.      As I mentioned many weeks ago, Bobby V had better see the sights and enjoy Boston this year, because it’ll be his only year.    The teams terrible win/loss record is not Valentines fault by any means, but he was the wrong choice for the job from the get-go and all of these pompous asses in uniform have decided they’re smarter than he is and almost none of them is playing up to potential.   There’s some fairly decent hitting going on, but the Red Sox get 14 runs….their opponent gets 15.   Disgraceful……and disheartening I’m sure.    Pitchers from Josh Beckett on down are dreadful.   Beckett has gotta go and I’m sure Boston will try to drop him like a bad habit…..because he is…but who the hell is going pay a knucklehead, crybaby with 5 wins this season…$16 million to sign.     Nobody!!     And just to show the total lack of class by Beckett and most of his teammates, he didn’t even show up for Johnny Pesky’s wake.   One of the great gentlemen and legends of Red Sox baseball history dies and only four players showed up to pay their respects.   Yes only four….and Big Baby Beckett was not one of them.  The four who showed are Ortiz, Bucholz, Padilla and Saltalamacchia.    That’s it….and the rest of that team proves the rotting from within.

     And to quote Michael Dukakis, “a fish rots from the head down” and at the head right now, Larry Lucchino is showing me nothing…I mean nothing, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Mr. Botox…..John Henry sell this rag-tag bunch of would-be baseball players as soon as golfing seasons begins for them…which is coming up very soon.