Let the Games Begin

 With the release of the so-called annex of the Durham report, including those documents found suspiciously in burn bags, Washington D.C. just became hotter than an active volcano.  No wonder the likes of Cankles, Obama, Comey and their minions are curiously quiet these days.

It may be that they know better than to talk.  It may be because they're unsure of what their useful idiots and co-conspirators the MSM would do were they to talk with them.  Or it may be because they're working with high-priced attorneys planning their defense strategy.

I doubt any of them plan to leave the country any time soon.

Oftentimes we measure scandals against the infamous Watergate burglary.  Without any chance of sounding hyperbolic, if these allegations are proven to be true, Watergate will look like child's play by comparison.

A sitting president, anxious to get his former challenger elected, allows the intelligence community to float a story that is known to be false -- not only false, but fabricated by the person who the sitting POTUS is trying to help replace him -- to a willing MSM to derail the opposition candidate's campaign.  When that fails, the loser continues to peddle the story with the assistance of the co-opted MSM -- one of whose mastheads reads Democracy Dies in Darkness, ironically -- and members of the intelligence community who declare that what is known to be the elected President's son's laptop is instead a Russian construct.  Such chaos is sown that the newly elected President is hardly able to govern.

Breaking into the Democratic Party's office is somehow not nearly as egregious.

As I said, right now the main culprits are pretty quiet.  The MSM, not surprisingly, is not covering the story.  A grand jury was just empaneled to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to move against any of the unnamed parties.  If and when charges are brought, all hell is going to break loose.

Comey should certainly be indicted on a number of different charges, as should Cankles.  Neither of them can claim immunity for any of their actions.  If anyone needs a refresher of what these miscreants did, a very thorough recitation can be found in Gregg Jarrett's book Witch Hunt:  The Plot to Destroy Trump and Undo His Election.  It's dense but it explains everything.

The interesting defendant would be Obama.  Given the SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity, would his actions be protected?  Certainly, there would be court challenges.  How the SCOTUS would rule is anyone's guess; all we can know for certain is that he already has three votes to acquit.

Regardless, this mess will go on for years.  It will further drive a wedge between the parties and embitter millions of voters on both sides.

And all for what?

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

Word Confusion

 In my profession, words matter.  I've always appreciated a clever turn of phrase, or a witty rejoinder or a pithy remark.  By no means do I consider myself a wordsmith, but as a spectator of language, of sorts, I'm unnecessarily critical of the misuse and abuse that goes on with the English language.  I can't help it:  I hear something that's amiss and it grates.  I have no right to be so critical; as I've said, I'm no wordsmith.  But I appreciate when the language is used beautifully, so I'm critical when it's misused.  

Every day, someone in the media or in entertainment misspeaks and says something to butcher the English language.  Here are but a few of the ones that irk me.

When singing the national anthem, the word perilous has various pronunciations.  Forget about the extraneous yodeling -- bothersome in and of itself -- but the word perilous can be pronounce as PAIR uh lis, as opposed to PAIR i lus.  Focus, people, focus.

Sad or tragic events are referred to as heart-wrenching.  Hearts are rent, not wrenched.  One wrenches a gut but rends a heart:  Heart-rending and gut-wrenching are the expressions.

For those wishing to sound sophisticated, from whence is uttered when someone wants to say from where.  The only trouble with this pseudo-sophistication is that whence already means from where, making from whence from from where.  It's a bit redundant.

On the mindless romantic shows (Love is Blind, The Bachelor, etc.) people speak of their journeys, their chemistry and their connections.  These have been beaten to death so much they're glue now.  Find better words.

In a similar vein, every year there seems to be a word previously in the shadows that becomes fashionable.  A few years back the word icon and its adjectival form iconic were in vogue.  They have been so overused that something or someone that is highly visible or successful is now an icon or iconic.  If that's the case, everything is so iconic that nothing is iconic any longer.  Recently, the word kinetic has gained traction.  I fear for its overuse.

The word none is abused daily.  None comes from no one.  That means it's singular, not plural.  Nevertheless, it's almost always used as a plural:  There are none in here...

...Similarly, there is and there are have morphed into there is.  There's at least fifty ways to do that....  We can do better.

In church, whenever a layman leads a prayer, the word just is overused.  For example:  Lord, we are just so happy to praise You and just ask that you protect us and guide us as we just try to honor You and live the life You want us to lead.  We're simply sinners who are just trying to live our lives according to Your dictates.  We just want to love You and honor You as you deserve....  Humbly could substitute for just a couple of times...just to mix it up.

This reminds me one time where I prepared a client for a deposition.  I advised the client that in the event he couldn't remember something exactly he should qualify it by saying as far as I recall, if I remember correctly, I'm not sure but, approximately, etc., but to alternate which phrase he was using.  In the deposition the client got so nervous that he got so nervous that he used approximately every time he tried to qualify an answer.  It didn't sound like he was programmed at all....

As a Spanish-speaker, it irks me when someone wants to sound sophisticated and throw a Spanish word into a speech.  I should be happy.  But in the current climate where bad men from foreign lands have invaded our country, talking heads like to talk about bad hombres, but mispronounce hombre as hambre.  So much for sophistication:  hambre means hunger, not man.

Who v. Whom.  The endless debate from people who don't know the difference.  They misuse whom to sound sophisticated.  Ugh.

Likewise, the use of you and I when it should be you and me is grating.  I is a subject pronoun; Me is a prepositional pronoun.  If the usage is uncertain, take away the you and and see how it sounds.

We all get tongue-tied, trip over our words, have senior moments.  But it's easy to discern when someone is simply making a mistake versus not knowing the correct usage in the first place.

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

Medicine v. the Law

 I'm an attorney.  I enjoy being an attorney on most days.  This doesn't mean that I'm enamored of  all coworkers who have law licenses.  Many of my brethren are cretins at best and snakes at worst.  There's a reason we have disbarment proceedings.  Still, for every bad attorney there are a hundred -- if not hundreds -- of fine, ethical practioners whom I proudly view as correligionists.

The same, I assume, holds true for medical doctors.  Our primary physician is a lovely man.  I've had many a good doctor treat me and bring me back from the brink of death...or at least guide me back to the path of healthiness.  I can't really complain too much about the care I've received from the medical profession.  

But when it comes to communication, the medical profession could learn a thing or two from us attorneys.

Back in November I was diagnosed first with atrial fibrillation, then with heart failure including a blood clot in the base of my heart.  Had the clot broken loose and traveled to my brain, I could have had a stroke -- and died.  Thankfully -- obviously -- that didn't happen.  But not because of the transparent communication involving the medical community.

I was originally scheduled for some test at the beginning of November before any of this was known.  Unfortunately, when I showed up on November 12 for the scheduled procedure, I was told it had been postponed to a later date and that I had been called regarding the postponement the weekend before.  But when I checked my phone messages, there was nary a call from the hospital  The reason for the delay was an anticipated work stoppage, which never occurred.

Then I had to have a nuclear stress test of the heart.  Because I had to be careful with my court schedule, I inquired as to how long the test would be.  I was told that it would only take an hour and a half; because it was scheduled for first thing in the morning, I would be able to attend the Zoom court hearing after the procedure ended.  But when I came in for the procedure and confirmed the timing of the procedure, I was told that the hour and a half was only the first half of the procedure, that to complete it would take another hour and a half.  Fortunately, I was able to come back the next day to complete the procedure.

Then there was the initial meeting with the cardiologist.  I was told to be there at 7.30 for an 8a consultation.  At 8.20a the cardiologist sauntered in.  When I told him I had to leave by 8.45a to make it back to my office in time for a 10a hearing, he said, "But this consultation lasts an hour!"  I left promptly at 8.45a leaving Karen to finish the consultation.

I was then scheduled for a heart catheterization in mid-February.  I was to be there over the weekend, including President's Day, to minimize time off from work.  I waited until 5p on Saturday to be admitted...and I had to call to find out I could come to the hospital.  Then, in the meeting with the cardiologist on Sunday, the scheduler answered the cardiologist that I wasn't scheduled for a catheterization!  Both the cardiologist and I nearly lost it.

Today, I was called about the procedure I was scheduled to have tomorrow.  The caller began reviewing the medicines I've been taking and when we got to one of them, I answered that I took my pill this morning as instructed.  Apparently, I should have ceased taking that pill -- and a shot I get weekly that I took Monday -- on Monday.  Because I didn't, my procedure has to be reschedule for next Friday.

I'm not a med-mal attorney, so I don't know if any of these lapses qualify as malpractice.  But had anything happened to me because of the miscommunication and attendant delays, Karen may well have hit the lottery.

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

MSM Self-Flagellation...Sort Of

 Recently, the book Original Sin, by authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, has created a stir for wildly different reasons.

On the Left, many are angered that two journalists with strong liberal credentials would dare to suggest that Man of Dementia, Joe Biden ("MoD"), was in cognitive decline, that his administration and supporters would cover it up and that the media would dare report this.  On the Right, people are aghast that the Left couldn't see what millions of Americans saw and heard with their own eyes and ears.  

Tapper rudely rebuked Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of the President, for suggesting that MoD was in cognitive decline, sneering that she lacked the credentials to come to such a conclusion.  Thompson, in accepting some award from some journalists' society, claimed in accepting the award that the MSM missed the story.  Again, the Right was shocked that Thompson claimed that the MSM missed the story since people without journalism backgrounds saw it clear as day.

Since President Trump's mandate, elements of the Left have been engaged in various degrees of self-flagellation. These acts are designed not so much as introspection as they are performance art to show that the Left wasn't engaged in the cover-up, but was honestly and truly deceived by MoD and his administration.  These protests are hollow. A review of the language used by the Left together with the efforts to demonize the Right for complaining about MoD's ineptitude shows that any complaints now are disingenuous at best and deceitful at worst.  There is no way that people who were so highly educated who had no trouble lecturing the rest of us didn't see and hear what we saw and heard.  Despite Jonathan Gruber's declarations, the American people are not that stupid.

Some are saying that this scandal exceeds the scope of Watergate.  That's probably true, because the scope of this scandal is far broader than the one perpetrated in Watergate.  Combined with the pathetic campaign of the Harris-Walz team, the Democratic Party is crippled now for the foreseeable future.  Not only does this scandal damage their brand with the American people, there is no savior on their bench with which they can overcome it.  Worse still, the Republican bench is deep...so deep, in fact, that not even JD Vance is assured of succeeding Donald Trump.  

I have said this long ago:  The Fourth Estate has become a Fifth Column.  What I never considered was that this was an unintended insult to Fifth Columns everywhere.

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

In Defense of Karen(s)

My wife's name is Karen.  She's a lovely person.  She has the patience of Job, which many would say is an understatement considering her husband.  She's social, personable, inclusive, kind, thoughtful and every other good thing a person should be.  

As most people are aware, the name Karen has fallen into disrepute.  My wife bemoans her name, claiming it is antiquated.  I've always thought it was beautiful, especially compared to some truly antiquated names like Beulah, Lorna, Myrtle and Maude.  But it is now bandied about as a term to denote a woman who is a nuisance or, worse yet, a racist.  As one columnist (Karen Kirk) put it:

"Karen" has become a label for racist white women who call the police on innocent Black men, point guns at protesters, refuse to wear masks and generally behave outrageously. It has become a misogynistic stereotype of all the things that I am not and all of the negative qualities that I don't possess (except perhaps occasionally asking for the manager).

So woman are now branded with this name if they don't measure up to another person's expectation of how a woman should behave in a given situation.  The trouble with this usage isn't that the women in given situations don't deserve some sort of criticism, because they do.  The trouble is that by using my wife's name, my wife indirectly is besmirched as possessing the name of a vile person.  That's unfair.

What also bothers me is that this use was coined by blacks for white women who did things that, according to the blacks, were racists to varying degrees.  Its usage has expanded to include misbehaviors that are not racist in the least bit.  Conduct that is rude, or stupid, or selfish, or loud, or obnoxious, or socially inept -- the woman exhibiting such behavior is labeled as Karen.

My wife, when giving her name, now says "My name is Karen -- one of the good ones."  Fifteen seconds after meeting my wife is enough to know she doesn't live down to the stereotype.  Yet the unfair taint that attaches to my wife by virtue of her name as applied to other women who misbehave is inescapable. 

One miscreant named Gary even thought it was funny.  The really ironic part of this is that this moron took a post off Karen's FB page that was critical of a Christian singer who was making fun of Karen's in a song.  Karen lamented that a Christian would choose to use this for comedy and not see the hurt it caused women carrying that name.  Gary, more interested in proving his comedic chops, took offense when Karen challenged him.  Had I been quicker, I would have proposed that we replace Dick with Gary, to give Dicks across the country a respite from hearing their names used as an epithet, hoping that Gary would gain traction so that he would know what it's like to be tarred by other people's misconduct.  The likelihood that my proposal would ever gain traction is miniscule, but I'd like to try it.

There are problems using this term.  What happens to black women named Karen?  Are they exempt from being similarly insulted?  Or what do we call black women who misbehave?  Shanequah?  Or is it racist to suggest that black women misbehave? (Given the number of videos showing black women getting violent in fast food restaurants, I would think any claims of racism are easily disproven).

It's time that use of Karen was given a rest.  There may very well be white women out there named Karen who are vile beings, but I'm sure there are just as many Marys, Sues, Kims and Brittanys that are at least as horrible.

Besides, I love my wife.   She doesn't deserve this.

(c) 2023  The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

Reckoning for the MSM?

 For years, I've tried to determine how best the MSM would be forced to fess up and admit its bias.  It can't be sued, as there's no statute that would provide for a cause of action.  We can't shoot them, because then there would be no confession.  About the only thing that I could come up with was to use sodium thiopental, the so-called truth drug, and put them under oath to answer questions.  

As of now, however, there is no real way to get to the truth about the MSM and its Leftist leanings.

Over the course of the last few years, however, the MSM has been losing in the courts of law.  Of course, given the numerous settlements into which it's entered, it can claim that it didn't lose.  But if it were so confident of being vindicated at trial, especially given the standard of New York v. Sullivan, it would never have settled.

It began with Nicholas Sandman's settlement with the Washington Post of the defamation lawsuit he brought against the newspaper.  Although the terms of the settlement weren't disclosed, the fact that the paper chose not to go to trial is indicative of how it viewed the probable outcome.  On the heels of that settlement, Mr. Sandman then settled with CNN, again due to the likely outcome.  Even so, two titans of the MSM buckled when confronted by a teenager, because they defamed him.

After that, President Donald Trump took networks to task.  First, he humbled ABC to the tune of $15M, which will go toward his presidential library, along with an apology, for George Stephanopolous repeatedly referring to the verdict in favor of E. Jean Carroll for sexual harrassment.  Stephanopolous continually referred to Mr. Trump as having raped Carroll, when the jury specifically found he had not done that.

On the heels of that, Meta settled with Mr. Trump for $25M for suspending his account.  Not to be outdone, X settled with Mr. Trump for $10M for the same reason.

At almost the same time, NBC settled with Dr. Mahendra Amin for falsely reporting that he had performed dozens of unwanted and unnecessary hysterectomies on illegal aliens.  The trial court had all but decided the case on a motion for summary judgment and ruled that the reports were verifiably false.

One case that did go to trial involved the defamation lawsuit brought by veteran Zachary Young against CNN.  Discovery provided damning emails and correspondence, not to mention horrendous deposition testimony.  At trial, the CNN witnesses were unrepentant.  The jury found in favor of Mr. Young, awarding him $5M, but also advising the court that he was entitled to punitive damages.  Seeing the writing on the wall, CNN settled before the punitive damages phase began.  Experts have reckoned that punitive damages could have exceeded $100M.

Perhaps chastened by Mr. Young's victory, certain of these other lawsuits were settled in short order.

One would think that the MSM had gotten the message and would change its wiley ways, but if the behavior of the CNN witnesses in the Young case is any indication, that's hardly likely.  In fact, certain producers involved in that case were later promoted.  As long as advertisers are willing to spend money with these outlets, nothing is going to change.

But if nothing else, shots have been fired.

All that remains is for the Supreme Court to tweak the Sullivan standards.  If that happens, perhaps there will be real change.

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles

Moments

 There are times when I reminisce and certain memories recur.  Mostly, these are good memories, happy memories, but sometimes they're just meaningful to me without happiness involved.  These are times that I'll remember for as long as I live because of their impact on my life.

--  Mom driving me to the airport when I was leaving for Spain.  We sang O' Danny Boy together.  Neither of us knew how my year in Spain would go.  It could end in disaster.  I may decide to stay in Spain.  But on the way to O'Hare, we sang that song.  I'll never forget it.

--  In eighth grade, our basketball team was very close.  At the time, the Doobie Brothers' son Black Water was popular.  I can't remember lyrics very well, but I remember the chorus from that song because it was very simple.  Our singing the song in the locker room after practice is etched in my memory.

-- Speaking of the Doobie Brothers, when Karen and I saw them live they played my favorite song, South City Midnight Lady.  For whatever reason, I felt as if they dialed up that song just for me.

--  Karen's uncle Frank didn't have much longer to live.  We'd just gotten in town to see him and the ladies went out to get pizza.  That left me and Frank alone, so we sat in the outdoor rocking chairs that he had made (by far the best rocking chairs I've ever had the privilege to sit in) and chatted.  Normally, that wouldn't be much of a memory, but because he'd been so close with Karen's ex-husband and because I never had much of a relationship with him, our chat -- banal as it may have been -- was all the more meaningful because it was just two guys chatting.  I'll long remember that chat and how we had to scamper inside when a deluge hit.

--  In the last quarter of my time in Spain, I found myself in the backwater town of Arriondas, known for its canoe culture.  I had just gotten off the train and bought myself Manchego cheese, a Coke, a pistola de pan and some strawberries.  I went down by the river and ate my meal in the serenity of the place.  It was a glorious day all around.

--  Being in Grayling, Michigan, watching the Cubs punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time in my life.  

--  Being with Custer on the day he died.  No death since my Mother's has hit me so hard.  His loss still pains me.

-- Driving with Karen in a blizzard to deliver donuts.  Were we wacky or what?

-- Cooking turkey for Christmas in Madrid.  Rounding up the ingredients was a chore, but cooking the meal and sharing it with a Colombian, a Mexican and a Jew from Boston was memorable.

-- The puente trip to Pedraza was a most bohemian experience.  Eating salad out of a large communal bowl was a first.

--  Carrying on a conversation in Spanish with a bus driver from Soria next to the walls of the city of Avila.

--  Seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time with Karen.

-- Watching John Wick 3 in Friday Harbor, Washington, in sunglasses.

-- Meeting Karen for the first time outside the restaurant that no longer existed.  It changed my life forever.

(c) 2025 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles