Captivated!

Captivating: Been feeling inundated by the flood of alpha male testosterone gushing from Washington lately?  Then you need to pick up a copy of, “The Power,” by Naomi Alderman (Little Brown, 2016).  A single sentence on the book jacket describes it perfectly: “A fierce new power has emerged----and only women have it.”  And that’s just the start.  But the ending will surprise you.  This gem of a book is a journey through an alternate universe that is vastly different from our own, yet somehow exactly the same.  This book is a Must Read!

Walter Lide

Will 2018 Be Canceled? You Can Bet On It!

It's obvious to me that most politicians enter that carrier to either make money or to make more money.  It's a sweet deal provided you have what it takes; a lot of narcissism and a little bit of sociopathy.  Having said that, there must be someway to make lots of money from politics without having to become a politician.

 And a friend of mine  has figured out a way.   While most everyone else argues and bets on whether or not the Democrats will flip the House and impeach the president, my friend, Junebug, sees a whole different set of issue. "The Man be doing all kinds of weird shit and getting away with it," he told me.  "And if the Democrats win the House, the president will be impeached and there will be all kinds of investigations and other shit hitting the fan.  If that's the case, lot of rich white dudes gonna go to jail and become somebody's bitch.  Now do you really think those other rich white dudes in Washington are gonna let that happen?  And that's something I'm taking bets on."  Granted, my friend Junebug may be a crazy, but he's crazy like a fox and thinks like a sociopath.

News From the Future

Rumor Has It: If Robert Muller is fired as Special Counsel, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will replace him with Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, and an informal adviser on cyber security to the White House. Neither the Republican controlled House nor Senate plan on voicing any opposition. According to several DOJ sources, should Giuliani be unable to assume the position, the job will go to Devin Nunes, the current chair of the House Intelligence Committee. A high profile White House aide recently speculated to a group of reporters. "We're expecting full compliance from our people in congress."

Me, the President and Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law: We've all heard of it and most have experienced it at one time or another. But sometime round the mid-seventies I came across a life changing book by Tom Robbins, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues." And it was a book written and published especially for the 70s.

To make a long story short however, I experienced a reference in that book to Murphy’s Law, which I like to call, “The Robbins Addendum": “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and it can be used to your advantage provided, of course, things go wrong enough.” It's a good way of dealing with crazy, unreasonable work environments and/or bosses. Besides creating total chaos and distraction, it often mucks up the evil agenda of the powers that be, which can be both satisfying and entertaining. And if it's done with a little humor, honesty and sensitivity, it's usually fun, of little harm and may even shine a bit of light into the dark. But in 2018 I'm seeing how dark and harmful the Robbins Addendum can actually be. When done for narcissistic, vengeful and/or petty reasons, the Addendum can get very scary. But oh well, I've created my share of fun and entertaining chaos but now I am seeing its darker side and it isn't pretty. But what can I say? What goes around comes around.

Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius

How tax breaks help the rich

Moby & The Void Pacific Choir - In This Cold Place (Official Video)

ZEMBLA - The dubious friends of Donald Trump: the Russians

A Simple Survival Rule if Faced With Failure:

 Whenever possible, blame the black guy.

A Fine-Tuned Machine...

Weird Wally Sez:  I’ve lived my life like a fine-tuned machine. Only problem is, I don’t know what the machine does, how to work it nor what to do with it.

Trump Fills the Vacuum

Over the past eight years, a lot of good things happened because of Obama’s economic policies.   But since he choose to remain low key about his achievements and nature abhors a vacuum, the loud mouth showman waiting in the wings is already filling up the empty space and saying, “Look what I’ve done, and I’m not even president yet.”

Besides, is it really possible that a black guy could have done all of that?

And many will choose to believe the showman.

Feeling Like Crap Since 11/9/16?

Inheriting Edith

After finding nothing in the thrillers, mysteries and trashy novels sections, I was just about to leave the store when I chanced upon, “Inheriting Edith,” by Zoe Fishman.  The back cover sounded mildly interesting and since I was desperate for something to read, I took it to the checkout counter.

Turns out it was a quick and uplifting read, delving into Alzheimer’s, suicide, adoption, secrets, relationships between mothers and daughters and a whole lot more.  So, if you woke up on the morning of November 9, 2016, feeling like crap and need a little bit of magic in your life, Inheriting Edith might be just what the shaman ordered.

Money Matters

A Silly Question:

But first, let me explain. I am not a religious kind of guy and haven’t attended Mass in decades. And that is not likely to change. On the other hand, during the past several days, I seem to have noticed a few subtle changes within myself and in the air.

1. Has anyone felt an urge to forgive, hint of joy, or (for lack of a better term), a sense of oneness?  Or maybe, even a whiff of Grace?

The Water Thief: A Likely Future?

Although this book is said to have been around since 2012, Wally first heard of it only a few days ago.  “I skimmed a review online and immediately placed an order.

“Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed, it was self-published and I almost gave it to Goodwill without a second thought.  And no matter my feelings about the author, I’ve never met a self-published novel that I actually liked.  That is, until a few days ago,” he said.

According to Wally, Nicholas Lamar Soutter’s, The Water Thief, is way more than just a good read.  And should corporate manipulation and disinformation, along with citizen apathy, continue on its current path, it’s a promise of things to come.

On a planet where unions have been crushed, education a heresy and corporations in charge, the CEOs, Executive Class and top one percent rule supreme, while the rest of us are literally, left to eat shit and die. 

And that pretty much describes what life might become, in the not too distant future, where everything is privatized and for profit.   It is a place where the sum total of one’s existence is objectively determined by your worth to Human Resources.

There is no right and no wrong.  Criminal behavior is objective and measured by damage to the corporation.  And perception is everything.  Perception is truth!  And whatever you may do, never ever set a bucket out in the rain and attempt to steal the corporation’s water.  “But that,” says Wally, “is a whole other story and well worth a read.”

Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Sucks!

Weird Wally’s Cognitive Dissonance

It’s the day after New Year’s and Wally is still meditating on last year.  For him, it’s been a confusing year.   As a matter of fact it’s been more like total cognitive dissonance and it first started sometime around March of 2012, shortly after the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager by an angry white guy, either civilian or law enforcement.   And although he didn’t realize it at the time, it was only the first of many.

“Up to that point,” he posted on a progressive website, “I had no problem with white people and doubted that would ever change.”  But what Wally seldom considered, until very recently, was the fact that a lot of white people have a problem with him.  And it’s not because he does anything to offend them.  They seem to take offense at the very fact that he lives and breathes and is a citizen of these United States.  “Add a black president to that already explosive situation,” he said, “and you get a lot of heads exploding with rage.”

And now that he’s learned so many white people have a problem with him, Wally is realizing that he now has a problem with white people.  And with the exception of longtime friends and some family members, he has noticed that he has avoided most whites and made neither a new white friend nor acquaintance in the past couple of years.   Worse yet, the few he’d met and seemed to click with, he’d started avoiding.  “Things that were important to me weren’t important to them and they didn’t really want to talk about important shit and the many things we had in common were far overshadowed by the things we didn’t.

“I even started avoiding a few good white friends over this and was surprised to find out how many of them believe that if a cop arrested you, you were doing something wrong.  And if he actually shot you, then you were doing something wrong and threatened the cop’s life.  I know that’s bullshit, but how do I explain to someone else that their opinion is wrong if they’ve never experienced what is normal for me and, can’t even conceive of the possibility in the first damn place.”

With local law enforcement killing an unarmed black teenager or young adult on an average of more than once a week and usually getting away with it, Wally also finds himself avoiding the police, both black and white, even more than he avoids most whites whom he doesn’t know, and a few whom he does.  “So how do I communicate with someone who totally discounts my experiences simply because my experience can never happen to him?”

And like most all people, when confronted with cognitive dissonance, Wally is choosing to decrease his stress by totally avoiding these conflicts of dualities.    And although he knows nothing is resolved by his avoidance, he also knows that even cognitive dissonance is impermanent and that it too shall pass.  “Meanwhile,” he said.  “It is what it is.”

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Democratic Ennui

Although Wally is getting over a cold that knocked him on his ass for several days, he still feels listless.  “It’s like walking through syrup,” he recently told friends over lunch.  But he was not alone.  Others expressed similar feelings of vague dissatisfaction.  No one present, however, could define the vagueness nor cause for the subtle weariness that had overtaken them for the past year or so.

And it wasn’t until Barb, a retired social worker who’d been fingering her iPhone for the past several minutes, loudly exclaimed, “We got ennui, that’s what we got.”

Consisting mostly of retired progressive Democrats, it was only naturel that they figured the root of their malaise lay in their disappointment and neglect by the very people whom they had voted for and counted on to lead the way out of the doom and darkness of the Bush/Cheney Years.

But the path out of political doom and darkness was becoming circular, “and we seem to be heading back in the same direction from which we came,” Wally asserted. 

“Wally, you really need to get a life,” a retired air force sergeant argued.  “It ain’t all about rollbacks of financial and environmental reforms.  You gotta realize that this too shall pass.”

In the end, however, Wally had to admit that the sergeant was right.  But right now, America is in search of its soul.  And for Wally, that means only one thing.   Now that the Christmas commercials are over, the political ones are already on their way and will be here soon.  And things will surely get ugly.

“Sometimes,” he posted to a friend, later that day, “this constant and never changing impermanence really sucks.  You never really know what’s coming next.”

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The Death Panel is Coming!

An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton

FYI:  Wally is still insisting that he is ready for Hillary, but the real question: Is Hillary ready for him and those like him?

Dear Hillary,

I’m a lifelong Democrat, but of late, have been feeling betrayed by my leaders.   The hope and change I was looking for recently got snuffed out with the passage of a budget (CRominbus) through both houses of congress.  And it looks like the high testosterone folks on Wall Street and the financial services sector won again.  Granted, it cost them a lot of money but this upfront investment is what will make their long con work, and the fact that, unless we get a congress or administration both willing and able to stop to it, this is the kind of con that can go on until the end of time.   And although able, neither a Democratic Senate nor President were willing to stop it.

They did, however, express sincere distress and dismay over their decision to do nothing.

Despite it all, I’m pretty happy with what President Obama has accomplished, so far, during his time in office.  Being African-American and all, I really appreciate what he and the Attorney General have done as far as the killing of unarmed black men by police, civil rights, voter suppression and immigration are concerned.  And let’s not forget our recovering economy, unemployment, LGBT rights, a change in relations with Cuba and so much more.

On the other hand, Obama and other Democrats have allowed cuts in programs for the middle class and decreased pensions for workers, while cutting taxes for the top one percent and allowing speculators on Wall Street to continue making dangerous bets without fear of consequences.   If they win they keep all of their nearly tax free profits.  But if their gamble goes south, we cover Wall Street with our FDIC tax money.  Heads, Wall Street wins.  Tails, the rest of us loose.  This is one reason why folks on Wall Street always think of themselves as winners.  Wonder what they think of the rest of us?

And that, dear Hillary is the question.  What do you and your high end donors, think of the rest of us? 

Were you Madam President, would you have been in favor of that piece of crap, so full of special interest riders, the bill had to be edited in secret without anyone knowing its final contents.  What a victory for political transparency.  Would you have sat back and let that bill poison bill float through congress? 

And what about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)?  As I recall, Bill Clinton was total freak for free trade agreements.  Those free market commerce arrangements killed both American unions and jobs.  And instead of less financial regulation, consider holding the top one percent more accountable for what their greedy and destructive behavior wreaks upon the world.

Hillary, I am at a loss.  In so many ways I believe you’d make a great president.  More to the point, I truly believe in you.  You’ve got the experience and won’t make many of the mistakes Obama has made and continues to make.  It took Obama several years to realize how ruthless and deceptive his enemies really are.  Even now, he seems to have trouble believing what he sees.

Meanwhile, you’ll hit the ground running and already knowing how and whom to fight.  Better yet, you’ll be a quick study of foreign and security issues.  Question is, what are you going to do about the rip offs perpetrated by Wall Street, big banks and the continuation of economic inequality?

You, like Obama, seem very much tied to the culture of Wall Street and the financial sector.  And that is my main, if not only, reason to even think about a third party or look at alternative Democratic candidates.  Thus far, I would really like you to be my next president.  But if you’re strongly aligned with the Wall Street culture, then I need to start considering other options.  Where are you on economic inequality?

Please Madam Secretary, talk to us.   Tell us about your vision and let us know who you are.  We already know who Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are.  And now it’s your turn.

Sincerely,

Wally 

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