Walking on Water

The Pope and an Indian Chief

Once upon a time, The Pope and an Indian Chief were fishing.  The Chief needed to heed the call of nature so he stepped out of the boat, walked a sufficient distance away, relieved himself, and returned to the boat.

After a bit, the Pope had a similar need, and, following the example of the Chief, stepped out of the boat, whereupon he sunk.  Rising back to the surface sputtering, The Pope said, "Wow, I didn't realize the power of your magic."

The Chief replied, "It's not so much a matter of magic as much as knowing where the rocks are."

OK, not that funny of a joke, but I was put in mind of that old joke when I heard Mike Huckabee last week.  He said that the media is so anti-Trump that, if Trump was seen walking across the Hudson, the headline the next day would be, "Trump Can't Swim."

Civil Discourse

I was talking to a colleague the other day about politics.  Usually not the best plan, especially when I knew that she always votes opposite me, but I never claimed to be the smartest guy in the room, so I just rattled off something that Obama did that I didn't much like.

Her response wasn't ugly, but she certainly put the best spin on it.  Well, I countered, Bush certainly didn't do that.  She agreed with that, but then proceeded to put the worst possible spin on Bush's actions.

It got me to thinking about how we view politics and politicians.  I concluded that we are pretty schizophrenic about it all.

Seriously... I'm Hopeless

It's a common enough refrain in my life: "You did what?!  You're hopeless!!"  Mom said stuff like that to me when I was growing up.  Other women in my life have made similar comments as well.

So, being a betting man, I'd be willing to bet that I actually am hopeless.  A handful of women are unlikely to be wrong about such.

Which brings me to another woman in my life who has recent informed me that I'm hopeless.  Yes, my first lady says I'm hopeless.  You are too, by the way.  She was talking to her collective American children, just like my mom used to talk to her urchins.  Unlike mom, though, Ms. Michelle sent her message via Oprah.

“We feel the difference now. ... Now we’re feeling like what not having hope feels like. … What do you do if you don’t have hope, Oprah?”

Michelle Obama

Cindy's All Grown Up

Susan Olsen

Susan Olsen, better known to me as Cindy Brady, just got fired from her job as a radio talk show host in Los Angeles.  She was fired because she referred to a gay actor with "an offensive term for gay men."  My, my, my little Cindy.

Wonder why she'd do such a thing?

The Thought Police

Chip and Joanna Gaines

Ok, ok, ok... I was mad when I wrote Bedrooms and Minds.  I'll admit it.  But I wasn't wrong.

Since I wrote that piece yesterday, I've followed the story on my twitter account and I'm continually amazed at the idiocy I see displayed.

Bedrooms and Minds

Chip and Joanna Gaines

Once again, I'm amazed about the ridiculousness of some Americans.  Tonight I became aware of the case of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the couple who star in the reality show Fixer Uppers.  They remodel houses to the delight of audiences across America.

I mean, I guess they do.  I've never seen it, although this past summer I did stay in a VRBO house that they featured on the show a few years back.  All I can say is that the house is cool.


They appear to be a handsome couple.  I'm not really qualified to comment on his appearance, but she's a knockout.

The Idea Man

Ronald W. Reagan

Yesterday, I wrote a post about ideas.  I got to thinking about how that related to politics in my lifetime and I wondered how our recent presidents rated in the arena of ideas.

The converse, of course, is how much they rely on issue-driven agendas.

For me, this is an interesting question.  It requires a fair amount of thought because I don't want to be biased about it.

Ideas or Issues?

A couple of weeks ago, I thought that I'd get a twitter account and see what that was all about.  I now follow a couple of news feeds and some accounts related to college football.  It's hard to believe how uninformed and how ugly many of the comments are.  Nothing in my life has prepared me for how vitriolic some people can be.  And they're especially vile on platforms where they can type to an unknown person rather than confront them face-to-face.

They remind me of strutting roosters: big-talking, puffed-up, self-important chickens.

Big Laws, Little Laws

Donald J. Trump

This year we had a presidential election.  I say that in case there's a person reading this that has been under a rock.  The way things are going in America, perhaps it's not such a bad idea.

Here's the thing... The general election was between Donald J. Trump and Hillary R. Clinton.  If there were ever two more controversial candidates in American history, I'm not privy.

A Second First

This past summer, I got the wild idea to write a blog.  Not sure why, but I did.  I was wanting to document the different quilts that I had made and comment a bit on life along the way.  Turns out that I comment more than I sew.

So, I decided to launch this little project.  Here, I'll talk about whatever is on my mind.  Philosophy, Culture, Theology, Parenting, Politics... Just whatever.

Let's see how this goes, shall we?

TheCurmudgeon