NO BOTTOM

 I can't believe that I'm going to do this, but I'm going to quote Donald Trump:

"Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!"

Even after all we've been through with this disgraced ex-president, stunning us again and again with his ugly and dangerous pronouncements, I almost couldn't believe that he really put out the above press release. He did.

That statement is oozing with jealousy. He knows that when he passes away, he will only be praised by his crazy minions. The rest of the country will feel great relief. He also knows that those millions of MAGA followers today still believe anything he says. It's truly terrifying.

I'm so deeply worried for our democracy, and I know that I'm not the only one feeling this way. I hope enough Americans see everything that is at stake if this megalomaniac regains power.

I hope if our democracy falls into autocracy, it waits until the universe has taken me from this life.

SENSE

I can't speak in regard to the whole world, but it appears to me that my country has lost its common sense, and that it's not coming back anytime soon.

 This first raised its nasty head in 2016, when the most dangerous character I've ever seen in my seven decades of life was elected to the presidency. Not only was he able to con enough voters for an electoral college win, he then developed a cult-like following. No ugly thing said or done by him was deemed over the line. His political party morphed quickly into HIS political party, and the devotees are not snapping out of it.

I saw a man on TV last night who steadfastly claimed that it was really Trump who was flying around on Air Force One, and that he had never really ceased being president. What happened to this poor man?

Then the world was hit by the pandemic. Sadly, many Americans could not accept the reality that this virus was rampaging across the country, bringing mass agony and death, and ruining our economy as well. This couldn't really be happening to us! Not us! When vaccines finally became available, many of those same people chose not to get it, claiming that their freedom was on the line. Their freedom to help spread a pandemic? So much for "all for one and one for all".

So, the vaccine deniers, led by the vaccinated ex-president, have been dying by the thousands. What sense does it make to lead your followers, your voters, to their deaths?

What sense does it make to become enraged when asked to wear a mask that protects others from the spread of this deadly virus? Have those people ever gone into a restaurant that has a sign stating "no shirt, no shoes, no service"? Of course they have.

I'm not expecting that everyone should agree with my opinions and observations about everything. For a myriad of reasons people have different takes on how the world should work. But this time it's different. Common sense and critical thinking are completely absent. Hatefulness and anger have taken the top spots in our public discourse. 

Other than hiding behind the veil of social media, I no longer feel safe in casually offering my opinions on important social or political issues. If I do speak up, I might get screamed at, slugged, vandalized, or gunned down. What happened to agreeing to disagree? This situation has become existential.

Is this the failure of the education system? Is it due to growing income inequality? Is it lack of affordable housing? Is it vocal minority groups making the status quo nervous? Is it the multitudes of arriving immigrants who don't look like us? Is it the white male privilege shrinking away? What exactly has caused this apparent tipping point to occur in the American psyche?

Is the root of it because in school we were all fed the same false story that the evolution of our nation was a good and noble enterprise? That Americans were always the right ones and the best ones? That happily ever after was actually an attainable goal? That we all could be attractive and successful? Or most importantly, that things can stay the same, and shit doesn't happen? Have we all been suckered into one giant American fantasy? Are we too ignorant to see that?

Just where the hell did realism and common sense go?

ABANDONED LOVE

 

My first movie memory. Snuggled up on the living room couch with my dad, surrounded by a comforting blanket. He explained that what I was about to see on the TV was a little scary, but fun. It was the 1933 King Kong on our black and white television.

Our family of five didn't have a lot of money to spare when I was little, so my mom would pack up a dinner and we would go to the local drive-in theater, the Paulo, on family discount night. They had a playground right in front of the big screen, so we could go on the swings before the movie got started. Such fun.

And before I started grammar school, my mom and her best friend from across the street would take me along as they went to the "Ladies Matinee" on Wednesdays at the local Mesa theater. I had a hard time following those movies, but I loved the fact that included with the low admission price was a little cup of soda and a cookie.

When I was old enough to go to matinees on my own with my pals, we would go see Elvis Presley movies and giggle our hearts out. Then came James Bond. I remember thinking that Sean Connery was the sexiest man I'd ever seen.

There was a brief time during my teenage years when I went out on dates to the drive-in movies. I didn't actually see much of those films.

But as a young adult I began seeing movies with a real interest in the substance of the films. This was the beginning of a serious love affair with going to the movies.

I think the best times were at our downtown Plaza Theater, which showed second run and classic movies, and always a double feature. My husband and I could buy bargain passes for 10 movies. Great goodies at the snack bar. It made a great night.

Finally, along came baby. We bought our first VCR after a couple of unsuccessful outings to the movie theater with our baby son along. This was the long, slow beginning of the evolution in movie viewing for us. From then on we were avid consumers of movies on tape. 

Then came the DVD player. Movies on disc! They looked better, sounded better, and were easier to store. Next thing we knew we had large movie libraries of our own.

The next death knell for movie theaters was the advent of big screen TV's. And they got bigger and bigger, flatter and flatter, and cheaper and cheaper.

For a few years I would still go to the theater to see a big action movie on the large screen. But the last couple of times going to a matinee, we would be forced to pick our specific seats via computer screen as we bought our admission tickets. I really, really didn't like that change. The addition of new luxury reclining and rocking theater seats with swivel trays could not outweigh this irritation for me.

Then the pandemic came along and the movie theaters had to shut down for many months. TV streaming channels became the best resources for fresh entertainment. Not only could we view the movies when we wanted to, we didn't have to purchase a physical copy of the films anymore. And with the exception of HBO, these subscription streaming channels were all reasonably priced. So goodbye to the cable pirates too!

A big screen television. A great sound bar with subwoofer. The comfort of my oversized chair. No risk of picking up cooties from unclean theater seats. No overpriced concession goodies. Movies on demand. I won't be going back.

There are some industries that long held their consumers hostage. Telephone companies. The music industry. Cable companies. And the movie theater industry too. Now they all must bend to the will and best needs of the consumers. Such a great change! There will be no tears from me over this lost love.