I truly detest Dancing With the Stars, otherwise known by the acronym DWTS. It involves dancers who otherwise would be unknown to the public at large, C- or even D-List celebrities and ersatz singers who act as if they're viable singing artists. The dancing, which was predicated on ballroom dance -- I actually took a class in this in college, of which the less that is said the better -- but oftentimes veers into the theatrical if not the downright tawdry, ranges from the surprisingly impressive to the abjectly awful.
This season the show trotted out the usual also-ran celebrities, very few of whom I could recognize. Knowing that there are emoluments that go along with being on the show, not to mention the opportunity to raise one's Q score, it's not surprising that these enterprising wannabes jump at the chance to be on the show. Certainly, some may actually like to dance, and others may just view it as an opportunity to meet a hot and randy dancer, but for me, if I were offered the chance to be on the show, I couldn't say No fast enough.
One of the invited celebrities -- and I do continue to use the term lightly -- was Sean Spicer, the former White House spokesman for President Donald Trump. Upon the announcement of his invitation, Tom Bergeron, the otherwise unflappable and excellent host of the dancing charade, said I'd hoped this would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations. Others on the Left, as is their wont, jumped with both feet, posting that Spicer lied for Hitler when he was the White House spokesman.
First of all, I'm not sure people are so spiteful that they would vote for Spicer -- who by any objective measure is not a hoofer -- simply to thumb their noses at Hollywood. We're not that petty. But once politics was hypocritically injected into this by Bergeron, and once Leftist lemmings piled on declaring that Spicer -- an American citizen with no known criminal convictions -- had no business being on that show simply because of his political stripe, it was on.
The hypocrisy in this is that DWTS had as a contestant Mark Cuban, an outspoken critic of the President about whom it has been discussed might run for the presidency. Bergeron made no comments critical of his invitation on the show. Yet when Spicer was invited, hell froze over.
So what happened next is what I refer to as the Sanjaya Effect. For those who don't recall, back in its first incarnation, American Idol one season had a singer named Sanjaya Malakar who was dreadful. For a full review of his experience, check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjaya_Malakar
Anyway, he was voted through continually and, controversially, despite his lack of singing chops. I don't recall actually why this happened, but I think it had to do with people being fed up with the obvious popularity contest the show had become. Despite being shredded by the judges, fans continued to save him from elimination.
That's what's happening with Spicer. Even though he is clearly not a dancer and not one of the best celebrity dancers invited on the show, he's now in the final six or seven remaining. My wife, along with countless other conservative women, are maxxing out their vote totals to keep Spicer in, just to stick it to the Left. Even President Trump has tweeted to his supporters to vote for Spicer.
In the end, it matters not who wins this goofy competition. It really shouldn't matter who's on the show, either. When Spicer was invited, did Bergeron really think Spicer was going to use the show as a platform to tout the President? There have been other contestants on the show with questionable backgrounds, but nothing was said about keeping them off the show. Instead, when someone whose politics the Left doesn't like is put in the public's eye, the Left loses its collective mind.
This is yet again a reminder of the Left's mantra: Do as we say, not as we do.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Music
Because of my ungodly commute, I signed up for Sirius XM radio which gives me a greater variety to listen to than traditional FM/AM radio. I can listen to sports talk radio -- which, in this area, is almost non-existent -- music from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, talk radio...it's just easier to sit in rush hour traffic and have my attention diverted, pleasantly.
While I've been entertained, certain thoughts about music have occurred to me, so I'm going to list them here:
-- It's weird to hear the sweet, soft, lilting tones of Olivia Newton-John on the 70's channel and then turn the dial to the 80's channel and hear her trying to sex up her image.
-- Sirius XM radio is a great way to rediscover one-hit wonders.
-- Hands down, the most underrated band has to be Little River Band.
-- How is Three Dog Night not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
-- How is Janet Jackson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
-- Listening to Sirius XM is a great way to rediscover one-hit wonders. I keep a list of songs that I want to put on my Ipod by listening to the radio.
-- As someone who grew up in the 80's, it's weird to have Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, J.J. Walker and Mark Goodman spinning records still. But is this all they know how to do?
-- I hear The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald enough that by the time I die I may actually know the lyrics to the song. What the heck: I've even been to Whitefish Point, which is nearby where the ship went down.
-- I don't care how goofy, or the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy included the song in the movie: Any time Brandy by Looking Glass comes on, I sing.
-- Speaking of singing, The Eagles Take It Easy is perhaps their most fun song. I only know the lyrics though the second verse, where Glenn Frey is standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Perhaps someday I'll see the statue of him they put up there. Whenever that song comes on the radio, I belt it out until the verse about Winslow, Arizona.
-- I do miss Glenn Frey.
-- It occurred to me just how many singers are divas. The thought amused me, because in most cases, these people were given gifts by God that -- yes -- they worked hard to maximize. But to be such an unpleasant person around people and act as if one is God's gift to creation...I'm speaking to you, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Beyonce...
-- I've gained an appreciation for Roxette and the Cranberries.
-- Now that we all know that Barry Manilow is gay, it puts a spin on the song Mandy, doesn't it? For those slow on the uptake, ever hear of Mandy Patinkin?
-- I've asked Karen several times who's in which band, but I'll never keep straight who was in The Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and and *NSYNC.
-- I miss Dan Fogelberg and Jim Croce.
-- For my money, The Spinners are the best Motown group to ever make it big. The songs they recorded -- Rubberband Man, September, And Then Came You, Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, I'll Be Around, Games People Play, Working My Way Back To You -- are classic. Other groups may have had bigger hits, but no group had better music.
-- I do wish there was a channel devoted to Irish punk so I could listen to Flogging Molly.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
While I've been entertained, certain thoughts about music have occurred to me, so I'm going to list them here:
-- It's weird to hear the sweet, soft, lilting tones of Olivia Newton-John on the 70's channel and then turn the dial to the 80's channel and hear her trying to sex up her image.
-- Sirius XM radio is a great way to rediscover one-hit wonders.
-- Hands down, the most underrated band has to be Little River Band.
-- How is Three Dog Night not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
-- How is Janet Jackson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
-- Listening to Sirius XM is a great way to rediscover one-hit wonders. I keep a list of songs that I want to put on my Ipod by listening to the radio.
-- As someone who grew up in the 80's, it's weird to have Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, J.J. Walker and Mark Goodman spinning records still. But is this all they know how to do?
-- I hear The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald enough that by the time I die I may actually know the lyrics to the song. What the heck: I've even been to Whitefish Point, which is nearby where the ship went down.
-- I don't care how goofy, or the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy included the song in the movie: Any time Brandy by Looking Glass comes on, I sing.
-- Speaking of singing, The Eagles Take It Easy is perhaps their most fun song. I only know the lyrics though the second verse, where Glenn Frey is standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Perhaps someday I'll see the statue of him they put up there. Whenever that song comes on the radio, I belt it out until the verse about Winslow, Arizona.
-- I do miss Glenn Frey.
-- It occurred to me just how many singers are divas. The thought amused me, because in most cases, these people were given gifts by God that -- yes -- they worked hard to maximize. But to be such an unpleasant person around people and act as if one is God's gift to creation...I'm speaking to you, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Beyonce...
-- I've gained an appreciation for Roxette and the Cranberries.
-- Now that we all know that Barry Manilow is gay, it puts a spin on the song Mandy, doesn't it? For those slow on the uptake, ever hear of Mandy Patinkin?
-- I've asked Karen several times who's in which band, but I'll never keep straight who was in The Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and and *NSYNC.
-- I miss Dan Fogelberg and Jim Croce.
-- For my money, The Spinners are the best Motown group to ever make it big. The songs they recorded -- Rubberband Man, September, And Then Came You, Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, I'll Be Around, Games People Play, Working My Way Back To You -- are classic. Other groups may have had bigger hits, but no group had better music.
-- I do wish there was a channel devoted to Irish punk so I could listen to Flogging Molly.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Democratic Circus
Well, no matter how hard we try, they keep reeling us back in. Yes, we're in the run-up to the 2020 general election, and the Democrats have had their first in a series of debates that are supposed to winnow down the football-team sized field to a more manageable few. How that's going to work with all the jesters running for election being asked questions by pundits who are horribly biased is unclear. Regardless, the unintentional comedic value is accordingly very high.
Already, Eric Swalwell, the erstwhile congressman from California by way of Iowa who looks and acts more like a candidate for a My Three Sons reboot than a serious presidential contender has dropped out. His only contribution, contrary to what he asserts about raising the collective consciousness about gun control, is getting the death stare from South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg when he asked him why he didn't fire the police chief.
Kamala Harris attacked Joe Biden on his race record, Bernie Sanders disappeared and someone named Marianne Williamson had a Kumbaya moment.
Apparently, CNN, who is televising the next debate, in its infinite lack of wisdom, will allow the electorate to vote on who should debate whom at the next installment of this farce. Intent on turning this mess into a free-for-all, noted opinionator Don Lemon will be part of the moderating crew. Let the pandering commence.
The New York Post, I think it was, published a front page with a photo of one of the first two rounds of candidates with their hands raised (in answer to the question as to who was willing to extend health care to illegals) with the headline Who Wants to Lose to Trump? I'm not totally on board with the notion that the President will win the next election in a runaway, given how voter fraud is a staple in the Democratic playbook, but it's hard to imagine what right-thinking people would elect one of these kooks who want to turn this into Venezuela North when the economy is doing gangbusters.
As for immigration, the same people who refused to fund border protection because there was no crisis have now done an about face and are crying to the heavens that there is a crisis. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes, the seemingly clueless attention whore who will say anything as long as it fits with her agenda regardless of accuracy, descried that aliens were being forced to drink out of toilets, unaware of the set up that had sinks attached behind and well above the toilets themselves. Almost every presidential candidate thinks those aliens who violate our immigration laws should not face prosecution and deportation, that they should be given free health care (which Americans, under Obamacare, could be fined for not having) and free educations. Ironically, the chief proponent of this largesse, Bernie Sanders, has largely been marginalized, barely rating after the initial debate.
It's hard to imagine which of these fools will give the President a run for his money in the general election. Those in the know think it will be Kamala Harris. On demographics alone, she well could be. Her problem is skeletons in the closet. Bernie's simply too nuts, Elizabeth Warren is too scattered and Uncle Joe is both too creepy, too old and too white. It's possible, I suppose, for one of the also-rans to make a move. Politics is a weird game, and depending on future events, it's possible for one of them to come out of the woodwork. But with their base split between radicals and apologists, with people leaving the party for a President who, admittedly, can be his own worst enemy at times, and with a thriving economy, it's hard to imagine one of them taking the White House away.
Better that they focus on 2024 when the race will be wide open.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Already, Eric Swalwell, the erstwhile congressman from California by way of Iowa who looks and acts more like a candidate for a My Three Sons reboot than a serious presidential contender has dropped out. His only contribution, contrary to what he asserts about raising the collective consciousness about gun control, is getting the death stare from South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg when he asked him why he didn't fire the police chief.
Kamala Harris attacked Joe Biden on his race record, Bernie Sanders disappeared and someone named Marianne Williamson had a Kumbaya moment.
Apparently, CNN, who is televising the next debate, in its infinite lack of wisdom, will allow the electorate to vote on who should debate whom at the next installment of this farce. Intent on turning this mess into a free-for-all, noted opinionator Don Lemon will be part of the moderating crew. Let the pandering commence.
The New York Post, I think it was, published a front page with a photo of one of the first two rounds of candidates with their hands raised (in answer to the question as to who was willing to extend health care to illegals) with the headline Who Wants to Lose to Trump? I'm not totally on board with the notion that the President will win the next election in a runaway, given how voter fraud is a staple in the Democratic playbook, but it's hard to imagine what right-thinking people would elect one of these kooks who want to turn this into Venezuela North when the economy is doing gangbusters.
As for immigration, the same people who refused to fund border protection because there was no crisis have now done an about face and are crying to the heavens that there is a crisis. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes, the seemingly clueless attention whore who will say anything as long as it fits with her agenda regardless of accuracy, descried that aliens were being forced to drink out of toilets, unaware of the set up that had sinks attached behind and well above the toilets themselves. Almost every presidential candidate thinks those aliens who violate our immigration laws should not face prosecution and deportation, that they should be given free health care (which Americans, under Obamacare, could be fined for not having) and free educations. Ironically, the chief proponent of this largesse, Bernie Sanders, has largely been marginalized, barely rating after the initial debate.
It's hard to imagine which of these fools will give the President a run for his money in the general election. Those in the know think it will be Kamala Harris. On demographics alone, she well could be. Her problem is skeletons in the closet. Bernie's simply too nuts, Elizabeth Warren is too scattered and Uncle Joe is both too creepy, too old and too white. It's possible, I suppose, for one of the also-rans to make a move. Politics is a weird game, and depending on future events, it's possible for one of them to come out of the woodwork. But with their base split between radicals and apologists, with people leaving the party for a President who, admittedly, can be his own worst enemy at times, and with a thriving economy, it's hard to imagine one of them taking the White House away.
Better that they focus on 2024 when the race will be wide open.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Monday, July 8, 2019
Summer Randomness
Right before the holiday, here are some random thoughts:
-- There are those weird pop-up ads that sites have -- espn.com, youtube.com, etc. -- that prevent one from seeing the intended target before having to watch the ads. Has anyone, ever, benefitted from one of those ads? I never watch 'em.
-- The Little River Band is one of the all-time, most underrated, bands in the history of pop music.
-- It never ceases to amaze me how some people drive. Especially those who own pick-up trucks. They'll weave in and out of lanes just to get one car length ahead of someone, putting everyone at risk simply so they can be farther up the line.
-- On the same topic, merging into traffic is indicative of how people walk through doorways.
-- Getting home projects done is refreshing. Doing them isn't always.
-- I don't mind getting all sweaty and grungy provided I'm in the yard doing yardwork. But put me in a suit and ask me to look presentable in ninety degree weather is another matter altogether.
-- It is amazing how indifferent kids who work in fast food joints have become. Not only that, they've become belligerent. I never worked in that industry, but I don't remember people being this indifferent or belligerent.
-- In any public building, elevators have a document in them that tells people the last time the elevator was inspected and the name of the inspector. Back in Chicago, there used to be an inspector whose last name was Folfas. Say it slowly and you'll understand.
-- Summertime on television is like the doldrums on the open sea. Every once in awhile, a decent show comes on, but usually, it's just drek.
-- Every time I turn around Elizabeth Hurley STUNS in a bikini. Seriously? Isn't she just pretty much the same person with a different bikini on?
-- I absolutely love the sound of trains passing through.
-- Movies this summer, so far, are underwhelming. Over the past weekend, with the heat being what it was, Karen and I thought about going to the movies to get out of the heat. When we checked out the offerings, we decided to stay home.
-- Speaking of movies, I've gotten to the point that if certain stars who are rudely vocal of their opposition to our President and those who support him are in it, I won't go to the theater. It's that simple. And since they challenge us by telling us they don't care if we see their movie, I'll call their bluff.
-- When Karen and I go to Ohio and Kentucky in a couple of weeks, we'll have to stock up on Yuengling beer.
-- Filling out reviews on Yelp and tripadvisor.com is both cathartic and fun. I'm not sure how the establishments I rated feel.
-- Planking, eating detergent pods, now licking ice cream and putting it back in the grocery store freezer. What happened to just TP'ing someone's house?
-- Amy Poehler is funny about twenty percent of the time. The other eighty percent is really difficult to watch. The twenty percent of the time she's funny is when she's with Tina Fey. That should say something.
-- Speaking of unfunny...will someone please pull the plug on the Flo commercials for Progressive. They're not novel, they're not funny, but they are annoying. Especially since they got that weird guy sidekick on there.
-- What does one say when he reads a book by one of his favorite personalities and the book is otherwise enjoyable but the word nonplussed is used incorrectly?
-- So a rap festival in Detroit was going to charge white attendess $10 more than people of color...and not one organizer saw a problem with that?
-- It's always a hoot to watch a traffic reporter be thrown into the position and hear her tell us that it will be slow from here to there without mentioning the road.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
-- There are those weird pop-up ads that sites have -- espn.com, youtube.com, etc. -- that prevent one from seeing the intended target before having to watch the ads. Has anyone, ever, benefitted from one of those ads? I never watch 'em.
-- The Little River Band is one of the all-time, most underrated, bands in the history of pop music.
-- It never ceases to amaze me how some people drive. Especially those who own pick-up trucks. They'll weave in and out of lanes just to get one car length ahead of someone, putting everyone at risk simply so they can be farther up the line.
-- On the same topic, merging into traffic is indicative of how people walk through doorways.
-- Getting home projects done is refreshing. Doing them isn't always.
-- I don't mind getting all sweaty and grungy provided I'm in the yard doing yardwork. But put me in a suit and ask me to look presentable in ninety degree weather is another matter altogether.
-- It is amazing how indifferent kids who work in fast food joints have become. Not only that, they've become belligerent. I never worked in that industry, but I don't remember people being this indifferent or belligerent.
-- In any public building, elevators have a document in them that tells people the last time the elevator was inspected and the name of the inspector. Back in Chicago, there used to be an inspector whose last name was Folfas. Say it slowly and you'll understand.
-- Summertime on television is like the doldrums on the open sea. Every once in awhile, a decent show comes on, but usually, it's just drek.
-- Every time I turn around Elizabeth Hurley STUNS in a bikini. Seriously? Isn't she just pretty much the same person with a different bikini on?
-- I absolutely love the sound of trains passing through.
-- Movies this summer, so far, are underwhelming. Over the past weekend, with the heat being what it was, Karen and I thought about going to the movies to get out of the heat. When we checked out the offerings, we decided to stay home.
-- Speaking of movies, I've gotten to the point that if certain stars who are rudely vocal of their opposition to our President and those who support him are in it, I won't go to the theater. It's that simple. And since they challenge us by telling us they don't care if we see their movie, I'll call their bluff.
-- When Karen and I go to Ohio and Kentucky in a couple of weeks, we'll have to stock up on Yuengling beer.
-- Filling out reviews on Yelp and tripadvisor.com is both cathartic and fun. I'm not sure how the establishments I rated feel.
-- Planking, eating detergent pods, now licking ice cream and putting it back in the grocery store freezer. What happened to just TP'ing someone's house?
-- Amy Poehler is funny about twenty percent of the time. The other eighty percent is really difficult to watch. The twenty percent of the time she's funny is when she's with Tina Fey. That should say something.
-- Speaking of unfunny...will someone please pull the plug on the Flo commercials for Progressive. They're not novel, they're not funny, but they are annoying. Especially since they got that weird guy sidekick on there.
-- What does one say when he reads a book by one of his favorite personalities and the book is otherwise enjoyable but the word nonplussed is used incorrectly?
-- So a rap festival in Detroit was going to charge white attendess $10 more than people of color...and not one organizer saw a problem with that?
-- It's always a hoot to watch a traffic reporter be thrown into the position and hear her tell us that it will be slow from here to there without mentioning the road.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Thursday, June 13, 2019
The Hypocrisy of Abortion
About a month ago Karen and I saw the movie Un-Planned, the true story of Abby Johnson's conversion for employee at Planned Parenthood to pro-life activist. I didn't need the movie to convert me; I'm an avowed, long time pro life person. I don't need to get into particulars here, but I have plenty of personal reasons, apart from my faith, that compel me to what I believe is the only sensible and correct decision: Abortion is wrong.
Just getting publicity out about the movie was a Herculean task. Being the Luddite that I am, I only understand conceptually how marketing is done through social media. I'm more aware of the ads that are run on radio and television. But I don't recall any ads being aired on radio and television, and apparently Twitter had an unexplained malfunction that suspended the movie's account just in time for the opening weekend of the movie. It was bad enough there was a virtual blackout on mainstream media sites -- perhaps there wasn't enough money in the budget for major ads -- and only a handful of theaters agreed to show the film. But then Twitter has a mysterious malfunction that suspended the account...when has this happened for a mainstream movie, say...Vice, or W? By the by, the theater at which we saw the film put it in the smallest theater in the building. Perhaps because of that, every show was a sellout.
What's irksome about this is that it's a transparent attempt to quash the movie and its agenda. Unlike other movies that push liberal agendas, anything that remotely espouses a contrary view is attacked, directly and indirectly, to silence it.
That this is being done surreptitiously contrasts with the overt attacks being made on campuses and, lately, in the streets. Putting aside for the moment the hyperbolic displays of menstrual blood smeared on props and vagina hats that are trotted out to support the notion of a woman's right to control her own birth control issues, i.e., right to an abortion, violence and intimidation is being used as well. Last week an irate undergrad attacked pro lifers at UNC and Brian Sims, a self-proclaimed defender of women's reproductive rights -- which is interesting because he's openly gay -- intimidated three teenaged girls and a middle-aged woman praying before a Planned Parenthood charnel house. They weren't protesting, they were praying. Sims even offered money for their identities so they could be doxxed, or publicly outed, so protesters could find them at home and at work. This is hardly the behavior of a United States congressman who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the country. He also happens to be a law school graduate.
There was a time when abortionists argued that viability was a key consideration as to when an abortion should be permitted. No more. Abortionists are now incensed that states are passing so-called heartbeat bills, which prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and are pushing for not only partial birth abortions, but also abortions shortly after birth. Apparently, a child isn't a child until an abortionist determines that it is. A more barbaric and depraved position is unimaginable. Yet, abortionists point the finger at pro lifers and declare that we are inhumane, are condemning women to carry their rapists' babies, carry children conceived by incest and force them into dangerous back-alley abortions. Somehow, the irony is lost on them. Merely declaring a child not to be human does not rob it of its humanity.
Another tack they're taking is trying to shame pro lifers by saying that a child born into bad circumstances is virtually the same as killing a baby in utero, so why should we be concerned about an abortion? First, this is the usual tactic: Take the most extreme, heart-rending examples -- rape, incest, deplorable circumstances -- to justify murdering an innocent baby. In which of those examples is the baby at fault? It's one thing to put a person like John Wayne Gacy to death. But an unborn child? Even if the child's father is a serial rapist, why should that child pay the ultimate price?
But second, these same people -- Hollywood celebrities, liberal politicians, and their ilk -- advocate on behalf of low income people, but what are they doing to lessen their lot? They automatically point to conservatives and blame them for the circumstances in which they find these people, but in truth the blame is shared equally at best. Yet, it's as if pro lifers only want to help the unborn children at the expense of children who are living in horrible conditions, which simply isn't true.
Another argument is that it's white men that are foisting pregnancies on women and taking away the right to an abortion. Although it's true that white men are pro lifers, it's also true that there are white male abortionists. But there are also women who are pro lifers, black and Latino pro lifers and people who, just because their conscience tells them abortion is wrong, fall on the side of life. It's a massive red herring to inject white male privilege into the equation when in fact opposition to abortion is a multi-hued and genderless.
The law itself is inconsistent when it comes to children in utero. If a pregnant woman is killed, the murderer can be charged with two homicides. If a child is in utero when someone dies, provision can be made for the child to inherit property. Yet, in the context of abortion and women's reproductive rights, these children aren't humans until they're born -- and chillingly, now, even after they're born in some states.
I come to this discussion with huge bias. Life, with some bad decisions that I made, left me childless. Perhaps my biggest regret in life is that I never had children. So I'd have to admit that I'm terribly biased in this discussion. Furthermore, in our family, we've had children born that were conceived as a result of rape and who have had birth defects, so the usual arguments trotted out by abortionists don't resonate with me. I do admit that abortion should be available when the life of the mother is in jeopardy or where it is medically certain that the child will be stillborn. But abortion on demand, as if this were the same as asking for the septic tank to be cleaned, is reprehensible to me.
Now my native state, Illinois, has passed what it purports to be an abortion law but what in reality is an infanticide law. It's disgusting. But in this PC/#MeToo world in which we live, any spin that can be put on something to make it more palatable and disguise the truth of the matter is acceptable, because so many people lack the ability to discern truth no matter how badly it's camouflaged.
I cry for and pray for all the souls that heartless, selfish, thoughtless people have aborted and ask that God has mercy on their souls.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Just getting publicity out about the movie was a Herculean task. Being the Luddite that I am, I only understand conceptually how marketing is done through social media. I'm more aware of the ads that are run on radio and television. But I don't recall any ads being aired on radio and television, and apparently Twitter had an unexplained malfunction that suspended the movie's account just in time for the opening weekend of the movie. It was bad enough there was a virtual blackout on mainstream media sites -- perhaps there wasn't enough money in the budget for major ads -- and only a handful of theaters agreed to show the film. But then Twitter has a mysterious malfunction that suspended the account...when has this happened for a mainstream movie, say...Vice, or W? By the by, the theater at which we saw the film put it in the smallest theater in the building. Perhaps because of that, every show was a sellout.
What's irksome about this is that it's a transparent attempt to quash the movie and its agenda. Unlike other movies that push liberal agendas, anything that remotely espouses a contrary view is attacked, directly and indirectly, to silence it.
That this is being done surreptitiously contrasts with the overt attacks being made on campuses and, lately, in the streets. Putting aside for the moment the hyperbolic displays of menstrual blood smeared on props and vagina hats that are trotted out to support the notion of a woman's right to control her own birth control issues, i.e., right to an abortion, violence and intimidation is being used as well. Last week an irate undergrad attacked pro lifers at UNC and Brian Sims, a self-proclaimed defender of women's reproductive rights -- which is interesting because he's openly gay -- intimidated three teenaged girls and a middle-aged woman praying before a Planned Parenthood charnel house. They weren't protesting, they were praying. Sims even offered money for their identities so they could be doxxed, or publicly outed, so protesters could find them at home and at work. This is hardly the behavior of a United States congressman who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the country. He also happens to be a law school graduate.
There was a time when abortionists argued that viability was a key consideration as to when an abortion should be permitted. No more. Abortionists are now incensed that states are passing so-called heartbeat bills, which prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and are pushing for not only partial birth abortions, but also abortions shortly after birth. Apparently, a child isn't a child until an abortionist determines that it is. A more barbaric and depraved position is unimaginable. Yet, abortionists point the finger at pro lifers and declare that we are inhumane, are condemning women to carry their rapists' babies, carry children conceived by incest and force them into dangerous back-alley abortions. Somehow, the irony is lost on them. Merely declaring a child not to be human does not rob it of its humanity.
Another tack they're taking is trying to shame pro lifers by saying that a child born into bad circumstances is virtually the same as killing a baby in utero, so why should we be concerned about an abortion? First, this is the usual tactic: Take the most extreme, heart-rending examples -- rape, incest, deplorable circumstances -- to justify murdering an innocent baby. In which of those examples is the baby at fault? It's one thing to put a person like John Wayne Gacy to death. But an unborn child? Even if the child's father is a serial rapist, why should that child pay the ultimate price?
But second, these same people -- Hollywood celebrities, liberal politicians, and their ilk -- advocate on behalf of low income people, but what are they doing to lessen their lot? They automatically point to conservatives and blame them for the circumstances in which they find these people, but in truth the blame is shared equally at best. Yet, it's as if pro lifers only want to help the unborn children at the expense of children who are living in horrible conditions, which simply isn't true.
Another argument is that it's white men that are foisting pregnancies on women and taking away the right to an abortion. Although it's true that white men are pro lifers, it's also true that there are white male abortionists. But there are also women who are pro lifers, black and Latino pro lifers and people who, just because their conscience tells them abortion is wrong, fall on the side of life. It's a massive red herring to inject white male privilege into the equation when in fact opposition to abortion is a multi-hued and genderless.
The law itself is inconsistent when it comes to children in utero. If a pregnant woman is killed, the murderer can be charged with two homicides. If a child is in utero when someone dies, provision can be made for the child to inherit property. Yet, in the context of abortion and women's reproductive rights, these children aren't humans until they're born -- and chillingly, now, even after they're born in some states.
I come to this discussion with huge bias. Life, with some bad decisions that I made, left me childless. Perhaps my biggest regret in life is that I never had children. So I'd have to admit that I'm terribly biased in this discussion. Furthermore, in our family, we've had children born that were conceived as a result of rape and who have had birth defects, so the usual arguments trotted out by abortionists don't resonate with me. I do admit that abortion should be available when the life of the mother is in jeopardy or where it is medically certain that the child will be stillborn. But abortion on demand, as if this were the same as asking for the septic tank to be cleaned, is reprehensible to me.
Now my native state, Illinois, has passed what it purports to be an abortion law but what in reality is an infanticide law. It's disgusting. But in this PC/#MeToo world in which we live, any spin that can be put on something to make it more palatable and disguise the truth of the matter is acceptable, because so many people lack the ability to discern truth no matter how badly it's camouflaged.
I cry for and pray for all the souls that heartless, selfish, thoughtless people have aborted and ask that God has mercy on their souls.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Friday, February 1, 2019
$15 an Hour For This??????
A couple of weeks ago, right before the coldest time of the year, to date, Karen wasn't feeling particularly well, so for about a week we ordered in instead of cooking at home. Because there are plenty of fast food restaurants around, it was supposedly easy to pick something up on the way home, quickly, and get in from the cold.
The first night I stopped at McDonald's. Karen wanted her simply hamburger and fries. There was a line, but it wasn't wildly long, so I didn't think I would be staying in the line for an eternity, which I was. The geniuses working at McDonald's, for whatever reason, didn't think it would be wise to move the car waiting for its food ahead so that they could free up the traffic jam that was developing in the drive-thru lanes, so we sat there for about ten to twelve minutes, engines running, waiting for what ironically is called fast food. To their credit, when we got close to the pick-up window, they apologized profusely for the wait, but it would have been more appropriate for them to apologize for their lack of intelligence.
While I was in the bottleneck at McDonald's, I noticed that there was no line at the Burger King next door. Karen likes frozen cokes, so I thought it would be nice to swing over there whenever my wait in hell ended at McDonald's to get her a frozen coke. So as soon as I was paroled, I swung into the Burger King lot, got in line, and order a frozen coke. There was only one vehicle -- a pick-up -- ahead of me. I thought to myself, Self, this should be quick. I should have known better. The same lack of reasoning skills affected the Burger King staff, because instead of waiving the pick-up forward to wait for his order, they let him sit there, blocking me. When they finally got him his order fifteen minutes later, it was a small order, considering the size of the bag they handed him. All in all, I wasted nearly forty minutes getting two comparatively small orders from local fast food joints.
The next night we decided to order take out from a local Mediterranean establishment that we frequent. We enjoy the food and have had pretty good success there. So Karen called ahead and I stopped in on my way home from work. I should have known there would be a problem when it took me about seven minutes to find a parking space. I drove around and around but it seemed no one was leaving the restaurant. So I parked in the next door restaurant's lot and walked over. My next hurdle was in discovering that the rewards program for the restaurant that we joined had an expiration date of three months. Of course, learning this was complicated by the fact that that night's manager had a thick Middle Eastern accent. Disgusted and tired, I simply deleted the rewards app from my phone and went home.
When Karen opened up the order -- which was supposed to be two deboned chicken breasts -- we were shocked to find what looked like chicken tenders instead. My Irish slowing warming to the occasion, I called the restaurant and got the manager on the phone to complain. When I explained the nature of my complaint I was given an explanation for the ages: The reason the breasts were so small was because they have begun using baby chickens -- his words -- because they're more tender. I was flabbergasted, but not enough to rein in my rudeness: Baby chickens, I thundered, were they in utero before you cooked them? Allegedly, we're going to get a free order on the house.
Stupidly undaunted, the next night I went to KFC to pick up a couple of their cheap $5 boxes. For mine, I ordered an extra breast. The line wasn't too bad, but when I got home, I discovered that my extra breast, for which I was duly charged, was not included in the meal. Perhaps unfairly, but because of the string of mishaps we'd experienced at the hands of the food industry over the course of three days, I lost it. I called the KFC, asked for the manager, and basically asked whether counting skills were necessary to be employed there. The best that can be said for my rant is that I didn't swear.
These incidents got me wondering how on God's green earth these people think they should have a minimum wage of $15 per hour. Minimal competence shouldn't be acknowledged by the presence of a pulse. I understand that the wages are low, but when I was a kid working for school money, minimum wage was less than $5 per hour. Now it hovers around $10 per hour.
I just wonder when it's going to be safe to stop again at one of these places for food.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
The first night I stopped at McDonald's. Karen wanted her simply hamburger and fries. There was a line, but it wasn't wildly long, so I didn't think I would be staying in the line for an eternity, which I was. The geniuses working at McDonald's, for whatever reason, didn't think it would be wise to move the car waiting for its food ahead so that they could free up the traffic jam that was developing in the drive-thru lanes, so we sat there for about ten to twelve minutes, engines running, waiting for what ironically is called fast food. To their credit, when we got close to the pick-up window, they apologized profusely for the wait, but it would have been more appropriate for them to apologize for their lack of intelligence.
While I was in the bottleneck at McDonald's, I noticed that there was no line at the Burger King next door. Karen likes frozen cokes, so I thought it would be nice to swing over there whenever my wait in hell ended at McDonald's to get her a frozen coke. So as soon as I was paroled, I swung into the Burger King lot, got in line, and order a frozen coke. There was only one vehicle -- a pick-up -- ahead of me. I thought to myself, Self, this should be quick. I should have known better. The same lack of reasoning skills affected the Burger King staff, because instead of waiving the pick-up forward to wait for his order, they let him sit there, blocking me. When they finally got him his order fifteen minutes later, it was a small order, considering the size of the bag they handed him. All in all, I wasted nearly forty minutes getting two comparatively small orders from local fast food joints.
The next night we decided to order take out from a local Mediterranean establishment that we frequent. We enjoy the food and have had pretty good success there. So Karen called ahead and I stopped in on my way home from work. I should have known there would be a problem when it took me about seven minutes to find a parking space. I drove around and around but it seemed no one was leaving the restaurant. So I parked in the next door restaurant's lot and walked over. My next hurdle was in discovering that the rewards program for the restaurant that we joined had an expiration date of three months. Of course, learning this was complicated by the fact that that night's manager had a thick Middle Eastern accent. Disgusted and tired, I simply deleted the rewards app from my phone and went home.
When Karen opened up the order -- which was supposed to be two deboned chicken breasts -- we were shocked to find what looked like chicken tenders instead. My Irish slowing warming to the occasion, I called the restaurant and got the manager on the phone to complain. When I explained the nature of my complaint I was given an explanation for the ages: The reason the breasts were so small was because they have begun using baby chickens -- his words -- because they're more tender. I was flabbergasted, but not enough to rein in my rudeness: Baby chickens, I thundered, were they in utero before you cooked them? Allegedly, we're going to get a free order on the house.
Stupidly undaunted, the next night I went to KFC to pick up a couple of their cheap $5 boxes. For mine, I ordered an extra breast. The line wasn't too bad, but when I got home, I discovered that my extra breast, for which I was duly charged, was not included in the meal. Perhaps unfairly, but because of the string of mishaps we'd experienced at the hands of the food industry over the course of three days, I lost it. I called the KFC, asked for the manager, and basically asked whether counting skills were necessary to be employed there. The best that can be said for my rant is that I didn't swear.
These incidents got me wondering how on God's green earth these people think they should have a minimum wage of $15 per hour. Minimal competence shouldn't be acknowledged by the presence of a pulse. I understand that the wages are low, but when I was a kid working for school money, minimum wage was less than $5 per hour. Now it hovers around $10 per hour.
I just wonder when it's going to be safe to stop again at one of these places for food.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The Left Unhinged
Well, the snowball is gaining steam as it rolls downhill. The only problem is there doesn't seem to be a resting place for it.
Since his election, President Trump has attracted more than his fair share of slings and arrows. Some of it comes with the territory. As president, he's a magnet for criticism -- some of it fair, some of it unfair. Every one of his predecessors was skewered to some degree while in office. The criticism largely ended after the man left the Oval Office, although recently, the Left has made a hobby out of beating up George W. Bush.
I doubt that President Trump will ever see the end of criticism, no matter how good his policies turn out to be for the country. He's the Left's whipping post, a figure to be tarred and feathered, drawn and quartered, for as long as the anger of the Left continues. It's gotten so bad that the Left is criticizing him for saying exactly the same thing that dozens of highly-visible Democrats have been saying, publicly and for the record, for years. But because the POTUS has the temerity to utter the same words, they are immoral.
Take, for example, the border wall issue that has led to the shutdown. President Trump, in a televised conversation with Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, told them that he would hold his ground on the border wall even if it meant a shutdown of the government. When negotiations resumed a fortnight into the shutdown, Pelosi told the president that she would not even consider funding for a wall, so the president walked out of the meeting. Schumer then told the public that the president had a tantrum at the meeting.
The odd thing about this is that both Schumer and Pelosi are on record against illegal immigration. While they're busy doling out billions of dollars in foreign aid, they refuse to give the president $5B for the wall. Meanwhile, illegal aliens continue to commit horrible crimes in this country, siphon off much needed services and welfare and do so while they're here illegally.
But Schumer and Pelosi are politicians. We've come to expect this from the likes of them.
Josh Charles in an actor. Josh Charles does not have any discernible formal education, but he believes himself to possess a monopoly on morality and political science. Recently, he declared that anyone who still supported President Trump could go fuck themselves. As for as social scientists go, this is pretty lame. Perhaps thinking he was improving his prescription, he advocated that Vice President Mike Pence also be muzzled. In so doing, he referred to both the president and the vice-president as motherfuckers.
Perhaps he was taking a cue from newly minted Rashida Tlaib, the congresswoman from Michigan who began her tenure with a flourish, suggesting that one of her first jobs on the Hill was to impeach that motherfucker (the president). That is is one way to announce one's presence with authority. It's also a way to ingratiate oneself with the base and alienate at least half, if not more, of the population. It also paints the person uttering the declaration as classless, disrespectful and unhinged.
Not to be outdone, Ron Perlman, perfectly typecast as the Beast in the television version of Beauty and the Beast, likened the Republican party to the Ku Klux Klan. Buoyed by a master of arts degree in theater, which qualifies him as a social scientist superior to Josh Charles, Perlman decided to condemn other Republicans who in turn had condemned congressman Steven King for his apparent support for white supremacy. Turning logic on its head, then, Perlman criticized people for criticizing someone for his support of white supremacy because they had remained silent until his remarks were made public. To take this to its logical end, unless one is clairvoyant and can divine things hidden ahead of time, no amount of criticism will shield someone when he doesn't act according to the dictates of the coastal elites.
Some might say the next anecdote doesn't reflect an unhinged state of mind, but if not, what is it? Leftist lawmakers traveled to Hawaii and Puerto Rico during the shutdown to be feted by lobbyists while thousands of federal employees went unpaid due to the shutdown. Those visiting Puerto Rico were also treated to a performance of Hamilton. If in fact this were only the President's fault, wouldn't the prudent thing to do be trying to get the government back on its feet so these people can be paid? At a minimum, being in tropical locales with all expenses paid is not a good visual. But for the Left, protected as it is by the MSM, this is not a concern.
Speaking of the MSM, Jim Acosta, this century's version of Gunga Dan Rather, tried to poke holes in the President's story about there being a crisis on the border. Instead of accomplishing that, he managed to set himself up to be the butt of a thousand memes portraying himself as clueless. Even so, he may have been outdone by the rest of his brothers and sisters in ink and celluloid, who have shrieked at the news that President Trump paid, out of his own pocket, for junk food for the visiting Clemson Tiger national championship football team, at the the White House. The move was necessitated by the shutdown, which has White House staff furloughed. No matter, this was a travesty, an insult of the highest order. How dare the president pay out of his own pocket for food that didn't meet the coastal elite's standards for for visiting guests!
The only problem is: The football players loved it.
So in this latest installment of the Left's foibles, several things emerge: The coastal elites ignore any acknowledgement of the double standard or hypocrisy. That Democratic lawmakers are frolicking in the sand while federal employees are going without pay is meaningless to them. That the Democratic leadership is at least partly to blame for the shutdown is equally unimportant.
When actors started to believe that their commentary on politics was important to the national discourse escapes me. Sure, they're entitled to their opinion, but why they think their opinion is any more valid than the man in the street's mystifies me. What's more, why they feel that invective and profanity is the way to drive home a point -- especially since they use words as part of their living -- is equally mystifying.
As for Tlaib, I'm not surprised. I find her to be nothing more than a Trojan horse for the attempted subversion of our society. The citizens of her district ought to be ashamed of themselves.
The more this hysteria progresses the more I wonder whether we're truly headed for civil war as some surmise. If that's the case, pass the ammo and keep your powder dry. The good news is the Right has a lot more firearms, ammunition and know-how than the left.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Since his election, President Trump has attracted more than his fair share of slings and arrows. Some of it comes with the territory. As president, he's a magnet for criticism -- some of it fair, some of it unfair. Every one of his predecessors was skewered to some degree while in office. The criticism largely ended after the man left the Oval Office, although recently, the Left has made a hobby out of beating up George W. Bush.
I doubt that President Trump will ever see the end of criticism, no matter how good his policies turn out to be for the country. He's the Left's whipping post, a figure to be tarred and feathered, drawn and quartered, for as long as the anger of the Left continues. It's gotten so bad that the Left is criticizing him for saying exactly the same thing that dozens of highly-visible Democrats have been saying, publicly and for the record, for years. But because the POTUS has the temerity to utter the same words, they are immoral.
Take, for example, the border wall issue that has led to the shutdown. President Trump, in a televised conversation with Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, told them that he would hold his ground on the border wall even if it meant a shutdown of the government. When negotiations resumed a fortnight into the shutdown, Pelosi told the president that she would not even consider funding for a wall, so the president walked out of the meeting. Schumer then told the public that the president had a tantrum at the meeting.
The odd thing about this is that both Schumer and Pelosi are on record against illegal immigration. While they're busy doling out billions of dollars in foreign aid, they refuse to give the president $5B for the wall. Meanwhile, illegal aliens continue to commit horrible crimes in this country, siphon off much needed services and welfare and do so while they're here illegally.
But Schumer and Pelosi are politicians. We've come to expect this from the likes of them.
Josh Charles in an actor. Josh Charles does not have any discernible formal education, but he believes himself to possess a monopoly on morality and political science. Recently, he declared that anyone who still supported President Trump could go fuck themselves. As for as social scientists go, this is pretty lame. Perhaps thinking he was improving his prescription, he advocated that Vice President Mike Pence also be muzzled. In so doing, he referred to both the president and the vice-president as motherfuckers.
Perhaps he was taking a cue from newly minted Rashida Tlaib, the congresswoman from Michigan who began her tenure with a flourish, suggesting that one of her first jobs on the Hill was to impeach that motherfucker (the president). That is is one way to announce one's presence with authority. It's also a way to ingratiate oneself with the base and alienate at least half, if not more, of the population. It also paints the person uttering the declaration as classless, disrespectful and unhinged.
Not to be outdone, Ron Perlman, perfectly typecast as the Beast in the television version of Beauty and the Beast, likened the Republican party to the Ku Klux Klan. Buoyed by a master of arts degree in theater, which qualifies him as a social scientist superior to Josh Charles, Perlman decided to condemn other Republicans who in turn had condemned congressman Steven King for his apparent support for white supremacy. Turning logic on its head, then, Perlman criticized people for criticizing someone for his support of white supremacy because they had remained silent until his remarks were made public. To take this to its logical end, unless one is clairvoyant and can divine things hidden ahead of time, no amount of criticism will shield someone when he doesn't act according to the dictates of the coastal elites.
Some might say the next anecdote doesn't reflect an unhinged state of mind, but if not, what is it? Leftist lawmakers traveled to Hawaii and Puerto Rico during the shutdown to be feted by lobbyists while thousands of federal employees went unpaid due to the shutdown. Those visiting Puerto Rico were also treated to a performance of Hamilton. If in fact this were only the President's fault, wouldn't the prudent thing to do be trying to get the government back on its feet so these people can be paid? At a minimum, being in tropical locales with all expenses paid is not a good visual. But for the Left, protected as it is by the MSM, this is not a concern.
Speaking of the MSM, Jim Acosta, this century's version of Gunga Dan Rather, tried to poke holes in the President's story about there being a crisis on the border. Instead of accomplishing that, he managed to set himself up to be the butt of a thousand memes portraying himself as clueless. Even so, he may have been outdone by the rest of his brothers and sisters in ink and celluloid, who have shrieked at the news that President Trump paid, out of his own pocket, for junk food for the visiting Clemson Tiger national championship football team, at the the White House. The move was necessitated by the shutdown, which has White House staff furloughed. No matter, this was a travesty, an insult of the highest order. How dare the president pay out of his own pocket for food that didn't meet the coastal elite's standards for for visiting guests!
The only problem is: The football players loved it.
So in this latest installment of the Left's foibles, several things emerge: The coastal elites ignore any acknowledgement of the double standard or hypocrisy. That Democratic lawmakers are frolicking in the sand while federal employees are going without pay is meaningless to them. That the Democratic leadership is at least partly to blame for the shutdown is equally unimportant.
When actors started to believe that their commentary on politics was important to the national discourse escapes me. Sure, they're entitled to their opinion, but why they think their opinion is any more valid than the man in the street's mystifies me. What's more, why they feel that invective and profanity is the way to drive home a point -- especially since they use words as part of their living -- is equally mystifying.
As for Tlaib, I'm not surprised. I find her to be nothing more than a Trojan horse for the attempted subversion of our society. The citizens of her district ought to be ashamed of themselves.
The more this hysteria progresses the more I wonder whether we're truly headed for civil war as some surmise. If that's the case, pass the ammo and keep your powder dry. The good news is the Right has a lot more firearms, ammunition and know-how than the left.
(c) 2019 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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