Willie sings “Whiskey River take my mind” and I laugh as I sing along with Willie.
Tonight it is just part of a mix of music and though I remember moments where I might have agreed with the lyrics that is not where I am at now.
Daughter asks if I have gone country and I laugh, no more than I ever was.
I like all kinds of music and country is a part of my library, but the largest portion has to be made up of rock.
Maybe It’s The End Of The World
A couple of hours ago President Trump announced his nominee for the supreme court and I wondered whether I would be happy with the pick.
After all I have been most unhappy with the first couple weeks of his administration and have been reminding myself not to listen to REM sing It’s The End Of The World.
That reminds me when Ohioans ask how I know how to say Cuyahoga it is because of the REM song, but I digress.
*****
It didn’t take more than a few minutes for me to realize there is a damn good chance that the nominee, Judge Gorsuch went to law school with one of my cousins.
I made a mental note to confirm and then ask her what she thought of him.
Jumped onto Twitter to see what another cousin had to say, he is a Constitutional Law professor at Michigan so I knew he would have an opinion and was interested.
Wondered if maybe he had worked with or interacted with Judge Gorsuch too and snorted, would be kind of funny if I have two relatives who know the man.
Not that six degrees of separation are going to be particularly useful here, but there is some humor in thinking that I could call a cousin and ask them to ask a Justice to fix a ticket for me….
And Back To Music We Go
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Philadelphia.
Never forget the sounds of men crying to the front and side of me and how I knew it was only a matter of time before my own uncle died from the same death sentence.
Can’t here the song without thinking about him or realizing how I am almost the same age as he was when died.
I never thought of him as being particularly old, but the closer I get to passing him in age the more evident it becomes of just how young he was.
Sometimes I think about the conversations we had and how he never complained about life being unfair.
I asked very pointed questions and he sort of shrugged his shoulders at me and said this is how things go sometimes.
You might ask me if I believed him or if I thought he was trying to protect me and I’ll tell you I think he was honest.
He had no reason to lie and his behavior was in line with what I have always seen from my dad and grandfather so there is that.
I Push Back
I had words with a fellow who has a different political view than I do.
He is a neighbor who was in the complex gym the same time as I was.
I hadn’t intended to engage with him but when he saw me make a face in response to the newscaster he told me he hoped I understood we should just accept our president.
“There is an old American tradition of not just accepting the manure some politicians like to feed us. I am a fan of that.”
He responded by telling me that people should get on board or leave and I suggested he reconsider his approach.
“I am not going anywhere. People have to stick around and keep the administration accountable. If you want to just accept what he says, that is fine. I don’t and I won’t.
I push back.”
****
There were news reports today about bomb threats that were made to Jewish institutions across the country.
It is the third time since our new president took office.
I haven’t heard him speak out about this or say anything that sounded like he was pushing tolerance for people.
What I have heard is him try to bully others and cry, carp and complain when people don’t do as he asks.
That is problematic and I can’t say I expect him to change because the man never admits when makes mistakes.
He just doubles down and pushes ahead.
That is why we need to pay attention and to push back. We may not hold office but his office reports to the voters and we’ll make sure the government remembers that.
Whiskey River take my mind…
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